Unlocking characters in Slay the Spire 2 couldn’t be easier. Unlike most other games where you have to grind through full runs or beat tough bosses, character unlocks in Slay the Spire 2 happen automatically as you start runs with each character. What’s even better is that you can even quit early and it’ll still count as a completed attempt toward unlocking the next character, so getting the full roster doesn’t feel like a slog.
Slay the Spire 2 currently features five unlockable characters and each one brings its own set of cards, mechanics, and resource systems that can noticeably change how a run plays out. So, if you want to move through the full roster without getting stuck on long runs, here’s how you can unlock every character in Slay the Spire 2.
Slay the Spire 2: Every Playable Character and How to Unlock Them
Slay the Spire 2 features five playbale characters: the Ironclad, the Silent, the Regent, the Necrobinder, and the Defect. As we said earlier, you don’t have to finish full runs or take down bosses to unlock them. Instead, all you need to do is simply start a run with a character to unlock the next one.
Since the characters in Slay the Spire 2 unlock in a set order, you’ll work your way through the roster one at a time. With all that out of the way, here’s how to unlock every playable character in Slay the Spire 2 and what each one brings to a run:
Ironclad
The Ironclad is available right from the start and is the easiest choice to get a feel for how the game works. His cards deal direct damage and include important debuffs like Vulnerable and Weak. His starting relic heals 6 HP after every fight, making early runs more forgiving and also opens up different ways to build his deck.
The Silent
You can unlock The Silent by playing a run as the Ironclad. She’s built for speed and control, letting you chain several low-cost cards in a single turn or stack poison to wear enemies down over time. Her deck works well with draw and discard tricks, and Sly cards can be played for free after being discarded, which lets you pull off some tricky combos.
The Regent
The Regent unlocks after you play a run as The Silent. He introduces Stars, a secondary resource that works alongside Energy but doesn’t reset each turn. This allows you to build resources and allocate them in bursts as needed. He also uses Forge to strengthen a retained attack over time, giving him a more deliberate and setup-focused playstyle.
The Necrobinder
You can unlock The Necrobinder by playing a run as The Regent. She fights alongside Osty, a summoned companion that can absorb damage once your Block is broken. You can increase Osty’s health through summoning effects, turning it into a reliable buffer in longer fights. On top of that, The Necrobinder has Soul cards for extra draws without spending energy, as well as Doom, which can automatically defeat enemies if it reaches their remaining HP.
The Defect
The Defect becomes available after you play a run as The Necrobinder. It’s back with its signature orb system, summoning elemental orbs that trigger effects at the end of each turn. However, you’ll need to keep an eye on your orbs, since adding new ones can trigger their stronger evoke effects.
And that’s how you unlock every character in Slay the Spire 2. For more gaming news and guides, be sure to check out our gaming page!
Neeraj Chopra is not just an athlete; he is a phenomenon that redefined the sporting landscape of a nation of 1.4 billion people. Before Neeraj, Indian athletics was often associated with “near misses” and “valiant efforts.” After Neeraj, it became about gold medals, world records, and global dominance. His journey from a mischievous boy in a small village to the podiums of Tokyo and Paris is a masterclass in dedication, humility, and raw power.
From Village Boy to World-Class Athlete
Growing Up in Haryana
Born in the village of Khandra in Haryana’s Panipat district, Neeraj’s path to the javelin was almost accidental. As a child, Neeraj struggled with childhood obesity, weighing nearly 80 kilograms at the age of 12. His father, a farmer, insisted he take up sports to get fit. While he initially tried wrestling and running, it was at the Shivaji Stadium in Panipat that he saw senior athletes throwing the javelin. The way the spear cut through the air fascinated him, and a legend was born.
The Moment That Changed Everything
Neeraj’s natural talent was evident from his very first throws. He possessed a rare combination of flexibility and “fast-twitch” muscle fiber. Under the guidance of his early coaches, he moved from local competitions to national camps. His transition from a hobbyist to a professional was fueled by a simple realization: he had the potential to be the best in the world, not just the best in Panipat.
Junior Career – The Record That Started It All
The world first took notice of Neeraj Chopra in 2016 at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. He didn’t just win gold; he shattered the junior world record with a massive throw of 86.48m.
To put this in perspective, his junior record throw would have been enough to place him in the top four at the Rio 2016 Olympics. This was the moment India realized they had a once-in-a-generation talent. Even then, Neeraj remained grounded, focusing on his technique rather than the fame that followed.
