THE BIG STORY

A beach day is OK

Photos of large numbers of people lying on the beach in Florida or sitting in parks in New York have gotten a lot of attention in recent weeks, with people worrying that strict social distancing guidelines are being flouted, putting everyone else at risk. But how risky is it, for you or others, to spend the day in a park or on the beach?

David Mack asked six prominent experts about trips to parks and beaches — whether they’re a risky activity, and whether they’d personally do it right now with their family members. And while there were some differences among them on the specifics, the general consensus seems to be: sitting outdoors in the sun isn’t the thing you need to be worried about — especially if you can keep a safe distance from others.

“I would only go with my family to a place where I could appropriately keep social distancing. A walk in the park, a walk on the street, is a beautiful way to spend time with your family, get fresh air, get exercise, but — the critical 'but' there — it has to be done in a way that’s socially responsible,” said Aaron Glatt, a doctor at Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital. “I will not do it if I’m going to be in close proximity to a lot of people and I certainly won’t do it if I’m going to be in close proximity to people who aren’t wearing a mask.”

Anthony Behar / Sipa USA via AP

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

The FDA is cracking down on sketchy tests

In an effort to get coronavirus antibody tests onto the market as quickly as possible, the FDA made an emergency decision to drop many of the certification requirements it would normally demand before allowing a medical test to be sold in the US. The result, as BuzzFeed News has reported, has been a wild west of tests being sold across the country, with nobody, including doctors, really knowing exactly which ones are reliable and which ones are garbage.

That threatened to undermine public confidence in the reliability of the test results, which would have been disastrous. So the FDA is now reversing course, and has given all manufacturers 10 days to submit data proving their tests are accurate. If they don’t, their tests will be banned from sale.

“We unfortunately see unscrupulous actors marketing fraudulent test kits and using the pandemic as an opportunity to take advantage of Americans’ anxiety,” the FDA said in a statement.

SNAPSHOTS

Kim Jong Un is seemingly alive and well, and rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated. A prominent North Korean defector has apologized for his role in sharing rumors about the North Korean leader’s health.

A security guard at a Family Dollar store in Flint, Michigan was shot and killed after telling a customer they had to wear a mask. Calvin Munerlyn “was simply doing his job,” a prosecutor said, announcing murder charges against his three suspected killers.

A strange thing keeps happening to Russian doctors working with coronavirus patients. Three of them have mysteriously fallen out of windows in the last couple of weeks.

This is what happens when people stop wearing pants. J.Crew has filed for bankruptcy.

Remember wearing those? (via J.Crew)

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LISTEN TO YOUR HEART

The Bachelor spinoff is good, actually

The latest spinoff series from The Bachelor was sold as “like a real-life Star Is Born,” with contestants participating in a hybrid dating show-singing contest. Pairs of musicians go on dates, figure out if they have romantic and/or musical chemistry, and then perform a song for the judges, who include Jason Mraz.

“This might sound corny and contrived, and of course it is — it’s from The Bachelor, after all,” writes Pier Dominguez. “And yet, weirdly, it all feels much less shticky than the recent rash of Netflix shows that haphazardly throw reality genres into a blender — Catfish meets Big Brother, The Bachelor meets 90 Day Fiancé — often without any clear rules or follow-through. Listen to Your Heart’s carefully structured, glossy singing competition turned reality dating mashup is improbably compelling escapism, somehow perfectly suited for this upside-down moment.”

Listen to Your Heart contestants Jamie and Trevor (ABC)

JOE EXOTIC

Joe Exotic. Joe Exotic? Yes, but also Joe Exotic

Nicolas Cage will play the now-legendary Oklahoma zookeeper made famous by Netflix’s Tiger King, in a scripted miniseries being put together by CBS, the network announced yesterday.

"The story centers around Joe Shreibvogel, an eccentric, exotic zookeeper in Oklahoma who fights to keep his park — even at the risk of losing his sanity. The series will live in the lion’s den with Joe, explore how he became Joe Exotic, and how he lost himself to a character of his own creation."

The show is part of the great Joe Exotic content explosion of the past year. It will be based not on the Netflix documentary, but on Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild, a Texas Monthly article from 2019. It should not be confused with the Joel McHale Tiger King aftershow, The Tiger King and I, or with the *other* scripted show being based on the Tiger King Extended Universe, this one starring Kate McKinnon and based on the Wondery podcast, Joe Exotic: Tiger King.

Netflix

DREAM BIG

And keep your eyes on the prize

A highway patrol officer in Utah pulled over a car on Monday after noticing the driver was struggling to make a turn. Maybe they were having a medical issue, or drunk, the officer thought.

But when he walked up to the driver-side window, he found a 5-year-old boy behind the wheel. “The boy told him he was 5 years old and that he had left home to drive to California because he wanted to buy a Lamborghini,” Stephanie Baer reports.

Courtesy Utah Highway Patrol

“He might have been short on the purchase amount, as he only had $3 dollars in his wallet," the Utah Highway Patrol tweeted. The boy's parents were both at work, and he’d been left in the care of a teenage sister when he grabbed the keys and made his move.

Lt. Nick Street of the Utah Highway Patrol told BuzzFeed News the case was discussed with prosecutors. But he suspects, based on the boy being in tears during the highway stop, that there's "a good chance this won't reoccur."

Teach your children to follow their dreams, while also hiding the car keys from them,
Tom