Martin Sheen: Why President Biden Should Commute Death Row

During the seven years I spent portraying President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet on The West Wing, I developed deep respect for the presidency and the monumental challenges its real-life officeholders confront every day. Recent news about President Biden’s exercise of his clemency power has drawn my memory to one of the most difficult “decisions” I made as President Bartlet—one that has stayed in my mind over the ensuing years—to deny clemency to a federal prisoner and allow his execution to proceed.

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Both my fictional White House staff and the viewing public recognized at the time that this was not President Bartlet’s finest hour. I myself urged Aaron Sorkin, the showrunner, to write a different ending.

Allowing the television execution to proceed was a dramatic—and believable—outcome back then. In early 2000, when the episode aired, Americans still overwhelmingly supported capital punishment. Many of our elected leaders, including our presidents, shared those views. Just a few years earlier, Bill Clinton left the presidential campaign trail to preside over the execution of Ricky Ray Rector, a Black man with an IQ of just 70 on Arkansas’s death row.

President Biden now has the opportunity to make a much better decision than President Bartlet did, by commuting all federal death sentences. And he has good reason to. In recent years, we have become more aware of the death penalty’s many shortcomings. These shortcomings include racial bias, the law’s rudimentary acknowledgement of the effects of brain damage and mental illness, prosecutorial misconduct, shoddy defense representation, and the intolerable risk of executing the innocent. Additionally, nearly a quarter of the men on federal death row were very young, 21 or younger, when they committed their crimes.

People across the political spectrum have come to question the continued use of the death penalty. Today, we know far more than we did in 2000 about the death penalty’s failure to deter crime, the enormous public resources it drains, and the trauma it inflicts on the people tasked with carrying out executions. If there is one thing I have learned about politics, both from my experience on The West Wing and from my many decades of activism, it is that a policy exacting such extreme costs for so little benefit should be considered a failure.

My views about the death penalty are neither recently adopted nor abstract. I began questioning the morality of death sentencing as a child because of my concern that, for political gain, the government was about to execute an innocent person. 

In the 1970s, as a young actor, I twice played the roles of real-life men who were executed. I played a Korean War veteran executed for several murders in Badlands (1973) and the only soldier post-Civil War to be executed for desertion in The Execution of Private Slovik (1974.) These roles forced me to consider broader problems with the death penalty, including that it is ultimately dehumanizing for all involved. 

Most significantly, I have spent the past two decades corresponding with a person on death row and have visited him in prison. I have seen this man express deep remorse with a clear recognition of the harm the death of his victim caused. I have also seen him engage in heartfelt religious contemplation and introspection. He is very different from the person who was sentenced to die. My relationship with him has demonstrated to me what I’ve always believed: that human beings have an extraordinary capacity to grow and change.

President Biden made history in 2020 when he became the first American president to openly oppose the death penalty. He now has the opportunity—and the support from Catholic leaders, corrections officials, prosecutors, civil and human rights organizations—to enshrine his legacy of justice, compassion, and positive change. He now has the opportunity to save the lives of real, not fictional, human beings by commuting all federal death sentences. I urge him to do so.

source https://time.com/7203199/martin-sheen-biden-commute-death-row/

Rose Matafeo Breaks Down Her New Stand-Up Special—And What Didn’t Make the Cut

I’m listening intently as Rose Matafeo asks our server at London’s Soho Hotel for her recommendations on red wine, discussing which of the options are light and which are more full-bodied. Is Matafeo a wine connoisseur in the making? “God, no. I think you just have to be confident,” she says once she’s made her decision. “It’s an adult move when you start knowing how to order a drink,” she notes, adding that until you get there, you’re “just smiling and nodding, and not knowing what the f-ck everyone else is talking about.”

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Matafeo and I met in November, a few days after she filmed two back-to-back comedy gigs in London, which have been edited into a special titled On And On And On, now streaming on Max. I attended the first of the two, which, she insists, “was, I’m gonna say it, bad. Most of that did not make the edit.” There wasn’t much she could have done about it. “I had laryngitis. I didn’t have a voice [earlier that week] and I was totally ‘roided up. I cried about seven times that day. I cried five minutes before I performed that show. I was panicking,” she confesses, relieved when I tell her that I didn’t pick up on any of that from the audience.

Matafeo, 32—who is best known for Starstruck, the series she co-wrote and starred in between 2021 and 2023—hails from New Zealand but moved to London in her 20s for “love.” (To be with her then-boyfriend, British comedian James Acaster.) Her outlook on relationships and the breakups she’s encountered along the way partly inspired her special. The crux of the show is formed on a “humble note” from the Notes application on her iPhone. Although, as Matafeo admits to the audience, at 16,000 words, it’s less of a note and more of a manifesto. For effect, Matafeo has printed it out and lays it out on the stage. Save for the first line, which reads, “I may have a lot of problems, but at least I have a heart,” she keeps the rest to herself, only paraphrasing that it contains ramblings and realizations brought on by the breakdown of a romantic relationship. She shares her feelings on love, breakups (harder in your 30s, as people are breaking up with the real you), growing older, and general life reflections that her fellow millennials will no doubt relate to.

The audience at her London shows got to see Matafeo self-edit and tweak her show in real time. “We’re keeping that in!” she would say after some jokes, relishing the laughter, while other parts had her saying, “That won’t make the cut.” One bit that ended up on the cutting room floor was related to Taylor Swift. Matafeo was discussing the integral role music can play when you’re getting over a breakup, and how suddenly every song relates to your situation. But despite her friends’ recommendations, she had no desire to listen to Swift. Matafeo explained that she doesn’t want to endanger her own life by speaking her truth (Swifties are known for their passionate defense of the singer), but went on to say, “music of that woman means absolutely nothing to me.”

I could feel the nervous laughter of the audience around me as Matafeo quipped that she didn’t feel safe proceeding with the routine, before continuing her commentary on the “adult Swifties” who attended the Eras Tour, swapping friendship bracelets and “dressing up like pencil cases from Claire’s Accessories.” When I ask whether she really planned to edit it out for fear of the wrath of fans, she says there were other factors at play. “It was too long, and also, I like that it’s something of an Easter egg for people who saw the show live. It was basically me talking sh-t, which is most of stand-up really. I think it’s best left for the live arena, but I’m glad I did it in the live shows.”