The Road to Tokyo 2020
Rise Through Commonwealth & Asian Games
The years leading up to the Tokyo Olympics saw Neeraj dominating the Asian circuit. He secured gold medals at:
2017 Asian Athletics Championships: Gold (85.23m)
2018 Commonwealth Games: Gold (86.47m)
2018 Asian Games: Gold (88.06m)
During this period, he became a household name. However, top-tier success requires more than just domestic dominance. Neeraj began training with international experts like Uwe Hohn and later Klaus Bartonietz to refine his biomechanics.
The Injury That Almost Ended It All
In 2019, tragedy struck. Neeraj suffered a severe injury to his throwing elbow, requiring surgery. For a javelin thrower, an elbow injury can be career-ending. He missed the 2019 World Championships and spent months in grueling rehabilitation. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, delaying the Olympics. While others saw a setback, Neeraj saw an opportunity to heal completely and perfect his form.
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Tokyo 2020 – The Throw That Made History
The 87.58m That Beat the World
On August 7, 2021, Neeraj Chopra entered the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. He looked calm, almost serene. On his second attempt in the final, he unleashed a throw of 87.58m. He didn’t even watch the javelin land; he turned around and raised his arms in celebration. He knew.
The Tokyo 2020 Podium:
Neeraj Chopra (India): 87.58m
Jakub Vadlejch (Czech Republic): 86.67m
Vítězslav Veselý (Czech Republic): 85.44m
Why India Celebrated Like Never Before
This wasn’t just another medal. It was India’s first-ever Olympic gold in track and field. For decades, Indian fans had watched legends like Milkha Singh and P.T. Usha come agonizingly close to the podium. Neeraj finally broke the “curse,” proving that Indians could compete with—and beat—the best in the world on the biggest stage.
Life After Tokyo – Staying at the Top
Many athletes struggle with “post-Olympic slump,” but Neeraj only got better. He became a model of consistency, rarely finishing outside the top two in any Diamond League event.
World Championship Gold in 2023
In 2023, Neeraj added the one missing trophy to his cabinet: World Championship Gold. With a throw of 88.17m in Budapest, he became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships. At this point, he held the Olympic, Asian, Commonwealth, and World titles simultaneously—a feat very few in history have achieved.
Breaking the 90m Barrier
The “90m mark” has become the holy grail for Neeraj and his fans. While he has come incredibly close with a personal best of 89.94m, the pursuit of this distance remains his primary technical goal. It is this hunger for perfection that keeps him motivated despite having won everything there is to win. To keep track of your own preferences and settings during the upcoming seasons, you might need to manage your Mostbet accountto ensure everything is ready for the next big competition.
Paris 2024 – Silver but Not Second Best
Neeraj vs Arshad Nadeem – The Rivalry
The Paris 2024 Olympics featured one of the greatest javelin finals in history. The rivalry between Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem has become a symbol of healthy sporting competition in South Asia. In Paris, Arshad set a breathtaking Olympic record of 92.97m.
India’s Only Two-Time Olympic Medalist
Neeraj responded with a powerful 89.45m, securing the Silver medal. While it wasn’t gold, the achievement was historic.
Neeraj became the first Indian track and field athlete to win two Olympic medals.
He proved his longevity by delivering his second-best career throw under immense pressure.
He handled the loss with grace, immediately congratulating Arshad, further cementing his status as a role model.
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There’s so much music coming out all the time that it’s hard to keep track. On those days when the influx of new tracks is particularly overwhelming, we sift through the noise to bring you a curated list of the most interesting new releases (the best of which will be added to our Best New Songs playlist). Below, check out our track roundup for Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
Fire-Toolz – ‘Balam =^..^= Says IPv09082024 Strawberry Head ‘
Oh, you listen to Fire-Toolz? Name one of their songs. No, say the title of this song right in front of you. Excitingly, Angel Marcloid’s unpindownable project has signed to Warp, which will release the wonderfully titled Lavender Networks on May 8. It features contributions from Zola Jesus, Jennifer Holm, Brothertiger, Nailah Hunter, Lipsticism, and Sling Beam, and you can hear its dizzying lightbeam of a lead single below.
Jim Legxacy – ‘idk idk’
Hot on the heels of his black british music mixtape, Jim Legxacy has dropped a standalone single, ‘idk idk idk’, which is chaotically vibrant. The London rapper is set to head to North America to play Lollapalooza, Osheaga, and Outside Lands in the months to come.
