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BGN interviews Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks to talk about his latest film A Man Called Otto.
When a lively young family moves in next door, grumpy widower Otto Anderson meets his match in a quick-witted, pregnant woman named Marisol, leading to an unlikely friendship that turns his world upside down.
Interviewer: Jeandra LeBeauf
Video Editor: Jamie Broadnax
A Man Called Otto premieres exclusively in New York and Los Angeles December 30, 2022, limited release January 6, 2023 and nationwide on
January 13, 2023.
Nas, also known as Nasir Jones, is known as an MC par excellence and one of the chief architects of the 1990s golden era of hip-hop, frequently hailed as one of the greatest rappers and lyricists of all time. His debut album, Illmatic, launched in 1994 to nearly instantaneous universal acclaim, and it’s currently considered one of the greatest hip-hop records of all time. It was, and still is, the greatest testament to the core values of hip-hop. He wasn’t simply sharing his experience through words, but he used his rhymes to paint a vivid picture of how America sets up working-class Black people to fail.
Following his breakthrough, Nas started releasing masterpiece upon masterpiece, which earned him the title of the greatest lyricist of all time. However, Nas is much more than just one of the most successful rappers of all time. He’s actually quite a businessman. Apparently, besides being lyrically gifted, Nas also possesses a natural talent for being able to identify worthwhile business opportunities and leverage them for greater profit. In fact, his business portfolio and acumen extend far beyond the reach of hip-hop.
Nearly 30 years have passed since Illmatic‘s launch, and Nas is apparently into a whole different game now. He might not be as commercially viable as his one-time rival Sean Carter (Jay Z), but Nas made his fortune in the hip-hop game. However, he expanded his vision towards bigger business ventures and started using money to make money. For as much as one can criticize the rap scene for promoting and even glorifying financial excess and irresponsibility, Nas is living proof that there’s more to a person than meets the eye.
Investment is a money game, and like all good ways to make money, you buy stuff low, sell it high, and skim all the fatty goodness. And that’s precisely what Nas did and continues to do. He buys the stocks low, does his research like any sound business person, and sells them high for a greater return down the line. It’s a game of patience and financial literacy. And Nas’ portfolio includes several business ventures that have provided some major monetary returns to the artist.
Some of his earliest investments include a six-figure investment into Mass Appeal Magazine in 2013, where he also acted as the publication’s associate publisher. That same year, he opened his own sneaker store — stores and businesses tend to operate better financially when they have a celebrity name attached to them. Besides that, he has his own clothing brand called HSTRY and co-owns LANDR, an automated, cloud-based digital audio post-production tool that uses artificial intelligence for audio mastering. That particular business has seen massive expansion recently.
Nas was also one of the first investors in Coinbase — an American publically traded company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. The company raised $25 million in funding and ended up worth $200 million by the end of fiscal year 2013. Coinbase made nearly $8 billion in 2021, and a chunk of it went into Nas’ pocket. He also invested $4.5 million in Ring, Inc. in 2014 through his Queensbridge Venture Partners. That was nearly two years before Shaquille O’Neal acquired an equity stake in the company and acted as the person for the Ring’s marketing.
Ring, Inc. was eventually sold to Amazon for slightly over $1 billion, and Nas profited $40 million from that sale. And that’s not even half of the list; other companies include Genius, PillPack, and several other business ventures that brought major returns. PillPack is an online pharmacy company that started with $8 million before Amazon bought it for $1.2 billion. It’s unknown how much money Nas made as a result of this acquisition, but the sum has to be substantial. Nas’ Queensbridge Venture Partners also invested in direct-to-consumer mattress company Casper, ride-sharing service Lyft, and digital media brand Genius.
One of the greatest rappers of all time has actually participated in more funding rounds than any other celebrity, with 188 individual investments. Not all of them were wins; sometimes people shoot and miss in the investment game. But besides what we already mentioned, Nas also has his hands in Dropbox, a popular file hosting service, and Robinhood, an American financial services company that was in the middle of the market manipulation scandal caused by the GameStop short squeeze.
In the end, Nasir Jones, aka Nas, isn’t the only rapper who practices sound money management, but he’s certainly making his way into conversations among business elites. Despite his moments adorned with a shiny, rock-filled QB chain, Nas was never the flashiest rapper on the scene. He always struck the right tone between being tasteful and restrained. While Jay-Z may have the crown for hip-hop’s first billionaire, no one ever said Nas can’t have the wreath for its foremost angel investor.
The James Webb Space Telescope continues to deliver awe-inspiring images and insights into the universe. Its mirror is six times the size of the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been taking stellar pictures since 1990. But it’s not just about size. The new telescope records infrared wavelengths rather than visible light so it can see farther and more clearly. Older stars appear as bright eight-pointed spikes in the Webb telescope pictures below due to the way the images are taken. But it also adds to the ethereal nature of each image as we peer farther and farther into infinity.
