march 27

Links we love today: New audio from Mitch Hedberg, defining the 'slow bookmovement,' a senator doing stand-up and more

Here are the links we loved today:

Whoa whoa whoa, Lorrie Moore on Lena Dunham!

Listen to this newly uncovered interview wih Mitch Hedberg (conducted by comic Adam Cayton-Holland!):

Let’s take a vacation to the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines! And then stock up on vintage Lisa Frank!

Headline of the day, from io9: “This necrophiliac ant gang bang is just about the worst thing in the animal kingdom.”

Nerd out with me over these Red Sox-related emails from Bill Simmons and Michael Schur, please.

Fresh Air interviews Rachel Maddow.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Miami Music Week.

Abigail Breslin, best known as 'the little girl in Little Miss Sunshine,' is all growed up and suuuper cuuuute, guuuys.

The Atlantic proposes a new approach to reading: slow books.

Here are some photos of Pope Benedict wearing a sombrero.

Former PA senator Arlen Spector did a stand-up set at Caroline’s in New York last night, because of course.

Feel how you will about Vice’s “White Bitch Guide to Rappers (Written by a White Bitch).”

New findings claim all cows came from the same herd.

Yes please, Chicken N’ Waffles-flavored Torani syrup.

Watch the trailer for Dexter’s Laboratory creator Genndy Tartakovsky’s new animated film, Hotel Transylvania:

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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.”