Future Islands – ‘Sail’ and ‘Find Love’
Future Islands are celebrating their 20th anniversary with a new compilation album, From a Hole in the Floor to a Fountain of Youth, arriving May 22 via 4AD. It features “alternate hits, rarities, and fan favorites,” including two new songs, the meditative ‘Sail’ and characteristically propulsive ‘Find Love’, that are out today. “I’ve always loved the imagery of that lyric,” bassist William Cashion, who chose the title, commented. “The hole in the floor is the everyday, but the fountain is the magic that happens when the life you dreamed about actually becomes the one you’re living. It’s the dream and the reality existing in the same room… This is for everyone who has carried these songs with them, from the first house parties to the rooms we’re playing today.”
Tori Amos – ‘Shush’
Following ‘Stronger Together’, a duet with her daughter Tash, the second single from Tori Amos’ upcoming LP is a hauntingly atmospheric ballad about an alternate reality in which she’s married an evil billionaire “lizard demon.” Here’s what she had to say about ‘Shush’: “He represents what we’re dealing with right now. He sees congressmen, senators, and even probably presidents as people who answer to him and other billionaires, who don’t think you and I should vote. He’s trying to develop the kind of feudal system we had hundreds of years ago. But it doesn’t look like it once did. We don’t look like we’re in the trenches, in the muck. We have all the cool, digital devices now. So it looks different. But it has the same philosophy.”
Courtney Barnett – ‘One Thing at a Time’
“I don’t know where to start,” begins Courtney Barnett’s new single, “When every thought at once/ Comes flooding til I’m underwater.” Perhaps the overanalytical mind never stops running, but ‘One Thing at a Time’ cools into that headspace while opening itself up to change. Plus, it’s got Flea on bass, as well as a delightful video directed by Lance Bangs. Barnett’s new album, Creature of Habit, is out this Friday.
Pulp – ‘Marrying for Love’ and ‘Cold Call on the Hot Line’
‘Marrying for Love’ and ‘Cold Call on the Hot Line’ serve as B-sides to Pulp’s recent cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘The Man Comes Around’, but they’re not to be glossed over. Both tracks are quite easygoing, which means you can really appreciate Jarvis Cocker’s spoken word.
mary in the junkyard – ‘Crash Landing’
mary in the junkyard have announced their debut album, Role Model Hermit. It’s slated to arrive on July 3 via AMF Records, and it’s led by the slow-burning ‘Crash Landing’. “It’s about fear and how men often rely on keeping their emotions secret, and how you have to crack them open,” Clari-Freeman Taylor commented. “To be the only one that’s seeing one side of someone, it’s trapping.”
Spencer Krug – ‘Timebomb’ [feat. Elbow Kiss]
As Wolf Parade’s ‘I’ll Believe In Anything’ is enjoying a resurgence thanks to Netflix’s Heated Rivalry, Spencer Krug has announced a new solo LP, Same Fangs, out May 15. Its first single, ‘Timebomb’, is a spare, poignant duet with Elbow Kiss. “‘Timebomb’ is a song about a song about a band on tour, or rather, about the failed revision of that song, upon sadly realizing that its original message no longer rings true,” Krug explained. “This is me lyrically folding myself into the murky layers of self-made lore.”
Fruit Bats – ‘The Landfill’
Fruit Bats has announced a new album, The Landfill, due out June 12 via Merge Records. It’s led by the breezy, winking title track, which is accompanied by a music video from director Adam Willis that made me laugh out loud. Eric D. Johnson commented: “This is my 6th video with the great Adam Willis, AKA Brother Willis. Another in our long line of collabs which are often funny with cold opens and strange characters plumbing the depths of the human psyche.The very first brainstorm session, we landed on Close Encounters of the Third Kind as an initial reference. Especially the notion of a man at a crossroads who is haunted by a mysterious shape. Later that morphed into the idea that, for some strange reason, I live a double life as a tortured art star in Europe. And that my music career there is completely unknown. Truth be told, Fruit Bats have had a strange journey as more or less a cult band for a long time. Things have gotten bigger in recent years in North America but we ARE still quite obscure in Europe. This is a less than subtle nod to that fact.”
Lucy Liyou – ‘Crisis (Identity)’
Lucy Liyou’s new album MR COBRA doesn’t arrive until April 17, but its accompanying perfomrance piece debuts on Saturday at Performance Space New York. Following the introductory ‘Yoohoo (An Overture)’ and ‘Babygirl’, the artist has today shared ‘Crisis (Identity)’, the LP’s spine-tingling centerpiece, featuring saxophone from Patrick Shiroishi and electronic contributions by Nick Zanca. “There’s clarity in the beginning. She calls this a crisis. She calls her body a narcissist,” Liyou remarked. “But in reality, this is not her crisis. It’s the titular character’s problem, who has to attempt to understand and contain this kooky breadth of her being. Babygirl starts with explanations (‘I liken me to an actress’), but soon her language (d)evolves into commands (‘look at me’) until her words become nonsensical in phrase and nature.”