Matafeo shared further behind-the-scenes insight into the special before opening up about the art of sharing her life on stage while trying to maintain privacy, the power that comes from embracing big life decisions, and more.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

TIME: Despite the fact you were having a difficult day behind-the-scenes, you seemed confident when you came out on stage. After the set, as you returned to the stage to do extra filming bits and sit with the audience and riff, I noticed a shift. You were no longer as comfortable, and joked about the awkwardness. As a self-professed introvert, do you have to make a conscious shift of turning on the stand-up persona before stepping out to do a set?

Matafeo: That bit afterwards, when I had to come back out, that was the real me. It was so difficult because I’m sh-t at improvising in those moments. I get stage fright, in a way. Weirdly, a wash of relief came over me because I was like, “That’s [the stand-up] done now.” I felt a little bit more myself, and myself is nervous on stage, mumbling and talking about The Phantom of the Opera or something.

When you develop a show over time, you find your rhythm and build up this character. There is a mode you can go into when repeating a show over and over. It was the first time I’d done the show in that place, so looking out at the audience, you’re completely out on a limb. That was part of the terror of the show. There were very nice crowds, thankfully. When you do those shows, you want to lighten the crowd a little bit, but I could see people I knew. I don’t like talking to the crowd, so I just keep them in soft focus.

The kick-starting conversation for your special revolves around a note you wrote on your iPhone Notes app. You only read out the first line. But I wonder, is there anyone on the planet that would get full access to that note in its entirety, or even just your Notes app in general?

That’s such a good question. No, I don’t think there is. Even my closest, closest friends. I wouldn’t want them to see that. It’s like reading a diary. It’s weird, the idea of something so private existing on a device that literally anyone could get into. To be honest, the note is so f-cking long it barely makes sense. Some of it is so cringe-inducing. I stand by what I said in the show—that when you go back through your notes, it’s like a stranger has hacked into your phone and written some of the most bat-sh-t crazy things. You have to know it’s part of you, though. You can’t distance yourself from it, as we all contain multitudes.

You talk through a variety of topics in your special, from how it’s much harder to deal with being dumped in your 30s to how you turned to online relationship coaches at your lowest, or funny realizations about your high school years. Do you ever give the real-life people you talk about a heads-up ahead of time?

I don’t, because I hope I make the scenario abstract enough where it’s recognizable for them or others. I think it’s a good practice to have. The broader you can make it, the more people can connect to a situation. It comes down to protecting my privacy, too.

It’s interesting you mention privacy. We live in a world where people don’t just watch and listen to things anymore, they become online sleuths. The Baby Reindeer experience was a prime example of that. Armchair detectives took over, attempting to uncover the real-life identities of certain characters…

It’s f-cking dire. So much of what is good about stand-up is speaking from personal experience and being real and truthful. But that sucks because of the parasocial nature of fandom now. I grew up in the Internet culture of sleuthing things out, but it’s really strange when it becomes about you. It definitely makes me think harder about how I talk about myself. I did a podcast with my friend Alice [Sneeden] and it was so real, almost like private conversations. But there came a point when I was like, “I don’t know if I want people to know everything about me.” It feels like a bit of a shame but also a sign of maturation.

I found it really refreshing during your special when you spoke about the moment when you realized that rather than asking yourself, “Should I have children?” you should instead ask yourself, “Do I want to have children?” It then brought you to the realization that you don’t. How has it been opening up about that in front of an audience?

I’ve had a couple of people after the shows say they got weirdly emotional after hearing that. I have really loved and benefited from all the women who I’ve seen comfortably talk about that, so it’s nice to hear that people are connecting to [me doing] that. 

I’ve had conversations in my own life about whether or not I want children. Oftentimes, when I say I’m not sure and that I might not, I notice that it’s the other person who feels the most uncomfortable. They feel as though they have to fix it or say, “You might change your mind!” Is that something you’ve encountered?

100%. Both teams are trying to recruit you. I’ve been in the stage where I say, “I don’t think I want kids.” And then it got easier to start saying “I don’t,” because for me, it was a concrete position. Also, anyone has the right to change their minds. It’s not a f-cking contract. The worst thing is that idea that the way in which one person chooses to live their life is a threat to the other person’s life. It’s not a criticism of people who do decide to have children. But I feel like that’s in the air, even politically.

It’s very much in the air politically. There were conversations in the U.S. earlier this year, after comments made by J.D. Vance—in which he expressed that people who have children should have more voting power than those who don’t—resurfaced ahead of the presidential election. The idea being that people have less of an impact on the future and thus should have less of a voice because they’re not procreating.

You kind of take away these layers of what people are outwardly saying and what they’re really saying. It’s essentially someone telling you that you were put on this earth to procreate, and that is what womanhood is. I’m a Pisces. I can’t make decisions, at all, yet this is probably one of the decisions in my life where I’m like, “Yeah, this is something I believe I’m happy with.” The fact it riles up, you know, bastards, is just an added bonus. 

I’m interested in how you approach addressing politics and world issues as a stand-up comedian. We have people in the public eye talking out matters such as women’s rights and the Israel-Hamas war, the very topics that are on people’s minds. Do you think about such things when writing or do you want to make your show an escape from politics?

I obviously have political views, which are explored in many different ways. It’s not so much at the forefront of my shows, because it’s not my style, but I never shy away from what I believe. It’s more subconscious. Also those things are very serious things. I would want what I’m saying about it to be something I can really stand by, because I wouldn’t want to be glib. Stand-up, a lot of the time, is about referencing your take on the world around you, which is going to be topical and political. But you’ve got to find what is funny in that. I hope I do that.

Away from your stand-up, you’re now portraying the Taskmaster on the junior version of the game show, which is a full-circle moment after you were a competitor on the main series in 2019. I was unsure at first when I heard about the junior reiteration, wondering how children would deal with the pressure, but they seem to deal with it better than the adults!

They really do. They are so supportive of each other. They’ve got a great attitude when it comes to competing. It puts the f-cking adults to shame. [Laughs] It was just really fun to watch them. I loved watching Taskmaster and being on it. When I went to the U.S. to do press for the third series of Starstruck, everyone was asking me about Taskmaster. I think Seth Meyers is a fan. When I went on his show, the writers were talking to me about the series.

