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We know what you’re going through. You’re stuck at home and you’re bored and you just want to enjoy some damn BOOKS. But how? Brick and mortar stores are shut down and Amazon is, to put it lightly, f*cking evil. So what are you going to do? Well, hope is here. You can support your local, independent bookstores (and stick it to Jeff Bezos) by buying your books from Bookshop.

Bookshop is a relatively new site that launched right before the coronavirus shutdown hit, and thank goodness it did, because it’s giving a lifeline to many local, small booksellers. The biggest advantage that Amazon has over small, local sook store is an online, easy-to-use platform and streamlined service.

According to Bookshop’s CEO and founder Andy Hunter, when speaking with Inside Hook: “There are almost 2,000 bookstores in the country, and only about 150 of them have good online shopping platforms. That leaves a lot of stores that haven’t adapted, and Amazon’s kind of eating their lunch.”

Which is where Bookshop comes in. It allows you to easily order books from indie stores. Bookstores sign up to sell through Bookshop and 30% of the profits got to them. That’s not as much as the 40% to 45% they get selling themselves but it’s better than nothing, especially if a shop doesn’t have a robust online presence.

While Amazon is using their energy smearing labor organizer in their warehouses, many indie bookstores are struggling to scrape buy after being forced to close. Powell’s Books in Portland, the countries largest and most famous indie bookstore, laid off nearly all of their staff when Oregon non-essential business was ordered to shut down. They then hired 100 back to fill a flood of online orders. This shows how important online sales will be for the store during this time.

So, if you’re looking to buy some books, check out Bookshop and support local, non-evil bookstores as much as you can!

(via: Inside Hook, image: Disney)

Here are some other interesting things we saw today:

• People in the UK are burning 5G tower and it’s as good a time as any to remind you the 5g DOESN’T CAUSE CORONAVIRUS! (via Vice)
• For your Joe Exotic casting consideration: Rob Lowe. (via Daily Mail)
• The creators, cast, and songwriter of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend remember Adam Schlesinger. (via Vulture)
• Happy 25th Birthday to Paul Rudd again.
  

  Paul Rudd at 28 vs Paul Rudd at 51. Does this man age? TBD. HBD! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/w2llCgVdUj

  — InStyle (@InStyle) April 6, 2020

• Speaking of Rudd. The next Ant-Man movie has found its writer with Rick and Morty’s Jeff Loveness. (via Nerdist)
• Cats all over are testing positive for Coronavirus, but it’s not jumping from them to humans. (via Vanity Fair)
• Soon.
  

  Hopelessly horny. The new season of #ShadowsFX premieres Wednesday, 4/15 on FX. Next day #FXonHulu. pic.twitter.com/L2wL26rs0H

  — What We Do In The Shadows (@theshadowsfx) April 5, 2020

• Worst. President. Ever. (via Washington Post)

Anything we missed out there today, Mary Suevians?

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Celebrities are getting creative—and generous—during the COVID-19 crisis. It’s one of the unexpected bright spots in this very dark time. Movies, TV shows, concerts, and more are streaming online for free. Famous folk gather on Instagram to show us their kitchens and read us bedtime stories. It’s a touching way of giving us all something to enjoy during quarantine.

Never one to disappoint, Phoebe Waller-Bridge is getting in on the action. The genius behind the mega-successful BBC Three and Amazon TV series Fleabag—which you may know from the zillions of awards it won last year, including Best Comedy Series at the Emmys—will make a broadcast of Fleabag Live available to stream (via Rolling Stone).

Amazon

The one-woman show was first performed by Waller-Bridge at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2013, and was later expanded into the TV show. The version that will stream was performed and recorded at Wyndham’s Theatre in 2019 and first broadcast in theaters as a special live event.

Fleabag Live is currently available to stream in the UK and Ireland on Soho Theatre’s On Demand streaming site for £4. It will expand to the U.S. on Amazon Prime for $5 this Friday, April 10, when it will also be available on the Soho Theatre service in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

Here’s Waller-Bridge’s full statement about the stream:

“I hope this filmed performance of Fleabag can help raise money while providing a little theatrical entertainment in these isolated times. Thank you to all our partners and to the creative team who have waived their royalties from this production to raise money for such vital causes in this unbelievably challenging situation. All money raised will support the people throughout our society who are fighting for us on the frontlines and those financially devastated by the crisis, including those in the theatre community. Thank you in advance to those who donate. Now go get into bed with Fleabag. It’s for charity.”

