Names and faces
Alex Trebek sported a beard as he launched the 35th season of Jeopardy! and the look has led to a poll. The bearded host appeared in a video on Instagram under the caption, “It’s time to embark upon a magical journey.” He opened the first show of the season by saying, “No need to inquire how I spent my summer vacation.” The game show has started a beard or no beard poll on Twitter. There have been more votes for the beard than against it. One person wrote that the beard reminded her of the actor Sean Connery while another compared Trebek to Santa Claus. Trebek was known for sporting a mustache, but he shaved it off in 2001. He grew the mustache back for the 30th season in 2014.
Rosanne Cash’s interest in political and social activism started at a young age, but she also had a role model in her father, Johnny Cash. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter will receive the “Spirit of Americana” Free Speech award today during the Americana Honors & Awards show in Nashville, Tenn. Her father received the honor in 2002. “I campaigned for [George] McGovern when I was too young to vote,” she said in a recent interview. “I learned, too, at my father’s knee. He was tremendously outspoken, but he had the ability to be passionate and righteous and also compassionate at the same time. That’s what I try to do, too.” Rosanne Cash’s career started with her 1981 breakout album, Seven Year Ache, followed by a string of 11 No. 1 country singles. Cash, a passionate advocate for stopping gun violence, was a longtime member of the board of PAX, an organization that has been folded into the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. She’s been a supporter of copyright overhauls and fair compensation for artists as a board member of the Content Creators Coalition. In addition, Cash says First Amendment rights are under fire around the world. “It’s really alarming,” she says. “When the highest echelons of government call to shut down newspapers or strengthen libel laws or investigate journalists, to even attack journalists, that’s a very dangerous time. It’s one of the foundations of the republic.” The award is presented in partnership with the First Amendment Center that was founded by journalist and publisher John Seigenthaler Sr. Cash said she deeply admired Seigenthaler for his work during the civil rights era when he was the chief negotiator with the governor of Alabama during the Freedom Rides.