Speaking of Starstruck, it’s rare to get that level of control on a project—to be able to create a series, co-write it, play the lead character, and even direct some of the episodes. How do you feel looking back on that experience?

It’s ruined me forever. [Laughs] It couldn’t have been more amazing in that sense. A lot of things have to go right to get me to that point. But I feel lucky to have been surrounded by the right people. I’m an easily embarrassed person. I’m very hard on myself. It’s nice to have something to look back on that I’m happy with. That’s so rare for me to say.

You joke in your stand-up special that you’re famously not good at endings. But things were wonderfully wrapped up in the third series of Starstruck when it aired in 2023. We witnessed your character Jessie get some much-needed closure. You’ve previously said that character is the closest you think you’ll ever get to playing yourself, so do you think you’ll return to her some day?

I love how we ended it. And a trilogy is so nice to me. There are some series that I revisit and they don’t feel as though they still hold up, but I think Starstruck does. The amount of life you live between the ages of 26 to 30 is monumental. It’s such a mental shift for your brain. The version of me in the first series compared to me in the third series… it’s just an amazing time capsule which I’m so grateful to have. I’m now nearing the age that my character is in the third series of Starstruck. And some of the things that are happening—friends getting married, having babies—it’s so similar to what happened on the show. It’s f-cking weird! Perhaps [we could do] a special, but I have no current plans for another season. Until I’m offered millions of pounds to bring it back. I’ll have no values then.

source https://time.com/7202936/rose-matafeo-interview-max-special/

The Power of a False ‘Lost Cause’ Christmas Myth

While Christmastime celebrations may seem to offer temporary respite from the divisive politics that have roiled American life for the past decades, Christmas traditions have long been political fodder. Indeed, “Lost Cause” accounts of enslaved Christmas experiences still have political consequences today—including for the MAGA movement and Donald Trump’s presidency.

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The “Lost Cause” was a political project waged by white Southerners after the Civil War to venerate Confederate generals and the bravery of Confederate soldiers, while downplaying their treasonous effort to preserve and expand slavery in America by destroying the Union.

What is often overlooked, however, is that the “Lost Cause” has also been a tool to excuse and even glorify the Black slave labor system that the Confederacy fought to perpetuate, and that Christmas customs in the South before the Civil War have been consistently featured in that propaganda. Nostalgic descriptions of pre-Civil War Christmases on Southern plantations are just one of the ways Lost Cause proponents obscure the horrors of human bondage in Dixie, allowing politicians to tap into neo-Confederate rhetoric and policies to win the support of white Southern voters.

Following the Civil War, and especially after a temporary Reconstruction moment in which Black men gained the vote and won elected office, white southerners regained political power by the end of the 1870s. To bolster their authority, white southern men and women churned out a flood of publications—memoirs of pre-Civil War experiences, history books and articles, novels, short stories, poems, and speeches—delivering a very pernicious message: that slave life generally was enjoyable and healthy. The proof? The slaves’ obvious ecstasy during the holiday, evidenced by their fawning expressions of appreciation for their owners’ kindness and humaneness, especially the gifts they got from them.

Read More: Civil War History Shows the Danger of Comparing Trump to Jesus

According to this propaganda, which took little account of African American perspectives, every Christmas, southern white “masters” and “mistresses” bestowed upon their Black workers incredibly lavish parties, rich foods, thoughtfully-selected presents, and freedom to travel wherever they wished nearby, while refraining from whipping or otherwise punishing them. These accounts portrayed enslaved people, regardless of plantation, experiencing a kind of nirvana for the entire Christmas period—utterly grateful for the generosity of their enslavers.

In reality, enslaved people were sold and whipped over the Christmas holiday. But these warped stories conveyed the impression that southern slavery was a humane system of human relations year round. For instance, according to many memoirs by former enslavers published after Reconstruction, come Christmas morning each year before the Civil War, masters and household slaves always jointly participated in a playful game in which they competed to be the first ones to yell the phrase “Christmas Gif’” at each other, with the loser having to cough up a gift of some kind to the winner. Afterwards on Christmas morning, in these vignettes, slaves commonly wished owners a merry Christmas and long life as they were doled out eggnog treats on the mansion verandah.

Indeed, and here’s where folklore comes in, the length of the Christmas holiday for slaves depended on the burning of specially selected “Yule logs” that enslaved people selected. According to this legend, the log must burn in two before the master could call off the festivities and send his laborers back to the fields. This process might consume anywhere from a week to a month, since slaves cleverly chose hardwoods like gum trees rather than rapid-burning softwoods for cutting as Yule logs, and then soaked their logs in swamps and streams so they would burn slowly.

Allegedly, enslavers colluded in it, purposely overlooking the trickery even when they caught wind of what was going on. Others simply were so dimwitted they never realized they had been fooled. The important thing is that the enslavers never got angry and whipped slaves for these pranks, and sometimes they would even laugh about their own victimhood—all, of course, giving the impression that these enslavers, who considered Black human beings their legal “property” and sold and traded them at will, were at heart “good guys.”

In truth, there is apparently no eyewitness account—and possibly as few as three questionable second-hand accounts—from before the Civil War that this Yule Log custom ever took hold on a single Southern plantation much less across the entire South.

It is possible that not even one enslaved person ever got an extra day of the Christmas holiday because a Yule log burned extra stubbornly. Yet, the tale, likely because of its cuteness and humor, has become so embedded in our national folklore that it pops up not only on innumerable web sites, but also during guided tours of southern historic plantations and in Christmas holiday books, cookbooks, children’s books, scholarly books about slavery, and in all sorts of miscellaneous and sometimes very unexpected publications. It can even be found in a Christmas back issue (December 1979) of the Journal of the U.S. Army Intelligence & Security Command.

It’s a reminder of how insidiously pervasive the Lost Cause has been in American life. And it helps clarify why Trump supported “both sides” during the violence in Charlottesville in 2017 and why early this year, he came out for reversal of a 2022 renaming of a U. S. Army fort in North Carolina, so that it would once again support its original designation honoring Confederate general Braxton Bragg. The Confederacy, the myth tries to convince Americans, wasn’t that bad.

