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Friday Feature: WCU Developing Face Shield Visors To Protect Healthcare Workers

Faculty, staff and some students with the College of Engineering and Technology at Western Carolina University are using 3D printers at the college's Rapid Center to develop visors for face shields for use by healthcare workers in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Patrick Gardner, Director of the WCU Rapid Center, was i nterviewed in this Friday Feature piece. The interview first aired on April 17, 2020. Posted by Host and Producer of The Friday Feature- Paul Foster, WNCW Senior Producer, News Director, and Morning Edition Regional Host




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Delaware County Sheriff Reports Solving Cold-Case Homicide

Delaware County Sheriff's deputies say they have solved the 36-year-old murder of a teen.




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Music Interview: Fairfield County Chorale Throws A Birthday Bash for Beethoven

For their celebration of Beethoven's 250th birthday this year, the Fairfield County Chorale is performing one of his most famous works, the Emperor Piano Concerto with soloist Ilya Yakushev, and one of Beethoven's least known sacred works on Saturday, March 7 at the Norwalk Concert Hall. Kate Remington talks with Artistic Director David Rosenmeyer about what makes each of these two works so special.




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Book Review: 'The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped An Age'

Before there was the Algonquin Round Table in New York in the ‘20s, a lunch group of literary bon vivants whose often quotable put downs would become famous, there was – and STILL IS – The Club, a unique London tavern assembly of intellectuals, started in 1764, that included some of the most dazzling verbal sharpshooters of the day. Their extraordinary, wide-ranging conversations, passionate arguments and often hilarious provocations and rejoinders have now been captured by the award-winning cultural critic Leo Damrosch. Called “ The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped An Age , ” this fascinating history will likely prove one of the most engaging, enlightening and delicious books you’ll come across in a long time. Damrosch wears his scholarship with ease and grace, including references, as he genially corrects or adds ironic commentary to the private lives and public careers he celebrates. As the title has it, he follows the arcs of the humbly born Samuel Johnson and of




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Helge Borgarts' Music Is The Perfect Sound For 'The Surge 2'

The sparsely-populated world created as the result of a plague in The Surge 2 needed a suitably dystopian sound for the music. I talked with composer Helge Borgarts of BowsToHymns who, with his colleague Thomas Stanger, crafted their music for the soundtrack that's inspired by the striking visuals and unique sound design by developers Deck 13. Helge and BowsToHymns also worked on the soundtrack for The Kraken , an expansion for The Surge 2 set during the 1980s on an aircraft carrier that's been turned into a cruise ship. Helge says it was really fun to recreate a grunge rock sound from some of his 1980s heroes. The Surge 2 Soundtrack, including the Kraken expansion is available in Apple Music, and many other sources. Episode tracklist : All tracks composed and performed by Helge Borgarts and Thomas Stanger (BowsToHymns) The Surge 2: Plane Crash; Infiltration; City Exploration; University; The Wall; Dangerous Harbour; Black Market; The Escape (feat. Alina Lesnik, vocals); Kraken Electro




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Religion, Science And Murder. It's All In 'The Darwin Affair.'

It’s a matter of fact that between 1840 and 1882 there were eight assassination attempts on the life of Queen Victoria, but in his suspenseful novel “The Darwin Affair,” Tim Mason adds a ninth, in 1860, and makes the target Prince Albert. The date is important: it’s just months after the publication of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” and concomitant with the Oxford University Museum debate on evolution featuring those famous antagonists – biologist and anthropologist Thomas Huxley and Anglican Bishop Samuel Wilberforce. Prince Albert wants to give Darwin a knighthood. No way say fierce evolution deniers in Parliament and powerful members of the clergy, and so they conscript a sinister anti-evolutionist to kill the prince and thus head off what would otherwise be seen as royal approval of a theory that threatens The Great Chain of Being: the way things are, have been, and must be forever. Little do they know that their hired man, the wraith-like creature with the disturbing




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Music Interview: Stamford Symphony Orchestra Launches A Video Channel

The Stamford Symphony Orchestra has launched its very own video channel as a way for the musians to connecct with audience members from around the world. Kate Remington talks with Music Director Designate Michael Stern about the diverse videos on the channel, and the most recent project featuring musicians in the orchestra and soloists of next season coming together to perform Amazing Grace , dedicated to all healthcare workers in Fairfield County on the frontlines during the COVID-19 crisis.




