“Being Liberal Isn’t Fun” 

I’ve said before that the best humor is that which unites, not divides. In the past several years, many of America’s best-known comedians have ceased performing at college campuses for fear of telling a politically incorrect joke. Because a second standard I have for great humor is that it must be brave enough to address difficult subjects, including political and social biases, I’ve developed a prejudice against those that were not attacking the Woke Left.

Last night, I came upon this stand-up routine by Andy Haynes, and he proves me wrong. He addresses some hot-button issues – from a liberal’s perspective – and yet, he’s really funny!

Enjoy!

Local Heroes 

Three short news stories to restore your faith in humanity: 

Click here and here and here.

I haven’t shared anything from PostModern Jukebox in a while. Hope you like this one: “It’s Not Unusual” performed in the snappy style of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

I was happy to note that Bari Weiss’s The Free Press is now the number one periodical publication on SubStack, with more than 630,000 subscribers.

I wrote Bari to say:

Congratulations! You deserve it. The Free Press feels like what journalism should be: Independent. Thoughtful. In touch. I’ve been recommending you to my readers since I first discovered you nearly three years ago!

Coming in the Next Issue!

A Fact About Real Estate Your Broker Doesn’t Want You to Know 

Watch this short clip. It’s a teaser for some sort of information product – but what these two men are referring to is probably the most important secret in selling houses. I’ll tell you what it is, and how to use it to your advantage, in next week’s main issue.

“I’m a dancing machine!”

Watch this.

Smithsonian Magazine’s Annual Photo Contest 

This is just one of the finalists in the magazine’s 21st annual photo contest:

Click here… and enjoy all 60!

Here’s something we see too little of… 

… a government official sincerely apologizing for a mistake. Click here.

“The Old Philosopher” by Eddie Lawrence 

From JM: Life bumming you out? Listen to this pep talk by Eddie Lawrence from 1956. (Stay with it to the end. It gets funnier as it goes.)

Is Beyoncé a Real Country Singer? 

On Feb. 12, in the middle of the Super Bowl, Beyoncé debuted two songs. One of them, “Texas Hold ’Em,” went to number one on the Billboard country chart, making her the first Black woman ever to capture that spot. (Her other new release, “16 Carriages,” debuted at number nine.)

I liked “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The music felt pleasingly country to me. Her unique voice added something je ne sais quoi to it, and I liked how the lyrics seemed to be a hybrid of hip-hop and country diction.

But the question that pop-music pundits are asking is… can Beyoncé do anything that is authentically country? Check this out. What do you think?