Read More: Renaming U.S. Army Bases Should Start with America’s Unrecognized Veterans

There is no way to measure how many fewer votes he would have won had he never championed that myth. But that ideology’s continuing hold on the Southern states almost certainly plays a role in the region’s political leanings.

What is certain is that Donald Trump would not be our incoming president without Southern backing, and that mythologies about Christmases on southern slave plantations are embedded in the popular cultures of the former Confederacy. These mythologies contribute to the ongoing “anti-woke” crusade against teaching the realities of slavery, which dangerously misinforms Americans about the actual history of human bondage. But they have been a part of our political world and popular culture since the late nineteenth century, and Christmas is an appropriate time to cast a critical eye on these legends. They have consequences.

Robert E. May is Professor of History Emeritus at Purdue University. He is the author of the just released Debunking the Yule Log Myth: The Disturbing History of a Plantation Legend (Roman & Littlefield Press).

Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.

source https://time.com/7202555/christmas-lost-cause-myth/

Breaking Down the Ending of Virgin River Season 6

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Virgin River season 6

In its sixth season, Virgin River built up to a moment that fans have been waiting for since the series began in 2019: Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson) finally tied the knot in the tenth episode. Their storybook wedding went off with very little drama, aside from Mel’s father Everett (John Allen Nelson) missing the ceremony because he was in the hospital. (He did make it to the reception to sing her a special song.)

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But this is Virgin River, a town known for its beautiful vistas, cheery residents, and some of the hottest gossip you’ll ever see on TV. After the happy couple made it official, the bombs started dropping, ending the season on a juicy cliffhanger, with one character’s fate hanging in the balance. Virgin River, which was just renewed for another season—making it Netflix’s longest-running English language drama series—is known for these twists and turns. TIME spoke to Virgin River showrunner, producer, and writer Patrick Sean Smith about the final moments of the season, and what to expect for the beloved characters of this idyllic, but cursed California enclave.

Doc’s medical license 

At the start of the season, Tim Matheson’s Doc was celebrated by his family and friends at the clinic, where they honored his 30 years of working as a doctor in Virgin River. But after a house call lands a patient in the hospital, Doc’s expertise is questioned by another doctor. This leads to an investigation into his medical license, threatening everything he’s ever worked toward. In the finale, his wife Hope (Annette O’Toole), who is also the town’s mayor, reveals that she got a call that a larger hospital network is looking to expand into Virgin River, threatening the future of Doc’s clinic. “It throws everything up in the air professionally for Doc in season seven,” Smith says. “It also gets Hope involved as the mayor who is looking to protect what’s most valuable to her, which are Doc and the integrity of the town.” 

Lark drains Brady’s bank account

For most of the season, Lark (Elise Gatien) was trying to con her boyfriend Brady (Ben Hollingsworth) into giving her all of his money. She was secretly working with the father of her child, Jimmy (Ian Tracey), whose work for local drug lord Calvin landed him in jail. Luckily, Brady’s ex-girlfriend and Jack’s sister Brie (Zibby Allen) happened to be visiting a client at the jail when she saw Jimmy and Lark talking, which led her to telling Brady about what she saw. After learning that his girlfriend was playing him, Brady decided not to give Lark any money, which she had said was for her sick mom. 

But after Brady realizes that he can’t have Brie (more on that later) and Lark realizes that Brady is actually a good guy, the two decide to really commit to each other. “It was real, but complicated,” Smith says. “If Brady lived in a world where Brie didn’t exist, then Lark would seem viable. But that’s not the case, and that’s what makes it messy.” The mess only continues when Brady talks to Brie at Mel and Jack’s wedding and they reveal their feelings for each other. Brady is unaware that Lark is in earshot and overhears their conversation. At the wedding, Brady gives Lark’s daughter his phone to play a game. By the time the night is over, Brady doesn’t realize that Lark and her daughter have taken off. When he looks at his bank account, he sees that all his money is gone. What happens next? Smith says that Brady will start looking for answers—and reconcile how he treated Lark in the past along with what reality there could actually be for him and Brie in the future.

Brie tells Mike she cheated on him 

Speaking of Brie, Jack’s sister is really going through it. She’s torn between two men: Brady and Mike (Marco Grazzini). “With Brady, there’s passion and sex, and with Mike, there’s safety, stability, and comfort,” says Smith. “Both of those are important qualities in a relationship, but Brie is in this unenviable place where she’s getting one from one guy and one from another and she can’t choose which path is best.” This leads her to making some tough decisions. In season 6, she’s perfectly happy with Mike, but ends up sleeping with Brady. 

In the finale, after Mel and Jack get married, Mike proposes to Brie, and she tells him that she cheated on him. He responds by telling her that he knows. Smith reveals that they shot this scene in two ways: one version where Mike says he knows and one where he doesn’t. “I watched it with some of the writers on the show who didn’t realize that we added a line because it wasn’t in the script,” he says. “There were just audible gasps, so that was the one we went with.”

Mel and Jack’s adoption journey 

Throughout the series, Mel has been very candid about her struggles to have a baby, and this season, she and Jack were enthusiastic about adopting, though they were early in the process. The day after their wedding, Mel is approached by one of her patients, Marley (Rachel Drance), who is pregnant. She announces that the couple who was supposed to adopt her baby are getting cold feet, and she wants Mel to adopt the child instead. 

For Smith, this was a complex situation that felt exciting to play with. Before the wedding, Mel had a hard time embracing good things that happened to her because of all the tragedies she’d suffered in her life. “It was interesting to see how her character would react, the next day after her storybook wedding to have this other thing that she’s wanted the entire series just offered up to her,” Smith says. Though she’s desperate to have a baby, Marley’s offer comes with a lot of complicated factors. On an ethical level, Marley is Mel’s patient. And even though Mel knows Marley, Jack doesn’t at all.

Charmaine is MIA 

This season, new mom Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) is balancing her twin babies as well as a looming and dangerous situation. The babies’ dad Calvin is out of jail—and he’s trying to make Charmaine’s life as miserable as possible, even threatening her safety. Then, on Mel and Jack’s wedding day, she doesn’t show up. She’s supposed to do Mel’s hair and is nowhere to be seen. 

The following day, Jack decides to go to Charmaine’s house to make sure that everything is okay. When he gets there, he opens the door to a room, his eyes go wide, and the episode cuts to black and ends on this cliffhanger. 

