feb. 2

Links we love today: Counterproductive PSAs, awkward flirting, drunk cheesecakeand more

Assistant Editor Samantha Pitchel reads everything so you don’t have to.

Here are the links we loved today:

12 things you probably didn’t know about (the movie) Groundhog Day; The 6 most counterproductive PSAs of all time.

Washington State Senate passes gay marriage legislation.

Dana Gould and Dave Grohl teaming up for FX rock band comedy?!

Toronto-based band The Darcy’s have released a free digital full-album cover of Steeley Dan’s Aja.

Don DeLillo and trance states; Stephen Fry and manic depression.

Study finds two thirds of all tweets are “useless.”

OK Go teach Sesame Street viewers about primary colors; Coolest teacher ever schools student in rap battle.

The latest episode of My Drunk Kitchen takes on raw vegan cheesecake.

Headlines: “Nelson Mandela’s personal chef launches a cookbook featuring the statesman’s favorite meats”; “German eats 64-year-old US lard”; “Man arrested for stealing a glacier.”

Is sugar the new booze?

The Guardian’s Michael Wolff discusses what’s next for Facebook’s IPO; Early copy of the Mona Lisa found; Kanye West to make a film in the Middle East?

Nicki Minaj’s rider is as weird as you’d expect.

Meredith Vieira’s awkward crush on a Who Wants to be a Millionaire contestant is WAY WEIRDER than you’d expect:

Hunx’s new video, “Always Forever,” premiered this afternoon on Rookie:

One of the films we’re psyched to see at SXSW, Tim Sutton and Seth Bomse’s Pavilion:

John Murray’s Hitchin’ a Ride rolls into Queens with Chris Gethard:

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”