Saturday, dozens of stars around the world are coming together — virtually — for the global and digital broadcast of "One World: Together at Home," a concert event to support healthcare workers on the frontlines of the pandemic response and the World Health Organization.
The event has been curated in collaboration with star Lady Gaga and will feature top-tier acts like Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Elton John, and, just announced today, The Rolling Stones.
Mick Sheldrick, chief policy and government affairs officer at Global Citizen, told Cheddar Friday that businesses and philanthropists have been donating to the WHO's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund as part of "One World" and supporting local regional response efforts.
"What this fund is providing is much-needed equipment like PPE to health workers in over 75 countries. They're also providing tests to over 126 countries, and critically they are also supporting many of the laboratory scientists around the world who are rapidly working to develop a vaccine," Sheldrick said.
Lady Gaga has been a tremendous help, he noted and said she has made sure the organization is supporting the critical needs of healthcare workers around the world. He also said the singer will continue working with Global Citizen beyond tomorrow's event.
"She really went above and beyond to make sure she understood these issues and not only did she reach out and curate this phenomenal lineup, but she also did calls and reached out to some the CEO's of the largest companies in the U.S. and around the world," he said.
The two-hour special will begin streaming on digital platforms at 2 pm ET and will air on ABC, NBC, and CBS at 8 pm ET. The channels' late-night hosts, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert, have also joined in the effort and will host the special.
"We hope everyone will tune in and take some time out and show that spirit of solidarity," Sheldrick said.
The power of Black Twitter, the name given to a loose network of black Twitter users behind both viral memes and social campaigns, is the premise of "Power Star Live," a 30-minute show that will live stream every Wednesday on the social platform. Jessie Woo and co-host Xilla Valentine aim to dissect how the Twitter users influence pop culture.
It was an urgent warning from a group of professionals not known for a proclivity to scare the public. "In our risk averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break. It is unprecedented," the statement read in part. It was issued jointly on Wednesday, from the unions representing America's air-traffic controllers, pilots, and flight attendants.
The internet is moving away from an ad-based revenue system says Jack Conte, co-founder and CEO of Patreon, a platform that allows people to pay for access to exclusive content from digital creators. That trend is evidenced by the growth that Patreon saw in 2018, Conte said in an interview on Cheddar Wednesday, the same day the company announced it now has more than 3 million subscribers, or "patrons," with more than 100,000 creators on the platform. The company began 2018 with 2 million patrons supporting its content.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019.
Wellness advisor Joyce Chang left her job as editor-in-chief of SELF Magazine to experience an "'Eat, Pray, Love' moment." After returning from her travels and talking to other high-achievers in her life Chang realized she wasn't alone in her quest for more happiness ー despite the perks of a high-powered job.
Michael Liebman caught the financial bug young. At the age of 13, he started trading stocks. At 15, he got a job as a bank teller, and started saving for retirement at 16. Now in his early 20s, Michael has teamed up with his sister Rebecca Liebman to co-found LearnLux, an enterprise company that aims to help workers achieve the kind of financial wellness he has been chasing throughout his young life.
The NBA is transparent about its approval of legalized, regulated sports betting ー but the league is also clearly communicating that it wants a fair share of the money wagered on its games. "It's our view that if state governments are going to be authorizing private entities, in most cases casinos, to generate significant revenue ー billions of dollars of revenue ー off of the NBA competitions, that the NBA participate in some way," said the NBA's head of fantasy and gaming Scott Kaufman-Ross.
It has become a hallmark of the modern millennial: Babies? Maybe later. Fur babies? Absolutely. Seven out of 10 members of the millennial generation own a pet at an average cost of around $1,000 per pet yearly. Given that pets are increasingly treated as family members, more animal owners want to insure them against accidents and illness. Indeed, the gross written premiums for pets in North America doubled ー from $575 million in 2013 to $1.15 billion in 2017, according to the National Association Pet Health Insurance Association. Whether that's a smart use of funds is another question.
The addition of Netflix to the exclusive Motion Picture Association of America on Tuesday is likely to prompt a shift in policy, both for the movie industry and for the streaming giant.
"Netflix ($NFLX) is going to shape the MPAA's agenda as much as the reverse," Eriq Gardner, a senior editor at The Hollywood Reporter, told Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday Jan. 23, 2019.