The proceeds earned will go to various charities, including The National Emergencies Trust, NHS Charities Together and Acting For Others. They will also benefit the recently launched Fleabag Support Fund, which will distribute £2,500 grants to freelancers in the UK theatre industry affected by the pandemic. Waller-Bridge kicked off the fund with a donation, with more donations pouring in today. You can donate yourself on the Fleabag Support Fund GoFundMe page here.

We’re big fans of Waller-Bridge’s brain and talent, and now we can add philanthropy to the reasons why we’ll follow her into whatever she pursues next.

Featured Image: BBC Three/Amazon

The post FLEABAG Stage Show Will Stream Online For Charity appeared first on Nerdist.

One of the most effective ways to protect yourself from contracting COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, is to wash your hands frequently using hand soap or hand sanitizer. Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a massive shortage of both products along with other household cleaning supplies like paper towels and disinfectant wipes. Here are a couple of black-owned health and wellness companies that also offer hand sanitizer to stock up on during your quarantine.

Garners Garden

Started in 2012, Owner Phillip Garner start Garners Garden to provide 100% natural, vegan-friendly ingredients for everyday products. In addition to hand sanitizer, the company also provides natural deodorants, facial creams, and more.

Touch Body Works 

This Detroit-based company carries plant-based hand sanitizers that are infused with aloe vera and Vitamin E. Touch Body Works formulates their hand sanitizers with botanical extracts and their formula is free of sulfates.

Selfe Steam Nola

This New Orleans-based boutique is a one-stop-shop for all your natural wellness offering yoni steams and life coaching sessions in its spa. You can find foaming hand sanitizers, hand sanitizer mists, and anti-bacterial sprays on their online store.

Hairizon

This black-woman beauty bar based out of Durham, North Carolina, creates products using ingredients derived from the Earth. You can pre-order customizable hand sanitizer choosing your own essential oil and a range of sizes.

PurHome 

PurHome specializes in natural, non-toxic, and eco-friendly detergents and cleaning products for the household including hand sanitizer and household cleaning from laundry detergent and multisurface cleaner.

Olive Branch Wellness Boutique

Olive Branch Wellness Boutique is a vegan and organic skincare & haircare boutique carrying products made with organic aloe vera that keeps hands soft and moisturized. The packaging is made from sustainable, recyclable packaging. In addition to hand sanitizer, they also carry natural skincare products.

Source: Jerritt Clark / Getty

After the two had been seen out and about with one another at basketball games, at a paint and pour event and more. But Tiffany maintained that they were just friends, even after her good friend Ms. Tina Knowles-Lawson called them a “beautiful couple.”

Still, when she appeared on “The Real” afterward, Tiffany stuck to her story, saying that she and Common were friends but she would date him before shifting the conversation to the fact that Jeannie Mai was dating rapper Jeezy.

But some recent evidence seems to make it undeniably hard for Tiffany to stick to this “just friends” story.

Over the weekend, Cedric The Entertainer joined DJ Kid Capri for a Healing Through Laughter event with Def Comedy Jam. It was a COVID-19 relief fundraiser that ultimately featured some surprise guests, including his “The Last O.G.” costar Tiffany Haddish.

During their digital chat, Haddish revealed that she wasn’t in the house alone. She was joined by none other than Chicago-born rapper Common. Who appeared quite comfortable and cozy in the house. Cedric wished him well and Common thanked the comedian for keeping us laughing during times like these.

Once he got off the live, Tiffany popped back on camera, suggestively winking and sticking her tongue out.

As she walked down the hall, away from Common, Cedric said, “Tiff, that’s an exclusive.”

View this post on Instagram

Looks like Tiffany Haddish is quarantining with her boo Common

A post shared by The Neighborhood Talk LLC (@theneighborhoodtalk2) on Apr 5, 2020 at 9:47pm PDT

No surprise here as we could already tell that these two were a little too close just to be friends. And quarantine is for people you’re sure won’t work your very last nerve while y’all spend extended periods of time together.

But Tiffany told us a while ago that she’s no longer going to be an open book, sharing details about her personal life as openly as she’s done in the past. And perhaps she was speaking about relationships specifically.

We can’t blame her. But there’s no need to pretend at this point. We all see what it is.