Smith won’t reveal what happened to Charmaine, but he knew that he wanted to end the season that way because he’s got a bigger plan in season seven. He’s also thrilled that people are invested in Charmaine, who was once Mel’s biggest antagonist and a thorn in Jack’s side. “Histrocially she was a polarizing character,” he says. “I love people caring about her!” 

source https://time.com/7202250/virgin-river-season-6-ending-charmaine/

How the Team Behind Severance Made the Second Season Worth the Wait

Ben Stiller isn’t a fan of puzzle box shows. “I never watched all of Lost, I’m sorry to say,” he admits. “I sometimes get frustrated because I’m not really good at figuring stuff out.” So he’s an odd fit for director, executive producer, and creative force behind the buzziest show of that genre to emerge in recent years, Severance, the second season of which premieres Jan. 17 on Apple TV+ after a nearly three-year hiatus.

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But Stiller and producer and star Adam Scott recognized the potential in newcomer Dan Erickson’s surreal script: Employees volunteer to undergo an operation, called severance, that bifurcates the consciousness into work life and personal life. Each morning, the severed person enters an elevator at Lumon Industries, a mysterious biotech company, and their work self or “innie” becomes conscious. At 5 p.m., the “innie” clocks out and the “outie” reemerges with no memory of the job. Erickson came up with the concept while working a mind-numbing gig at a door factory. “It’s one of those ideas where you can’t believe this hasn’t been done,” says Scott. “It’s an immediate hook.”

And it was Stiller’s idea to end Season 1 with one of the most memorable cliffhangers in modern TV history. The innie characters stage a jailbreak, during which Scott’s protagonist, Mark, discovers that the wife his outie believed to be dead is alive and trapped inside Lumon. Simultaneously, innie Mark’s love interest Helly (Britt Lower) learns that her outie, Helena, is the daughter of Lumon’s cultish CEO; she underwent severance to build support for the controversial procedure.

Review: Severance Is the Rare ‘Galaxy-Brain’ Show Smart Enough to Blow Your Mind

Erickson’s original Season 1 script explored the fallout of these revelations. But Stiller liked pausing on the precipice of the perverse love triangle—or quadrangle—of Mark torn by two halves of his consciousness toward two women. “I felt like, giving it that ending, they’d be more likely to pick us up for a second season,” Stiller adds, laughing. Apple did, immediately. Though the streamer does not release viewership data, it’s easily one of their most discourse-dominating series. The show was nominated for 14 Emmys and won two.

But Stiller did not plan to make viewers wait three years for more. Success brought mounting pressure. “There was a little bit of a moment of overwhelmed panic,” Erickson says. “You’re grateful for people’s investment, and you want to do right by them.” Shooting was delayed by the writers’ and actors’ strikes. Costs reportedly ballooned to $200 million, one of the most expensive budgets on TV. And while the Season 1 twist hooked enough viewers to perhaps justify that expense, the second season not only needs to remind them what happened years ago, but also pay off on the mystery—a feat few puzzle box shows accomplish.

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There is a moment in Season 2 in which Mark’s “innie” has to button his shirt. For the first take, Scott fumbled as he fastened it. “Ben was like, ‘What are you doing?’” Scott remembers. “I was like, ‘I’ve never put on a shirt before.’” After all, Mark’s innie always arrives at work with his clothes already buttoned and zipped. Stiller let Scott try a few takes as if he were a toddler. “It felt kind of corny,” says Scott. “It takes forever if you’re like, ‘Wow, sleeves!’ We decided there was some knowledge instilled in him with the memory of how to do it.”

The Severance team is constantly negotiating with the rules of its sci-fi world. The very idea of severance has myriad horrifying applications. In Season 1, one character severs her consciousness so as not to experience the pain of childbirth—so the only world her innie knows is giving birth and handing over her baby. It’s a plot point that evokes The Handmaid’s Tale, and the divide between those who can afford to avoid hardship and those who can’t. As the events of Season 2 unfold, something akin to a class war breaks out between innies and outies.

Erickson—who, unlike Stiller, is a big fan of Lost and geeked out over it with Scott on set—admits to trolling the Reddit message boards for Severance. “I get such a warm feeling going through those threads,” he says. “But occasionally I would see a theory that I am like, ‘Oh, shoot, that might be better than what I have planned.’ That would get me in my head. So I had to kind of back away.”

Read More: How to Watch Lost In 2024 Without Risking Disappointment

House of Cards creator Beau Willimon was brought in, before the strikes, to refine the story for Season 2 and beyond. “We were a bit behind on schedule, but we didn’t want to make any compromises,” Erickson recalls. Willimon had proven his mastery of story not only on House of Cards but the Star Wars spinoff Andor. “He writes with a propulsiveness that never feels artificial. He helped streamline a lot and get everybody to the finish line.”

In the first season, Scott was the only outie whose life the show explored in any real way, though we got to know many innies, played by John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Zach Cherry, among others. Many of them have severed to escape some aspect of their lives; the series gradually builds into a parable about the dangers of compartmentalizing anguish. Now that the show delves deeper into outie stories, the actors are tasked with playing, essentially, two characters.

“There are differences physically. It’s subtle. We certainly didn’t want it to feel like one of them had a limp and one of them didn’t,” Scott says. “Outie Mark’s posture isn’t quite as good as innie Mark’s. I think innie Mark has an emotional and physical optimism. They have a slightly different timbre to their voice. I hesitate talking about it because it sounds so actor-y.” But, he says, even the imperceptible differences shift his approach to a scene.

That contrast between innie and outie is most stark for Lower. As Helly, she’s a rabble-rousing innie eager to start a revolution in the underground offices. As Helena, she’s the daughter of a CEO who does not view innies as real people. To prepare, Lower would listen to different music for the two roles: Helly listens to Patti Smith, Helena to sweeping orchestrals. Lower pulls out a notebook and shows me drawings she would make each morning before filming: Helly’s pictures are abstract and wild, often using mashed-up crayons, the expression of an inner child. Helena’s are traditional, neat watercolor landscapes. “The outie is more nurture, and the innie is nature. The outie is ego and the innie is id,” she says. “But they share a subconscious, and they share trauma.”

