If Country Music Wants to Reckon With Its Racism, Look Deeper Than the Bad Names

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIE CLUB: INSIDE MAN Stream Inside Man with us tonight! Staff writer Hunter Harris will be livetweeting commentary starting at 7 p.m. ET on Vulture’s [Twitter](. Want to stay up-to-date with all of our virtual events, including movie nights, book readings, and more? [Add our calendar](.   Devour pop culture with us: [Subscribe]( now. What to Read Today [If Country Music Wants to Reckon With Its Racism, Look Deeper Than the Bad Names Even if we are to give “Lady A” credit for their gesture, we must also acknowledge that it should be but the catalyst of far deeper work.]( By Andrea Williams [‘If You Can Perform Whiteness, Then What Does It Mean to Be White?’ Brit Bennett on her propulsive new novel, The Vanishing Half, set in a mythical town solely inhabited by light-skinned black people.]( By Lila Shapiro [Every Spike Lee Film, Ranked With the release of Da 5 Bloods, we revisit each of the director’s major works.]( By Will Leitch and Tim Grierson [Kristen Bell’s Children’s Book Perilously Close to Declaring Purple Lives Matter Titled The World Needs More Purple People.]( By Rebecca Alter [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Lady Antebellum Secedes From the ‘Antebellum’ But a longtime blues singer also claims their new name, Lady A.]( By Zoe Haylock [Kelly Clarkson Divorces Husband, Becoming Miss Independent Once More A source said she “realized divorce was her only option” during quarantine.]( By Justin Curto [YG Releases ‘FTP’ Video Filmed at Black Lives Matter Protest in Hollywood He co-organized the L.A. protest on June 7.]( By Justin Curto [The 100 Best TV Shows on Hulu Right Now Lost, High Fidelity, Mrs. America, and 97 more great streaming options.]( By Brian Tallerico [There’s a Da 5 Bloods Post-Credit ‘Scene’ But You Probably Won’t See It Netflix’s autoplay will see to that.]( By Rebecca Alter [Lil Baby Drops Powerful New Protest Record ‘The Bigger Picture’ “People speaking for the people / I’m proud of ’em.”]( By Zoe Haylock [Bill Burr Almost Had a Heart Attack on The King of Staten Island “I literally thought that I was going to die.”]( By Dan Reilly [Listen to John Prine’s Final Song, ‘I Remember Everything’ The late folk legend recorded his last song in his living room in 2019.]( By Justin Curto [The Art World’s ‘Mini Madoff’ Has Been Arrested in the South Pacific Inigo Philbrick has finally been caught.]( By Victoria Bekiempis [These Chloe x Halle Lyrics Have Twitter Dragging Diggy Simmons for No Reason *eyes emoji*]( By Zoe Haylock [The Oscars Are Opening Up More Seats at the Best Picture Table The Academy is taking new steps to not be so white.]( By Nate Jones [Artemis Fowl and the Death of the Fantasy YA Franchise The long-delayed adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s hit series, now streaming on Disney+, is more baffling relic of the past than movie.]( By Alison Willmore [The Best Books of the Year (So Far) During a difficult year, fiction is rising to contemporary challenges and demands.]( By Hillary Kelly [13 Reasons Why Was Always Teen Torture Porn In its final season, the coming-of-age drama is as dark, traumatic, and utterly ridiculous as ever.]( By Jen Chaney [Bon Appétit Editor-in-Chief Resigns Over Brownface Photo, Criticism From Staff Nearly a week later, Gourmet Makes star Claire Saffitz has finally posted a statement addressing racism at the company.]( By Madison Malone Kircher [Wanted to See the New Candyman? Try These 5 Movies Instead. Us, Little Woods, and more.]( By Tim Grierson and Will Leitch [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read more from Vulture](     [Subscribe to New York]( [Subscribe to New York](   Subscribe for $5/month and get [unlimited digital access]( to New York Magazine, home of the Cut, Vulture, Grub Street, and Intelligencer.     We value your feedback. Send us a note at engage@nymag.com.     [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=daily)   |   [privacy notice](   |   [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on e-mail newsletters please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 11th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2020, All rights reserved