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Peter McConnell's 1928 Banjo Gives 'Plants Vs. Zombies' A 'Down Home' Vibe

Award-winning composer Peter McConnell is no stranger to the world of Plants vs. Zombies . Battle for Neighborville is his third soundtrack for the series. He's also no stranger to the banjo! He's been playing since he was 13, but when he spied a gorgeous 1928 Gibson five-string in a music store he regularly haunts, he knew it would be perfect for the Cheese Mines levels in the game. Peter gave the whole soundtrack a real roots feel, also using a slide guitar. He even wrote his own, in his words, "earnest" folk song, Where Have All the Plants Gone , inspired by legendary folksinger Joan Baez, who's actually a neighbor. Because Plants vs. Zombies Battle for Neighborville is a science fiction game at heart, Peter also added plenty of classic synths. He says the developers at Pop Cap also suggested the sound of the score for The Time Machine, based on the novel by H.G. Wells. Peter says getting the right emotion in his music for a game keeps the writing interesting, whether it's the




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Live Friday, February 14th between 3 & 4pm: Jack Broadbent - Canceled

Hailed as “The new master of the slide guitar” by the Montreux Jazz Festival and “The real thang” by the legendary Bootsy Collins, Lincolnshire, England folk/blues musician Jack Broadbent has spent the the past few years wowing international audiences with his unique blend of virtuosic acoustic and slide guitar and songs. You've likely heard us play songs from his new album Moonshine Blue lately. He plays Isis in West Asheville Saturday night.




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Live Wednesday, March 11th between 1 & 2pm: Elonzo Wesley

This Charlotte band started off as a solo project of singer/guitarist and SC native Jeremy Davis, but their sound has morphed to the great fiddle/mandolin/bass lineup they have today. And their indie-rock roots still show with a new cover of My Morning Jacket's "Golden". We welcome them back to Studio B in advance of their Friday the 13th show at Pisgah Brewing in Black Mountain.




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Live Tuesday, March 17th between 3 & 4pm: Amythyst Kiah - Canceled

Johnson City's own performs solo and with her own band, when not part of Our Native Daughters (for which she received particular acclaim for her song "Black Myself".) Following are words from Amythyst herself, in a Facebook post regarding the current COVID-19 pandemic: "...I love what I do and I am thinking of all of the beautiful, hardworking, full-time musicians I've met that this will affect. It's important now more than ever for us to talk to and support one another in the music industry - most of us musicians are not millionaires with Swiss bank accounts. I'm proud to see so many resourceful folks finding new ways to do things. We'll make it through this, but also remember it's okay to freak out if you need to, and then use that energy and anxiety to make it work. We'll see you all back out on the road soon enough."




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Tuesday, May 12th at 1pm, from September, 1998: The Del McCoury Band

The beloved, charismatic Del & the Boys have visited us more than a time or two over the years, and this one from September 25th, 1998 has never aired since that date. What say we revisit it again? "Well all RIGHT!"




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Google Says Most Of Its Employees Will Likely Work Remotely Through End of Year

Google says most of its employees will likely be allowed to work remotely through the end of year. In a companywide meeting Thursday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said employees who needed to work in the office would be allowed to return in June or July with enhanced safety measures in place. The rest would likely continue working from home, a Google spokesperson told NPR. Google had originally told employees work-from-home protocols would be in place at least through June 1. Facebook also said it would allow most of its employees to work remotely through the end of 2020, according to media reports. The company had previously announced it was canceling large events through June 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Both companies began telling employees to stay home in March . Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.