Erickson adds: “The same traits can make somebody a freedom fighter in one life and a tyrant in another.”

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As the trailer teases, the characters spend more time outside the claustrophobic walls of Lumon this season, at one point trudging through deep snow. The vast backdrop is beautiful but only moderately less foreboding than the oppressively sterile office where most of Season 1 takes place.

These cinematic possibilities are what initially attracted Stiller to the show. He could envision Lumon’s labyrinthian white halls as soon as he read the script, and the surprising landscapes that certain doors lead to, like a fluorescent-lit field filled with goats tended by somewhat feral herders. He wanted to conjure something equally bleak for the outside world. “One thing that Ben said was we have to give the sense that you’re always at Lumon even when you’re not at Lumon,” says Erickson, “this overall feeling of coldness that sort of envelops this town.” To that end, the entire show takes place in the dead of winter.

Lumon as a Big Bad takes many forms. There’s its mythical leader as represented in creepy murals; the Egan family, whose members speak with religious fervor about capitalist enterprise; and Mark’s boss Mr. Milchick, played by series breakout Tramell Tillman, whose dance moves from a sinisterly awkward office party went viral.

Tillman’s life changed overnight with Severance’s success. He attended his first Comic-Con in San Diego the summer after the show debuted and found himself mobbed by fans at parties for autographs. I attended that Comic-Con: The Severance panel was one of the most packed events of the weekend, despite the fact that Severance doesn’t hold the same sway as established IP like Lord of the Rings or Marvel. “We were like the Beyoncé or Taylor Swift of Comic-Con,” Tillman jokes.

This season, Tillman’s character struggles to keep the innies in check. His facade begins to crack, but the show takes its time when it comes to revelations about Milchick and others. “We’ve wrapped Season 2, and I’m still speculating about my character and his trajectory,” Tillman says. “But that’s what makes it fun.”

Read: The 10 Best TV Shows of 2024

Mystery series have a long history of posing intriguing questions only to offer lackluster answers. Shows like Lost, Westworld, and Mr. Robot have faced fan wrath for this reason. Accordingly, I reentered the world of Lumon with skepticism. But by the fourth episode, a major standout that jolts the viewer visually and narratively, it was clear the series had pulled far from its last trick.

By season’s end, the show offers more than just clues about what Lumon is up to. “You can’t keep dragging people along withholding answers,” says Erickson. Though, ultimately, plot machinations will wind up being less important than the relationships between the characters. Mystery shows tend to go awry when they throw too much plot at the audience. Ultimately the answer to “What is the smoke monster?” or “What’s at the center of Westworld’s maze?” or “Who is Mr. Robot?” might not live up to expectations. What sustains a show is whether a love affair feels deep, whether a character comes by a change in perspective honestly.

Severance happens to feature a fascinating cast of characters who volunteered to cut their lives in half in order to escape some deep pain. In Season 2, we learn more about the source of that pain. And that, more than any well-plotted twist, is what elevates it from a satisfying puzzle to a great story.

source https://time.com/7202896/severance-season-2-ben-stiller-adam-scott-interview/

7 Myths About Cardiomyopathy—Debunked

Although cardiomyopathy might sound like a shorthand synonym for cardiovascular disease, there are important distinctions you should know about if you or a loved one is experiencing any issues with the heart. Cardiovascular disease is an umbrella term for many different conditions affecting heart function—including diseases of the valves or vessels—while cardiomyopathy affects the heart muscle specifically. With this condition, the muscle can weaken, stiffen, or become inflamed, making it more difficult for your heart to pump blood effectively.

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that as many as 1 in 500 adults in the U.S. could have cardiomyopathy. However, even with that level of prevalence, misconceptions abound, says Dr. Kanny Grewal, a cardiologist at OhioHealth Heart and Vascular Physicians in Columbus, OH.

“Because it’s not discussed as often as heart disease, people may think cardiomyopathy is rare, that it only affects the elderly, or that it’s always fatal,” he says. “That can make a diagnosis scarier than it needs to be.” Here are some of the myths about cardiomyopathy that experts like Grewal encounter, along with the facts.

The myth: There’s only one kind of cardiomyopathy.

The facts: According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), cardiomyopathy represents a collection of diverse conditions that affect the heart muscle. They include:

1. Alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy: True to its name, this is a form of heart disease that’s prompted by excessive and long-term alcohol consumption.
2. Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy: Caused by gene mutations, this is a rare condition that develops when fatty or scarred tissue replaces normal tissue in part of the heart, leading to irregular heartbeat.
3. Dilated cardiomyopathy: This occurs when the lower chambers in the heart enlarge and weaken, causing the heart to work harder in order to pump blood. The most common causes are heart disease or poorly controlled blood pressure, but there are many other possible causes as well, including use of anti-cancer medications, autoimmune illnesses, infections that involve the heart muscle, and exposure to heavy metals like lead or mercury.
4. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: This is the most common type of cardiomyopathy and is most often caused by abnormal genes in the heart muscle that lead to muscle tissue inside the heart becoming thicker than normal, according to the American Heart Association.
5. Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy: A type of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that involves blockages of blood flow from the heart.
6. Pediatric cardiomyopathy: This occurs in children and can be inherited or acquired through a viral infection, although sometimes the cause is unclear.
7. Peripartum cardiomyopathy: A rare form of cardiomyopathy that happens near the end of a pregnancy or within a year of giving birth; the new mother’s heart muscle weakens in a way that leads to fluid buildup in the lungs.
8. Restrictive cardiomyopathy: Another rare type, this causes heart muscles to stiffen, which in turn prevents the heart’s ventricles from filling with enough blood to pump throughout the body. Similar to dilated cardiomyopathy, restrictive cardiomyopathy can have a number of potential causes, including genetic mutations, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy.
9. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, also known as “broken heart syndrome,” develops when extreme physical or emotional stress causes the heart muscle to stop working effectively.

“Knowing the type of cardiomyopathy you have is important, since that often determines treatment options, as well as potential lifestyle changes,” says Grewal.

The myth: Cardiomyopathy is caused by genetic factors.

The facts: While it’s true that cardiomyopathy risk is higher if you have a family history of the disease, and you may develop the condition as a result of certain genes, there are many other potential causes.