A Holiday Galaxy
The James Webb Space Telescope shared this festive image just in time for the holiday season. Galaxy NGC 7469‘s spiral looks like a wreath, complete with glowing lights. The large red starburst is actually made up of spikes from the telescope’s hexagonal mirrors caused by the light from the galaxy’s center. The gas and dust shines brightly as it falls into a black hole, but doesn’t it look lovely? Scientists are excited about the star-forming regions they can now see thanks to the telescope’s infrared cameras. But it’s also the perfect image for this year’s holiday card.
An Illuminating Protostar
A new star, “only” about 100,000 years old, is forming in the neck of this cosmic hourglass. The protostar L1527 itself is hidden in this view, but the light it creates illuminates clouds of gas and dust that are being sucked inwards. The vivid pinks, oranges, and blues are only visible in the infrared light of the James Webb Space Telescope. As the star ages, it gathers these nearby materials into its accretion disk, gaining mass and eventually reaching the size and stability of a full star.
The James Webb Space Telescope Captures the Pillars of Creation
The first image of the Pillars of Creation from the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995 is one of the most widely seen space photos. Now the James Webb Space Telescope adds its remarkable abilities to share even more of the wonder that is the Pillars of Creation with the world.
The near-infrared view of this cosmic nursery 6,500 light years away reveals many new details. The red dots seen on the edges of the top pillar are young stars, only a few hundred thousand years old. The red lava-like areas in the other pillars are ejections of hydrogen molecules from still-forming stars. The entire image is eight light years across but represents only a small area of the Eagle Nebula. This image from the James Webb Space Telescope is truly astounding.
In addition, we also got to see a slightly more creepy version of the Pillars of Creation courtesy of the James Webb Space Telescope. This rendition was taken with the telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). The first image, meanwhile, was taken with the telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). This second view allows researchers to see concentrations of gas and dust. But it also makes for another amazing, slightly horror-movie-inspired image from the James Webb Telescope.
Dust Rings Around Binary Stars
The James Webb Space Telescope imaged a system with two enormous stars, each 25-30 times more massive than our Sun. Called Wolf-Rayet 140, their orbits bring them close together about every eight years. The gravitational forces push out a huge dust cloud when that happens. Previous images from ground-based telescopes could see two dust rings, but the new image from JWST shows at least 17. Check out this video from JPL for a visualization of the two stars orbiting each other and a comparison to the older images.
Neptune’s Rings in Focus Courtesy of the JWST
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured the clearest view of Neptune’s ring in more than 30 years. We see the rings and the planet’s fainter dust bands. Neptune system expert and interdisciplinary scientist Heidi Webb said, “It has been three decades since we last saw these faint, dusty rings, and this is the first time we’ve seen them in the infrared.”
Tarantula Nebula
The image above of the Tarantula Nebula is 340 light years across. It introduces us to tens of thousands of stars never seen before because they were lost in the dust of Hubble’s view. The region forms news stars, which appear pale blue. And in case you’re trying to find the eight-legged creature the nebula is named for, apparently it looks like a tarantula’s burrow with silk around the entry, rather than the spider itself. The video below also shows the mid-infrared image from the Webb Telescope. Gases and cosmic dust glow turquoise and purple. It’s beautiful to us casual observers, but adds even more data for astronomers.
The James Webb Space Telescope Reveals the Phantom Galaxy
Also known as M74, the Phantom Galaxy is 32 million light years away in the constellation Pisces. When compared to pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope, the image from the James Webb Space Telescope cuts through the gas and dust to show off the star clusters at the galaxy’s core. Stars and other distant objects are also visible through patches in the arms of the spiral. Combining the images from the two space telescopes gives astronomers the best of both worlds. The visible and infrared light spectrums provide complementary insights into the mesmerizing center of the Phantom Galaxy.
Exoplanet HIP 65426 b
Images of this faraway planet are the first of one outside of our Solar System. Different cameras and filters on the James Webb Space Telescope provide multiple views and insights to astronomers. HIP 65426 b is a gas giant nine times the mass of Jupiter, but we don’t know much more about it yet. Scientists are analyzing all the new data from the Webb Telescope. They removed the light from the planet’s sun using a coronagraph. Once the much brighter star was masked, the faint planet could finally be photographed.
First Images from the JWST
Keep up with the telescope’s Twitter account to see the newest images and research. These include tests taken right here in our own Solar System. Like stunning views of Jupiter, including aurora and some of its many moons. And plenty of distant targets, like the Cartwheel Galaxy and its swirling dust clouds. And of course the first images, including a deep field view that included the oldest and farthest away objects ever photographed.
Originally published September 6, 2022.
Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.
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