Nashville singer-songwriter Brennan Wedl has signed to ANTI- Records, and to mark the news, she’s teamed up with Waxahatchee for a lovely cover of Kathleen Edwards’ ‘Six O’Clock News’. “I absolutely love this so much and am humbled that my song gets to live a new life with Katie and Brennan,” Edwards commented. “25 years ago, my audience looked a lot different than theirs does today – it’s incredibly cool to see young women love the songwriting that means so much to me, too.”
Cole Berliner – ‘The Black Door’
You may be familiar with Cole Berliner’s work as one half of Sharpie Smile, who unveiled their pop-minded debut album last year after years of leading the psych-rock outfit Kamikaze Palm Trees. Now, Berliner is gearing up to release his solo debut, and it finds him leaning in an entirely different direction. The Black Door is out May 29 on Drag City, and the leading title track is a stunningly folky instrumental that serves as “an ode to the sweetness and darkness of memory, both in one’s immediate life and in the context of history. The inspiration was drawn from the mystical sounds of American (and proto-American!) folk music and swing, filtered through the lens of heart-string pullers like Bert Jansch and Jim O’Rourke, and carved into something both personal and simultaneously universal.”
Styrofoam Winos – ‘Pearls’
Nashville’s Styrofoam Winos have announced a new album, Any River – out June 19 on Dear Life Records – with the lead single ‘Pearls’. The riveting, playful track was inspired by the Frank O’ Hara poem ‘Today’. “I liked its celebration of little things as surprising sites of meaning – the pearls in particular,” the band’s Lou Turner reflected. “I went on a walk after that and found an oyster on the ground in the middle of the sidewalk. Uncanny. All of this was inspiration for the lyrics, the idea of finding meaning where you least expect it, especially within someone else. That’s what it’s like to make music and play shows, too. It was very fun to figure out how we wanted to sing the syllables of each place together.”
Portrayal of Guilt – ‘Object of Pain’ and ‘Death From Above’
Portrayal of Guilt have dropped a pair of singles, ‘Object of Pain’ and ‘Death From Above’. Taken from their forthcoming …Beginning Of The End, the eerie, sludgy tracks come with videos from Craig Murray.
Mikaela Davis – ‘Starlite Tonite’
Mikaela Davis has previewed her forthcoming LP Graceland Away with a mesmerizing new song, ‘Starlite Tonite’, which she describes as such: “Now entering mankind’s long, dark night of the soul. Mother earth’s resources depleted, natural wonders destroyed, our only home turned to dust in the name of money and power. But amongst the barren landscape, there will still be a glimmer of hope as we look up to an ever-present reminder of a universe far beyond. Walk me out in the Starlite Tonite.”
New German Cinema – ‘Eyes’
Ahead of the release of her debut solo album, Pain Will Polish Me, this Friday, New German Cinema (the solo project of Fear of Men’s Jessica Weiss) has shared its final single, ‘Eyes’. It’s accompanied by a video shot whilst on tour in Japan last year, about which she said: “It is such a visually rich and very precise culture, that can feel enticing but also slightly unknowable to outsiders. That tension felt very apt for the energy of the song. We filmed fragments as we moved through cities and train stations, neon streets and quiet corners, trying to capture that feeling of being both immersed in a place and slightly outside it, with the recurring motif of landline phones suggesting emotional relationships beyond the frame. The video became a kind of travel diary, but also a visual echo of the song’s inner landscape.”
New Idea Society – ‘Dancing Horse’
New Idea Society, the project led by Mike Law (Wild Arrows, Eulcid) and Stephen Brodsky (Cave In, Mutoid Man), are releasing their fourth full-length, Fire on the Hill, on May 15 via Relapse. The contemplative lead single, ‘Dancing Horse’, is out now. “Part of ‘Dancing Horse’ first appeared all the way back in 2007 and it took a lot of forms over the years that never quite worked,” Law recalled. “Then out of nowhere it arrived somehow fully re-formed and totally realized into one of my favorite songs I’ve ever been a part of. The original idea started on an August night in Budapest and was tied together one August morning in 2024 back in Massachusetts. It was one of those moments where Steve reached deep and found something that had been floating around in another universe and brought it to ours.”