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French Education Minister Says School Reopenings Will Be Done 'Very Progressively'

Primary schools in France are reopening next week. There will, of course, be social distancing measures in place. Class sizes will be limited to 15 and no games at recess. It's a gradual three-week process beginning with preschoolers. The government says the reopening is voluntary and students won't be forced to return. Still, many parents and administrators are against the plan. More than 300 mayors in the Paris region signed an open letter to President Macron, urging a delay in reopening and saying the timeline is " untenable and unrealistic ." They said schools needed more time to implement the required sanitary measures. Jean-Michel Blanquer, France's minister of education, talked with Mary Louise Kelly on All Things Considered about bringing students back to class for the first time since mid-March. Here are selected excerpts: Do you think they will come? Do you think you will have 15 students in classrooms come next week? Yes, because we are asking the parents during the last




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V-E Day: Europe Celebrates A Subdued 75th Anniversary During COVID-19 Pandemic

Updated at 5:02 p.m. ET It was supposed to be a day of parades, a vast party that would transcend borders and bring generations together, not unlike the spontaneous euphoria that swept through victorious European allies when Nazi Germany finally surrendered. But instead of a mega-event, leaders in London, Paris, Moscow and other capitals, observed the 75th anniversary of V-E Day at a diminished level Friday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. French President Emmanuel Macron led a small ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, looking out over an empty Champs-Élysées. A 93-year-old veteran of World War II observes a moment of silence at the Cenotaph war memorial in London, where British residents — like much of Europe — marked a subdued 75th anniversary of V-E Day. Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP via Getty Images Because of health risks the disease poses to older people, many veterans of the war were forced to avoid travel and keep their distance at public gatherings. "The veterans are of course getting




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Coronavirus FAQs: Do Temperature Screenings Help? Can Mosquitoes Spread It?

This is part of a series looking at pressing coronavirus questions of the week. We'd like to hear what you're curious about. Email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: "Weekly Coronavirus Questions." More than 76,000 people in the U.S. have died because of COVID-19, and there have been 1.27 million confirmed cases across the country — and nearly 4 million worldwide. Though the virus continues to spread and sicken people, some states and countries are starting to reopen businesses and lift stay-at-home requirements. This week, we look at some of your questions as summer nears and restrictions are eased. Is it safe to swim in pools or lakes? Does the virus spread through the water? People are asking whether they should be concerned about being exposed to the coronavirus while swimming. Experts say water needn't be a cause for concern. The CDC says there is no evidence the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas or water




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Public Health Experts Say Many States Are Opening Too Soon To Do So Safely

As of Friday in Texas, you can go to a tanning salon. In Indiana, houses of worship are being allowed to open with no cap on attendance. Places like Pennsylvania are taking a more cautious approach, only starting to ease restrictions in some counties based on the number of COVID-19 cases. By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon. "The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak," said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later




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How The Approval Of The Birth Control Pill 60 Years Ago Helped Change Lives

Updated at 9:44 a.m. ET As a young woman growing up in a poor farming community in Virginia in the 1940 and '50s, with little information about sex or contraception, sexuality was a frightening thing for Carole Cato and her female friends. "We lived in constant fear, I mean all of us," she said. "It was like a tightrope. always wondering, is this going to be the time [I get pregnant]?" Cato, 78, now lives in Columbia, S.C. She grew up in the years before the birth control pill was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, on May 9, 1960. She said teenage girls in her community were told very little about how their bodies worked. "I was very fortunate; I did not get pregnant, but a lot of my friends did. And of course, they just got married and went into their little farmhouses," she said. "But I just felt I just had to get out." At 23, Cato married a widower who already had seven children. They decided seven was enough. By that time, Cato said, the pill allowed the couple to