The CDC lists certain diseases or conditions can lead to cardiomyopathy, including autoimmune diseases—especially those that affect connective tissue—thyroid conditions, diabetes, and diseases that can damage the heart like hemochromatosis, sarcoidosis, or amyloidosis, all of which involve abnormal buildup of substances within the heart. For instance, amyloidosis occurs when there’s too much protein in the heart tissue.

Infections in the heart muscle or having a heart attack can also raise your cardiomyopathy risk, since those events might weaken the heart muscle in significant ways. Certain behaviors or life changes may prompt cardiomyopathy, as well. For example, the extreme emotional trigger that can lead to Takotsubo cardiomyopathy might be the loss of a loved one, a job layoff, or even anxiety over a medical procedure.

Read More: What to Know About Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in Kids

The myth: Cardiomyopathy is a terminal diagnosis.

The facts: Being told that you have cardiomyopathy can feel overwhelming and lead to thoughts about worst-case scenarios, but the diagnosis does not have to be a death sentence. Many people with cardiomyopathy manage their condition for years and even decades without episodes of hospitalization or concerns about a shortened life.

In fact, in some cases, cardiomyopathy can be reversible or resolve on its own, says Dr. Robert Segal, cardiologist and founder of Manhattan Cardiology. Alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy is a good example, he notes: Just as heavy drinking can negatively affect the heart, quitting alcohol can provide benefits that help the heart muscle heal.

“Chronic alcohol consumption can also contribute to high blood pressure and heart rhythm issues, and that puts strain on the heart muscle in a way that may lead to cardiomyopathy,” Segal says. “If damage is not yet severe, there’s a chance that you can recover and get back heart function to a large extent.”

Other types of cardiomyopathy might resolve even faster. For example, Takotsubo syndrome is considered temporary for many people, with the heart muscle usually healing within two to four weeks with appropriate treatment, such as medications that promote heart recovery like beta blockers. 

Cardiomyopathy does need to be taken very seriously, of course, no matter what type you have, and monitoring is key for preventing more heart muscle damage, says Segal. But the condition can be managed in a meaningful way.

The myth: Cardiomyopathy detection is based on symptoms.

The facts: Shortness of breath, fatigue throughout the day, chest tightness, and a rapid heartbeat are all indications of a potential cardiovascular issue. But it’s important to know that you might have none of these and still have cardiomyopathy. In fact, you may not have any symptoms at all. That’s why the CDC notes that the condition often goes undiagnosed.

Cardiomyopathy can also be the result of gradual changes in heart structure over time, which could take years. Because those changes might be subtle, you may not think of your symptoms as heart-related.

“Fatigue is the cardiomyopathy sign that’s usually dismissed as something else, like being out of shape or burned out from work stress,” says Grewal. “That’s why it’s important to get an annual physical, to detect any heart issues as early as possible, and get imaging tests if needed.”

Read More: 9 Weird Symptoms Cardiologists Say You Should Never Ignore

The myth: Cardiomyopathy occurs mainly in older adults.

The facts: Although you may not develop cardiomyopathy until you’re older, the condition can affect people of all ages, according to the CDC. In fact, there are some types of cardiomyopathy that are more likely in younger people.

For example, the NIH reports that arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy—caused by gene mutations—usually affects teens or young adults and is the most common cause of sudden death in young people and in athletes. Pediatric cardiomyopathy affects only infants up to their first birthday and can stem from a number of causes, including congenital heart disease and viral infections. Peripartum cardiomyopathy occurs just in those who are pregnant or have recently given birth, so that means the patient is still of reproductive age.

The myth: Cardiomyopathy affects only your cardiovascular system.

The facts: Although it may seem like a physical issue related to the mechanics of your cardiovascular system, cardiomyopathy can also trigger emotional difficulties.

For example, a 2023 study in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that one type of the condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, was associated with significantly higher levels of mood disorders, including depression. In that research, people with the condition had a 74% higher risk of these mental health challenges than those without cardiomyopathy.

Another 2023 study, in the Journal of Pharmacy and BioAllied Sciences, suggests that about half of people with cardiac diseases are prone to develop clinical depression, and that includes people with cardiomyopathy as well as other issues like hypertension. The CDC adds that those who had issues like depression and anxiety before a cardiomyopathy diagnosis may find those conditions worsening as a result of dealing with their heart problems.

“A major part of why cardiomyopathy may affect emotional well-being is the way the condition can make breathing more difficult,” says Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonologist at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “It’s the same reason that a respiratory condition like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has also been associated with mental-health difficulties. Feeling like you can’t breathe properly, which is common with cardiomyopathy—especially if the condition isn’t being managed well—can lead to anxiety and elevated heart rate, which then makes symptoms more pronounced.”

That’s why integrating mental health care into your cardiomyopathy management is crucial, Horovitz adds, and should be considered even if you haven’t experienced depression and anxiety in the past.

The myth: Cardiomyopathy can be managed only through medication.

The facts: As with many other chronic conditions, medications may be effective for some degree of management. But that efficacy is significantly boosted by lifestyle habits such as regular physical activity, heart-healthy food choices, consistent sleep routines, and stress reduction, as well as limiting alcohol and quitting smoking.

All of these behaviors are linked to better heart function, and as a bonus, they can be a boon for mental health as well. For example, a 2018 study in Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine found that physical activity provides a range of advantages for heart performance, including better oxygen delivery through the bloodstream, reduced blood pressure, lower inflammation levels, and improved insulin sensitivity, which are all crucial for the cardiovascular system. Those mechanisms help brain function, too, which can be important both for emotional regulation as well as overall cognitive function.

Read More: How Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Progresses in Adults

Another key way to help your heart? Hang out with your friends more often, suggests Dr. Nicole Weinberg, a cardiologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in California. While a chronic disease like cardiomyopathy can lead people to decline social invitations with the expectation that an outing might exacerbate fatigue or anxiety levels, the opposite tends to be true. “Some people may think of social connection as optional, but it provides so many health benefits, mentally and physically,” Weinberg says. “With cardiomyopathy, it can help you feel stronger and more supported, which is key for managing the condition.”