Brodsky added: “I remember listening to Mike’s original demo for ‘Dancing Horse’— it was a shoegaze thing with one lyric that shone brightly through the sonic haze: ‘There’s a dancing horse on my roof.’ My fiancé had just hung a horseshoe above the front door of our home. A native Texan, she explained that a horseshoe points up to catch luck and then flips over to rain it down… suddenly, that one line from the demo spawned a whole other thing in my head. I’m grateful that Mike was receptive to me taking a brilliant seed of his imagination and going off to the races with it.”
Accessory – ‘This Is Not Your Life (Static)’
Accessory, the solo project of Dehd’s Jason Balla, has dropped ‘This Is Not Your Life (Static)’, a gorgeously intricate track off his debut album Dust. “I wanted to capture that feeling of that moment in love when you cease to be the central figure in your own story,” Balla shared. The song “is about vulnerability and commitment and the beauty of submission. It’s life in the service of something beyond. As the song continues it becomes less about transcendence and slides into the realm of obsessive regret, depression and the lasting grip of intimacy now past.”
Joe Pernice – ‘I’d Rather Look Away’ [feat. Norman Blake]
Joe Pernice has teamed up with Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub for ‘I’d Rather Look Away’, the rambling new single from Sunny, I Was Wrong. “This song was not on my list to make the record,” Pernice commented. “It was among the 20 or 30 songs I sent my old friend Warren Zanes and when I told him it was not on my list, he said, and I quote, ‘Joey, Joey, Joey, are you nuts?’ Okay, okay. To quote Robert Evans, ‘The kid stays in the picture.’ Pete Mancini plays all of the beautiful electric guitar tracks on the song. His parts and cues are spot on. And I knew I had to have my old friend Norman Blake add a vocal harmony arrangement, and he generously obliged. Norman is, among other notable things, the best harmony vocal arranger/singer I’ve ever met. It’s part of his natural way.”
Rachel Lime – ‘Nacrée’
Rachel Lime has previewed her upcoming record, STORIES, with a new song, ‘Nacrée’, which sways with longing. “This is a spring 2020 lockdown song I wrote about desire when I wasn’t able to fulfill it,” the Brooklyn-based artist commented. “The lyrics are completely unaltered from that first iphone notes app draft and I built the song around the words, playing around with sampling my own vocals, sighs, breaths. I wanted sounds that brought to life the lyrics, the ‘long blue afternoon’ and ‘sea and milk,’ the ‘black strand’ of the seashore as evening falls. Water, and specifically the ocean, has always had such a sensual, sexual connotation for me—the salt! The grit of sand on your skin. The sun and water touching every part of you. It’s funny because I’m definitely repressed in that I struggle to take myself seriously singing a, idk, kind of sexy song, but it’s exactly this kind of boldness I wanted to bring to this album. Less lonely, intellectual pining—more risk and drama.”
Alela Diane – ‘In My Own Time’
A perfect song to wind down your day, ‘In My Own Time’ is the latest single from Portland-based singer-songwriter Alela Diane’s forthcoming Who’s Keeping Time?. “It is so hard to stay present and not get caught inside the web of distraction that is the modern world,” she expounded. “This is a song for those of us who waste our own precious time, but strive to go outside and smell a rose instead. I am someone who could just fester away inside my house forever, but that isn’t what I want for myself. I want to feel alive! To breathe the air! To take the dog for a walk! To go out and see live music! I am doing more of these things, but I really do take my own time to get there.”
A new forensic pathologist has entered the chat. Starring Nicole Kidman, crime series Scarpetta has been getting a significant amount of buzz lately. That’s likely due to its star-studded cast and thriller undertones.
The fact that the show is based on a popular book series doesn’t hurt either. Despite being met with a mixed response from critics and audiences alike, the show has been topping Prime Video charts ever since its release. Does that mean a second installment is coming?
Scarpetta Season 2 Release Date
Prime Video gave the series a two-season order from the get-go. In other words. Scarpetta season 2 is definitely happening.
As for when it’s coming out, it all depends on how fast production moves. If all goes well, new episodes could arrive in early-to-mid 2027.
Scarpetta Cast
Nicole Kidman as Dr. Kay Scarpetta
Jamie Lee Curtis as Dorothy Scarpetta
Bobby Cannavale as Pete Marino
Simon Baker as Benton Wesley
Ariana DeBose as Lucy Farinelli-Watson
Rosy McEwen as young Kay
Jacob Lumet Cannavale as young Pete
Hunter Parrish as young Benton
What Could Happen in Scarpetta Season 2?