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Celebrating Art Tatum's 108th Birthday And His Toledo Roots

Today would have been the great pianist Art Tatum's 108th birthday. WEMU celebrated his birth in 1909 with Dr. Imelda Hunt, author Does A Genius? - A Tribute To Art Tatum. Dr. Hunt is a new faculty member of the Department of Africology and African Studies at Eastern Michigan University. She brings a deep understanding of African-Americans in the midwest including her hometown of Toledo, Ohio - also Art Tatum's hometown. Dr. Hunt's research revealed Art Tatum's neighborhood, the legendary department stores, dance halls, and nightclubs where he performed and details about his loving and supportive family. Dr. Hunt also shared how the experience of listening to Art Tatum's brilliant music inspired her to write many poems, two of which she shared in conversation. Enjoy the genius of Art Tatum and a heartfelt appreciation from Dr. Imelda Hunt.




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The Roots Music Project: Corndaddy Celebrates 20 Years With Live In-Studio Performance

The first Roots Music Project of 2018 is a special one! Host Jeremy Baldwin welcomes Ann Arbor's own Americana band Corndaddy to the WEMU studios for a live interview and performance!




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SUNY Chancellor Calls Excelsior Scholarship A Success Despite Low First-Year Numbers

SUNY Chancellor Kristina Johnson is calling the Excelsior Scholarship a success despite statistics that show it was used by only 3.2% of SUNY students to help pay tuition costs in its first year.




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NASA And Stony Brook To Study How Space Travel Affects Human Health

Audio File Edit | Remove Saturday marks 50 years since the first moon landing. Now, NASA is tapping a team from Stony Brook University to investigate how going to space impacts human health. The team is one of eight NASA has selected to help further exploration of our solar system with robots and astronauts. Timothy Glotch, a professor of geosciences at Stony Brook, leads the team. Professor Glotch, thank you for joining All Things Considered. What do you hope to find in your research? So the overall goal of the RISE2 team, which is the name of our team, is to help pave the way for humans to safely return to the moon and explore and get back safely to Earth. So as you mentioned one of our goals is to try and understand the health effects of exploration. We have a team of geochemists working with folks in the medical school at Stony Brook University to understand the reactivity of dust on the moon, and how if you breathe that in how that might lead to potential health effects. And how




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Statin Users Twice As Likely To Develop Diabetes, SCSU Study Finds

A Southern Connecticut State University study explores the link between cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins and Type 2 Diabetes.




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Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Yield Unintended Consequences, Yale Study Finds

Scientists at Yale and other universities came to some surprising findings when they studied a group of genetically modified mosquitoes released in Brazil.




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Stony Brook To Study Impact Of Shellfish Dredging In Oyster Bay

Stony Brook University researchers will study how underwater sediment that’s kicked up by large-scale shellfish harvesting impacts the environment.




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Conn. Election Results: GOP Gains 2 Seats, Democrats Keep 3

The GOP has flipped two of the five Connecticut General Assembly seats left vacant by Democratic incumbents who resigned to take jobs in Governor Ned Lamont’s new administration.




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Secretary Merrill: Voters Can Trust Conn. Electoral System

Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill stands by her office’s ability to protect voters’ access to polling centers.




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New York Bans Religious Exemptions For Vaccines

The State Assembly narrowly approved a measure to remove the religious exemption for vaccinations, in the wake of a severe measles outbreak that began in communities with a high percentage of unvaccinated children in New York and is steadily spreading to other states. The measure almost didn’t make it out of the Health Committee, and the Chair of the Committee voted against the bill on the Assembly floor.




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Public Health Experts Say Many States Are Opening Too Soon To Do So Safely

As of Friday in Texas, you can go to a tanning salon. In Indiana, houses of worship are being allowed to open with no cap on attendance. Places like Pennsylvania are taking a more cautious approach, only starting to ease restrictions in some counties based on the number of COVID-19 cases. By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon. "The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak," said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later




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Want To Adopt A Dog? First Ask Yourself: Can You Still Commit Post-Pandemic?