In general, like many serious health issues, cardiomyopathy may seem like a scary diagnosis—particularly when misconceptions are a factor—but knowing the facts and using them to drive beneficial habits can help you take charge of your health and be an advocate for your own well-being.

source https://time.com/7199954/myths-cardiomyopathy-heart-muscle-debunked/

A Head-to-Toe Guide to Treating Dry Skin

It’s the season for dry, itchy skin, from your flaky scalp all the way down to your cracked heels. 

Why is winter so brutal on our bodies? You can thank the dry winter air—which is often made even drier due to cranked-up indoor heating systems—for your parched skin. “If your skin is less moist than the air, the skin will absorb water,” explains Dr. Dawn Davis, a professor of dermatology and pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. “If your skin is in an arid environment where there’s less moisture in the air, your skin will give off water.” Hence why your skin may be plump and hydrated in the summer humidity, but dry as a bone come winter.

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Escaping the chilly weather with long, hot showers only makes matters worse. Hot water strips the skin of its naturally hydrating oils and may also disrupt the skin barrier, a mix of cells and fats that form a protective outer layer on the skin. The skin barrier keeps pathogens out and moisture in. When it’s damaged, water gets sucked out of the skin and into the dry surrounding air even more easily.

But you don’t have to spend all winter itchy and uncomfortable. Use these expert-backed tips to treat dry skin from head to toe.

Scalp

A flaky scalp isn’t necessarily dry, Davis says. In fact, dandruff is often caused by excess oil and yeast overgrowth on the scalp, not a lack of moisture.

If you have a truly dry scalp, it will likely appear pale and produce small, easily removable white flakes, Davis says. (Dandruff flakes, by contrast, tend to be bigger and oilier and may have a yellowish tint.) If that’s the case, look for moisturizing shampoos and conditioners, not oil-removing anti-dandruff shampoos, she says.

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If those products don’t cut it, Dr. Shoshana Marmon, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at New York Medical College, recommends using a scalp brush to manually remove flakes, then applying a moisturizing scalp oil. “Rub the oil into your scalp and use a shower cap overnight to really help it penetrate,” she suggests.

Face

A good moisturizer is key for treating dry facial skin. To figure out which one you need, it’s helpful to understand the wide variety of products and ingredients on the market.

Terms like “lotion,” “cream,” and “ointment” are often used interchangeably, but they mean different things. Lotions are the thinnest of the bunch due to their high water content; creams generally contain equal parts oil and water; and ointments are almost entirely oil-based, making them so thick they sit atop the skin rather than totally soaking in.

Lotions sink in fast but evaporate quickly due to their high water content, Davis says, and ointments tend to be too thick for sensitive facial skin. Creams are the Goldilocks product: neither too thin nor too thick. “The vast majority of the product soaks into the skin to hydrate it,” Davis explains, while the oil component creates a “thin, protective layer on top to act as a sealant.”

When you’re shopping, look for creams that contain certain hydrating ingredients. Humectants such as hyaluronic acid, urea, and glycerin “attract water from the environment and increase moisture in the skin,” Marmon explains, while emollients such as squalane and shea butter “soothe dryness and irritation and fill in gaps and cracks in the skin barrier.” There’s no single best ingredient, Marmon says; a lot of it comes down to your personal preference and skin type. Just make sure you choose a product that’s unscented, hypoallergenic, and non-comedogenic to avoid irritation or acne, she says.

Read More: Should You Tape Your Mouth Shut When You Sleep?

If your skin is very dry, you may also want to change your cleansing routine for the winter season, says Dr. Jason Miller, medical director of Schweiger Dermatology Group. “People who are usually able to wash their face two or three times a day may only be able to tolerate washing it once during the winter,” he says. If that’s the case for you, he says, cleanse at night to remove dirt, makeup, and sweat but consider skipping your morning wash. And unless your skin is acne-prone, you may want to swap cleansers containing harsh ingredients like salicylic acid for gentler products, Marmon says. Micellar water is an effective but less-drying alternative to many makeup removers, Miller adds.

Finally, pay attention to your eyelids, Miller says. If the thin, delicate skin in that area gets dry and itchy, it can be a sign of a product allergy or irritation, he says.

Lips

If your lips are very dry and cracked, start by using a damp washcloth to buff away dead skin, Marmon says. Then apply a layer of petroleum jelly to seal in moisture. She recommends using petroleum jelly on the lips each night before bed and re-upping with lip balm throughout the day as needed.

And resist the urge to lick your lips when they’re chapped, Davis says. The acidity and salts from your saliva can strip away moisture.

Body

Moisturizing creams work for the body as well as the face—but since the body tends not to be as sensitive as facial skin, “you have a lot more leeway when it comes to body moisturizers,” Miller says. If you want to branch out from traditional creams, you could also try a body oil or a product that contains an exfoliating agent, such as lactic or glycolic acid. Very dry skin may also benefit from a thicker product containing ingredients like lanolin or petrolatum, he says.

Regardless of the product you choose, it’s best to apply it within about three minutes of getting out of the shower or bath, while skin is still slightly damp, Davis says. Doing so helps the skin seal in moisture and slows its water loss.

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And—hard as it may be on a cold winter morning—the American Academy of Dermatology recommends limiting showers to a maximum of 10 minutes and using warm, rather than hot, water to protect the skin. Keeping the bathroom door closed to trap steam inside can also introduce some much-needed humidity to the air.

Outside the bathroom, using humidifiers and turning down the heat can help minimize the dryness of your home’s indoor air. Just make sure you clean your humidifier regularly and read the directions about what type of water your unit takes; ultrasonic humidifiers, for example, require distilled water to avoid spewing out potentially harmful particles.

Hands and feet

Hands and feet “take a beating,” Miller says. “They’re the most used parts of the body” and often also the driest.

Since you wash your hands frequently, especially during winter illness season, Miller recommends keeping moisturizer right next to the sink, so you can apply it to your still-damp skin after each wash. The skin on the hands and feet are very thick, so you can choose a product that is similarly thick, like a cream or ointment, Davis says. Exfoliating products that contain ingredients like lactic acid can also help with rough elbows and heels, Marmon says.

If your hands and feet need some extra TLC, Davis recommends applying a layer of your preferred moisturizer before bed, then popping on cotton gloves and socks to let it soak in overnight. You should wake up with much softer skin.

source https://time.com/7202755/how-to-treat-dry-skin/