Based on the bestselling novels by Patricia Cornwell, the series follows the titular character, Dr. Kay Scarpetta. A brilliant forensic pathologist, she uses cutting-edge science to solve violent crimes.
After returning to Virginia to take on a high-profile role, Scarpetta becomes entangled in a series of disturbing cases. Before long, these begin to blur the line between professional duty and personal history. As she navigates political pressure and her own past, she’s forced to confront secrets that refuse to stay buried.
This mix of professional and personal is what makes Scarpetta an intriguing watch. Viewers are immersed in two timelines, with evidence suggesting that the murders may be connected to an old case Scarpetta worked years prior.
Without giving away spoilers, the first season steadily ramps up the tension, eventually leading to a tense confrontation between Scarpetta and the person responsible for the present timeline crimes. We get answers, as well as an enticing cliffhanger.
That’s likely where Scarpetta season 2 will pick up. There are 29 novels in the book series so far, plenty of original material to draw from. That said, the show puts its own spin on the narrative, to the point where even long-time readers can be surprised.
Per The Los Angeles Times, the second outing will adapt the fourth and fifth books, Cruel & Unusual and The Body Farm. If you want to delve deeper into Scarpetta’s story, we just gave you a head start.
Are There Other Shows Like Scarpetta?
Scarpetta enthusiasts can breathe easy: there’s no shortage of crime shows to pick from for your next watch. We especially recommend Criminal Minds, Bones, His & Hers, Absentia, Dept. Q, and Bosch.
There’s a new HBO comedy to look forward to every week. Rooster, which is available in the UK on Sky/Now, stars Steve Carell as a middle-aged author navigating a complicated relationship with his adult daughter.
Set on a college campus, the series quickly made a splash, becoming HBO’s most watched comedy debut in over a decade. Moreover, its fanbase keeps growing thanks to good word-of-mouth. Does that mean another season is on the horizon?
Rooster Season 2 Release Date
At the time of writing, the comedy hasn’t officially been renewed for more episodes. That said, there’s still time. The show premiered recently, and viewership numbers are strong. We’re choosing to be cautiously optimistic.
As long as HBO gives the green light, Rooster season 2 could arrive in early-to-mid 2027.
Rooster Cast
Steve Carell as Greg Russo
Charly Clive as Katie Russo
Danielle Deadwyler as Dylan Shepard
Phil Dunster as Archie
Lauren Tsai as Sunny
John C. McGinley as Walter Mann
Connie Britton as Beth
What Is Rooster About?
The comedy centres on Greg, a once-celebrated novelist whose career has quietly stalled. He is known for creating a wildly popular fictional character named “Rooster,” but finds himself grappling with irrelevance. He also struggles with the realisation that professional success hasn’t translated into personal fulfillment.
Greg’s life takes an unexpected turn when he accepts to become a writer-in-residence at a small liberal arts college. Beyond a respectable academic role, the position is a reluctant attempt to repair his relationship with his adult daughter, Katie, a young professor at the same college.
Katie, meanwhile, is in the middle of her own unraveling. Her marriage implodes after her husband becomes involved in a scandal with a student, so Greg’s arrival isn’t exactly welcome.
Greg inserts himself into her world anyway, which will likely lead to a number of awkward yet heartwarming moments down the line. So far, the show seems like a charming blend of dry humour and emotional storytelling. In other words, it’s gentler (and deeper) than your average laugh-out-loud sitcom.
Until we find out whether Rooster season 2 becomes reality, new season 1 episodes arrive weekly until May. So far, we’re hooked.
Are There Other Shows Like Rooster?
Rooster was co-created by Bill Lawrence, who is also behind hits like Scrubs, Ted Lasso, and Shrinking. Those might be up your alley as well.
Alternatively, shows with similar campus vibes include The Chair, English Teacher, Lucky Hank, and Mr. Corman.
Tori Amos has released ‘Shush’, the second offering from her forthcoming album In Times of Dragons. Following ‘Stronger Together’, a duet with her daughter Tash, the haunting new single imagines an alternate reality in which she’s married an evil billionaire “lizard demon,” and it calls back to her classic ‘Silent All These Years’. Listen to it below.
“He represents what we’re dealing with right now,” Amos explained in a statement. “He sees congressmen, senators, and even probably presidents as people who answer to him and other billionaires, who don’t think you and I should vote. He’s trying to develop the kind of feudal system we had hundreds of years ago. But it doesn’t look like it once did. We don’t look like we’re in the trenches, in the muck. We have all the cool, digital devices now. So it looks different. But it has the same philosophy.”