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.




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How The Approval Of The Birth Control Pill 60 Years Ago Helped Change Lives

Updated at 9:44 a.m. ET As a young woman growing up in a poor farming community in Virginia in the 1940 and '50s, with little information about sex or contraception, sexuality was a frightening thing for Carole Cato and her female friends. "We lived in constant fear, I mean all of us," she said. "It was like a tightrope. always wondering, is this going to be the time [I get pregnant]?" Cato, 78, now lives in Columbia, S.C. She grew up in the years before the birth control pill was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, on May 9, 1960. She said teenage girls in her community were told very little about how their bodies worked. "I was very fortunate; I did not get pregnant, but a lot of my friends did. And of course, they just got married and went into their little farmhouses," she said. "But I just felt I just had to get out." At 23, Cato married a widower who already had seven children. They decided seven was enough. By that time, Cato said, the pill allowed the couple to




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Domestic Violence Shelters May See Surge Once COVID-19 Lockdown Is Lifted

Police are responding to an increased number of domestic violence calls during the coronavirus pandemic. An increase had been expected because many women have to shelter-in-place with their abusers. Shelters had prepared for an increase in service requests, but those calls aren't coming as frequently as anticipated. As WEMU'S David Fair found out from Safehouse Center executive director Barbara Niess-May, that is worrisome for a number of reasons.




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The Ride Awarded $20.7 Million In Federal Funding To Help With COVID-19 Costs

The Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority is getting a boost in funding from the federal government to help cover operational costs during the coronavirus pandemic. We get the details from WEMU’s Taylor Pinson.




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Ann Arbor Art Fair Cancelled This Year Due To Current Global Health Crisis

Saying it would be “impractical and implausable to maintain social distancing” due to COVID-19, the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair has been cancelled this year, July 2020. WEMU's Lisa Barry talks with Maureen Riley, the executive director of the Ann Arbor Art Fair-The Original, about all that went into making the very difficult decision to cancel the annual Ann Arbor Art Fair.




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Art & Soul: The Culinary Arts - Local Chefs Get Creative Helping Diners During Health Crisis

Restaurants were one of the first and hardest hit by our current health crisis and looks like they will remain closed for a while. WEMU's Lisa Barry talks with John Reyes of Eater.com about how Washtenaw County restaurants are evolving during the current health crisis and what they are doing to try and still serve customers and maintain their bottom line.




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Dingell Supports Slow Start To Reopening The Economy

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has extended her stay-at-home order through the end of May, while introducing a multi-step plan to get Michigan's economy going again. 12th District Representative Debbie Dingell expressed her optimism to WEMU for a safe start to the process while calling for more bi-partisan efforts to support those in need.




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First Debate Held In Surprisingly Close Texas Senate Race

Copyright 2018 KERA. To see more, visit KERA . SCOTT SIMON, HOST: In Texas, a race that no one expected to be this competitive. The candidates for Texas Senate battled in a debate last night. KERA's Christopher Connelly reports from Dallas. CHRISTOPHER CONNELLY, BYLINE: It was a scene that feels kind of rare in American politics these days. Two guys with diametrically opposed opinions lobbing barbed policy prescriptions back-and-forth without any name calling. Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Beto O'Rourke were forceful and civil - mostly. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) BETO O'ROURKE: You just said something that I did not say... TED CRUZ: What did you not say? O'ROURKE: ...And attributed it to me. CRUZ: What did you not say? O'ROURKE: I'm not going to repeat the slander and the mischaracterization. CRUZ: So what did you say? What did you say? O'ROURKE: I'm not going to repeat the slander and mischaracterization. CRUZ: You're not going to say what you did say? CONNELLY: Ted Cruz is




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"Da 5 Bloods" - cast: Chadwick Boseman, Delroy Lindo, Jean Reno, Jonathan Majors, Paul Walter Hauser, Clarke Peters, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Norm Lewis, Melanie Thierry, Jasper Paakkonen

Release date : TBA 2020
Synopsis : The film follows Vietnam veterans who return to the jungle to find their lost innocence. Searching for the remains of ...




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"Sweetness in the Belly" - cast: Dakota Fanning, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Kunal Nayyar, Wunmi Mosaku, Peter Bankole

Release date : TBA 2020
Synopsis : Lilly Abdal (Dakota Fanning) was orphaned in Africa as a child and experiences her parents' homeland of England for the ...




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"Babyteeth" - cast: Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Emily Barclay, Eugene Gilfedder, Ben Mendelsohn, Essie Davis, Andrea Demetriades, Charles Grounds, Justin Smith, Arka Das, Priscilla Doueihy, Zack Grech, Georgina Symes, Jack Yabsley

Release date : June 19, 2020
Synopsis : When seriously ill teenager Milla (Eliza Scanlen) falls madly in love with smalltime drug dealer Moses (Toby Wallace), it's her ...




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"The King of Staten Island" - cast: Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Bel Powley, Maude Apatow, Steve Buscemi, Pamela Adlon, Machine Gun Kelly, Jimmy Tatro, Ricky Velez, Kevin Corrigan, Domenick Lombardozzi, Mike Vecchione, Moises Arias,

Release date : June 12, 2020
Synopsis : Scott (Pete Davidson) has been a case of arrested development ever since his firefighter father died when he was seven. ...




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"Think Like a Dog" - cast: Gabriel Bateman, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Kunal Nayyar

Release date : June 09, 2020
Synopsis : "Think Like a Dog" (aka "Dogs Best Friend") follows 12-year- old tech prodigy, Oliver (Gabriel Bateman), whose science fair experiment ...




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"Becky" - cast: Lulu Wilson, Kevin James, Joel McHale, Amanda Brugel, Robert Maillet

Release date : June 05, 2020
Synopsis : The pic centers on Becky (Lulu Wilson), a rebellious 13-year-old who is brought to a weekend getaway at a lake ...




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"The High Note" - cast: Tracee Ellis Ross, Dakota Johnson, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Zoe Chao, Ice Cube, June Diane Raphael, Bill Pullman, Eddie Izzard, Diplo

Release date : May 29, 2020
Synopsis : Set in the dazzling world of the LA music scene comes the story of Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross), a ...




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Celine Dion

Read full biography of Celine Dion including latest news, trivia, quotes, filmography/discography, awards and fun stuff.




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Kelly Rowland Blames Album Delay on Her Own Incompetence

The former Destiny's Child member admits she's inept at using music software so she's not as productive as she wanted to be during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown.




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Camila Cabello Joins All In Challenge With Offer of Cameo Appearance in Music Video

Pearl Jam, in the meantime, takes part in the viral challenge by proposing to fans a chance to write their future setlist and be Eddie Vedder's personal guitar technician.




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Cher Finds Herself Lucky Despite Coronavirus Shutdown of 'Here We Go Again' Tour

Using her time in quarantine to rework ABBA's classic 'Chiquitita', the 'Believe' hitmaker will debut her new track on May 8 and release its video as part of UNICEF's COVID-19 Virtual Special.




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Camila Cabello, Steve Aoki to Headline TikTok Livestream Supporting Coronavirus Relief

To be kicked off on May 5, the 'Happy at Home: #OneCommunity LIVE' event will run every evening at 8 P.M. ET until Saturday, May 9, on the social media platform.




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Demi Lovato Pushes Scooter Braun to Make Tori Kelly Duet Happen

During a chat on Instagram Live, the 'I Love Me' singer and the 'American Idol' alum decide to show off their powerful vocals by performing an a capella duet of her 2016 single 'Stone Cold'.