In Times of Dragons arrives on May 1 via Universal/Fontana.
Nashville singer-songwriter Brennan Wedl has signed to ANTI- Records, marking the news with a cover of Kathleen Edwards’ ‘Six O’Clock News’. It’s a collaboration with Waxahatchee‘s Katie Crutchfield, who also produced the track with Brad Cook. Check it out below.
“I first heard ‘Six O’Clock News’ on the Cities 97 Sampler CD around 2003,” Wedl shared in a statement. “There’s no doubt that this song shaped my songwriting voice. Originally written by Kathleen Edwards, ‘Six O’Clock News’ is a story about the hysteria of gun violence in an American town. To record and sing this very contemporary story with Waxahatchee over twenty years later is a direct link to the very heart of why I play music. It’s an honour to be joining the ANTI- roster and I’m ecstatic to share what we’ve been working on.”
Crutchfield added: “Brennan and I really bonded over our mutual love for Kathleen Edwards’s music. It’s such a powerful song with timeless appeal and I’m just thrilled to get to release our take on it.”
Edwards, who’s heard their version of the song, had this to say: “I absolutely love this so much and am humbled that my song gets to live a new life with Katie and Brennan. 25 years ago, my audience looked a lot different than theirs does today – it’s incredibly cool to see young women love the songwriting that means so much to me, too.”
This April, Wedl is opening Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman‘s upcoming co-headling US tour, where they’ll continue to cover this song and others.
Back in November, Pulp shared a cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘The Man Comes Around’. The 12″ single is out now, and it features two new songs as B-sides, ‘Marrying for Love’ and ‘Cold Call on the Hot Line’. Take a listen below.
Last year, Pulp released More, their first album in 24 years. More recently, they contributed the original song ‘Begging for Change’ to War Child’s HELP(2) compilation.
Cristea Roberts Gallery has announced global representation of the original prints from the estate of Carlos Cruz-Diez, marking an important step in the continued presentation of the artist’s work. The gallery will present the first selection of these prints at Art Basel Hong Kong later this month, ahead of a major retrospective dedicated to Cruz-Diez’s graphic practice in London in 2027.
Best known for his pioneering exploration of colour, Cruz-Diez developed an intricate body of work spanning painting, sculpture, installation and printmaking. His practice was grounded in the idea that colour is not fixed but rather exists as a shifting phenomenon shaped by perception. Throughout his career, printmaking became a key site of experimentation, allowing him to refine his investigations into chromatic relationships through precise systems of lines and layered planes. Works from series such as Couleur Additive and Induction Chromatique explore how colour can be generated through optical effects, positioning the act of looking itself as central to the work.
By bringing together these graphic works, the gallery highlights the role of print in shaping Cruz-Diez’s wider practice and its influence on contemporary approaches to immersive and participatory art. Produced across decades and completed up to the final year of his life in 2019, the prints trace a sustained engagement with colour as a perceptual phenomenon shaped by the viewer. The forthcoming presentations offer an opportunity to encounter this aspect of the artist’s work within an international context.
In one of her many viral interview clips, Björk proclaimed that she’ll be techno raving until she’s 90. Kelly Lee Owens had one question forRobyn: “Do you feel that you’ll be doing the same?” Her one-word response is unsurprising, but the Swedish pop icon keeps confounding expectations each time she decides to return to the spotlight, especially when it comes to aging into the industry. At one point on her self-financed, self-titled, and first independently released album, she assumed the role of a captain attempting a crash landing before launching into a song called ‘Crash and Burn Girl’, echoing her description of Sexistential as feeling “like a spaceship coming through the atmosphere at a really high speed.” More than two decades after Robyn, and aided by early collaborators like Teddybears member Klas Åhlund, her music still prioritizes the pleasure principle – “I’m never inspired by pain,” she told another celebrity fan, Tinashe – while defiantly eschewing the trappings of a “maturing” pop star. “Do I have the consistency to persist and finish this ride?” she wonders at one point on the title track, referring to the universe of a person growing inside her. But the same question surely comes up whenever new musical ideas are being born, and the answer, for her, remains the same at 46 as it would in as many years.
1. Really Real
Robyn plunges headfirst into the liminal space of a relationship you aren’t sure is ending or just getting serious: “And I slip through the crack in between it.” The time-bending, reality-splitting nature of her experience is mirrored in some of the most dizzyingly bizarre production on the record, from the fractured guitar shredding to whiplash-inducing synths that catapult the song into space, rendering the question “What time is it where you are?” all the more surreal. She’s speaking to her own mother, who brings the track back to earth, suggesting she make herself a cup of tea and go to bed. But not without belting out the chorus one more time.
2. Dopamine
It feels really real, Robyn resolves, which is maybe all that matters, even if the feeling is determined by chemicals firing off in her brain. As the first single from the record, the pulsating, infectious ‘Dopamine’ upholds this straightforward explanation, only to foreground its underlying complexity through the sheer expressiveness of Robyn’s voice, flowering above the robotic insistence of cynicism. “Something here’s opening deep inside of me/ I can finally reach it,” she sings, and that’s the real trip.
3. Blow My Mind
A quarter of a century ago, Robyn released a cutesy, vaguely sensual love song called ‘Blow My Mind’ for the album Don’t Stop the Music. There’s nothing actually transgressive about her refashioning it into an ode to her young son here, but its weirdness is commendable. Instead of leaning into its lullaby-like qualities, Robyn, Klas Åhlund, and Alexander Kronlund punch it up almost beyond recognition, imbuing its unabashed corniness with verve and candour. Maybe it’s the same chemical process, she suggests, that compels her to say things like: “Your unbearably cute scrumptious little face/ Crushing me every single day.” Far from slowing her down, it deepens the euphoric rush.
4. Sucker for Love
Despite a few little flourishes, ‘Sucker for Love’ comes off more one-dimensional than previous songs, maybe because it’s sung in less of a drunken state, like a well-constructed argument. Or maybe because it was written over a decade ago with Röyksopp for the Do It Again EP. When she sings that she used to have thicker skin, she might as well be referring to the heftier beats the record has given us so far; but even when the hurt becomes all too familiar, almost trite, it doesn’t mean you won’t let it consume you again.
5. It Don’t Mean a Thing
The bubbly vulnerability of ‘Sucker of Love’ gives way to the weightier, significantly more heart-wrenching ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing’, where Robyn is quick to admit, “I don’t really go there anymore, but sometimes I think about how you used to make me crack up so hard, I couldn’t keep it together.” The roboticized shadow of her voice, buzzed with a different combination of chemicals but just as alive, returns to prove the futility of her human endeavours, as convincing as a good hook. But its nihilism is once again trumped by the largeness of her feelings, the way she equates total devotion with silliness and sin like only someone who’s crawled beneath the surface would.
6. Talk to Me
Months after its release, ‘Talk to Me’ remains a strong candidate for Sexistential’s standout, the song you’d put on to make a case for the album in a tenth of its runtime. Precision-engineered with Max Martin in their first collaboration since Body Talk’s ‘Time Machine’, it funnels the album’s horniness in the most universal and least potentially cringe-inducing language (only one mention of the album title), because nothing curbs a lonely vibe like phone sex primed for pop radio.
7. Sexistential
For some, “potentially cringe-inducing” might sound like an understatement when referring to the title track. Released as a single alongside ‘Talk to Me’, like its weird little cousin, ‘Sexistential’ is the unadulterated soul of the record precisely because it works so well towards the end, following through on at least one kind of longing from ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing’: “All I ever wanted was for you to get silly.” Robyn goofily raps about IVF and dating apps, PTSD and Etsy, with a winking sense of humour that confirms her most outrageous ideas will always feel most authentic. It helps that the atmosphere is thrilling, too: when she describes her body as a spaceship, it sounds both cosmic and vacuum-sealed. By the way, did you know Adam Driver played an astronaut who survives a crash landing in a movie that must have come out around the time Sexistential was conceived? Just saying.
8. Light Up
Taio Cruz, who forever changed the global pronunciation of “dy-no-mite,” co-wrote ‘Dopamine’, but is nowhere to be found in the credits of ‘Light Up’. That had to be a conversation, right? Maybe a remix is on the way. For now, the chorus remains simile-less and pleading over trance-like production: “Baby, light up the way to your heart.” It offers permission for your mind to drift off slightly before the album’s conclusion.
9. Into the Sun
Having just watched Project Hail Mary, the new sci-fi film in which Ryan Gosling (sorry) wakes up on a spaceship light years from home, I can imagine someone making an edit of it soundtracked by ‘Into the Sun’. The soaring synth-ballad is more triumphant and altogether stronger than ‘Light Up’, thanks in part to the reappearance of Max Martin. It’s a full-circle moment that reframes the reckless abandon of the opener into something slightly meta: “You don’t have the end of the story and it’s pushing me/ Into the sun.” However long it takes for Robyn to return, she’ll already be light years ahead.
