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Fear is the mind killer, as anyone who’s read Dune knows, but for Franz Ferdinand it’s inspiration. Various forms of foreboding informed every song on the Scots’ upcoming sixth studio album The Human Fear, due out Jan. 10.

That said, the buoyant riff and almost ska-like rhythms of their new single, “Audacious,” sounds hardly unnerving. The music video for the tune plays out like a movie as frontman Alex Kapranos asks, “Did you ever get the feeling that there’s something come undone?” They keep it pretty well together,...

Franz Ferdinand have announced The Human Fear, their first new album in six years. Today, along with the announcement, they released the new single, “Audacious,” and unveiled a string of European tour dates for 2025.

Due on January 10th, 2025 via Domino, The Human Fear sees the band grapple with themes of fear and how to overcome it, with a lineup featuring their new drummer, Audrey Tait. Speaking about the album, frontman Alex Kapranos said, “Making this record was one of the most life-affirming experiences I’ve had, but it’s called The Human Fear — fear reminds you that you’re alive.”

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Continuing, Kapranos explained, “I think we all are addicted in some way to the buzz [fear] can give us. How we respond to it shows how we are human. So, here’s a bunch of songs searching for the thrill of being human via fears. Not...

Today, Apple TV+ announced Scamtown, a new Apple Original podcast premiering on August 26. This eleven-part series delves into the world of scams, ranging from the bizarre to the downright unbelievable.

Scamtown will be narrated by the self-proclaimed mayors of “Scamtown,” Emmy-nominated filmmakers James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, who are known for Apple TV+’s Signal Podcast Award winner The Big Conn and the Webby Award-nominated McMillion$.

Each episode of Scamtown highlights a different scheme, featuring a mix of wild hustles, surprising heists, forbidden love, and explosive moments, with stories told by both the creators and the individuals who lived through them.

From an ingenious telemarketing bust and an arsonist setting fire to the city of Boston to an Italian Mafia Don’s arrest over olive oil and the escapades of a rare book thief, the true crime stories in Scamtown are stranger than fiction and filled with quirks, moral ambiguity,...

Exclusive: Apple’s move into original podcast continues with a new focus on scams.

The tech company, which runs its original podcast operation through its Apple TV+ division, is launching Scamtown from James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, the directors of HBO docuseries McMillion$ and Apple’s The Big Conn.

Scamtown will explore a different scam each episodes featuring a mix of wild hustles, surprising heists, forbidden love and explosive moments, with stories told by both the creators and the individuals who lived through them. This includes telemarketing scams targeting senior citizens, an arsonist setting fire to the city of Boston, the Italian Mafia’s downfall over olive oil and the escapades of a rare book thief.

The 11-part series is produced by FunMeter, the production company founded by Hernandez and Lazarte, who exec produce. It launches on August 26.

It is the latest original podcast for Apple, which has previously...

Apple TV+ has announced My Divo, the first Apple Original podcast to be released in both English and Spanish, premiering the first two episodes of the eight-part series globally on July 1, 2024. The legacy of Mexican icon Juan Gabriel, also known as El Divo de Juárez, serves as a guide for My Divo host and award-winning journalist Maria Garcia as she goes back to her hometown roots.

My Divo is the first Apple Original Podcast to be a part of the Apple TV+ connected subscription that gives subscribers early access to all eight episodes of My Divo on release day.

Garcia, creator of the critically acclaimed podcast Anything for Selena, for which she was named Apple Podcasts’ 2021 Newcomer of the Year, hails from the same hometown as local hero turned global star Juan Gabriel and looks to his legacy as she tries to reconcile with her own identity, reexamining the similarities within their Mexican heritage.

Independent podcast production house Deadset Studios has appointed Madeleine Hawcroft as Executive Producer for its new season of The Solutionists with Mark Scott, produced for The University of Sydney.

Madeleine Hawcroft is a seasoned executive producer on factual and entertainment shows, having been the Executive Producer for ABC TV’s Aacta-nominated Kitchen Cabinet with Annabel Crabb, and network Executive Producer for ABC TV series Back In Time for the Corner Shop, Restoration Australia and Grand Designs Transformations..

Deadset Studios is helmed by leading podcast strategist Kellie Riordan, the creative force behind countless hit shows and the founder of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) dedicated podcast team, Audio Studios.

Creative Director of Deadset Studios, Kellie Riordan, said “As podcasting continues to explode, Deadset Studios is expanding to welcome Madeleine to lead the new season of The Solutionists with our client The University of Sydney. We’re so thrilled to have...

Copenhagen-based REinvent International Sales has closed Spain and Portugal with AMC Networks International Southern Europe, on the Finnish suspense disaster drama “Seconds”, Variety has learned exclusively.

One of REinvent’s MipTV highlights, “Seconds,” made a strong debut on Finnish pubcaster Yle this week, according to head of drama, Jarmo Lampela. “It will easily go over the average viewing target,” he said. German co-production partner Ndr is due to launch it later this year.

Created by screenwriter Laura Suhonen (“Hooked”) alongside Fire Monkey co-founders Mikko Pöllä and Roope Lehtinen, the six-part series chronicles the aftermath of a horrific train disaster in a small Finnish town that claimed the lives of more than 60 people.

Accident investigator Marita Kail (Leena Pöysti) and her team are put in charge of the case and start digging into the events that led to the tragedy. The whole nation is rocked by the event, as is Marita’s psyche.

Exclusive: Apple is moving forward with more original podcasts.

The company, via its Apple TV+ service, is launching The Pirate of Prague. The eight-part series is hosted by journalist Joe Nocera with the help of investigative journalist Peter Elkind and tells the story of the charming young Czech, Viktor Kožený.

Kožený smooth-talked his super-wealthy Aspen neighbors and a Wall Street titan into investing huge sums of cash to snap up Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company, promising staggering returns. Sounds too good to be true, right?

It is the story of private jets, $20,000 dinners, and suitcases stuffed with cash. It’s also a tale about the collapse of communism, the free-for-all that followed, and the rise of the oligarchs. And it’s a story of plain-old human greed…of just how far the rich may go to get even richer.

Nocera and Elkind follow the trail, beginning in the Bahamas, where...

Exclusive: Apple is continuing its drive for original podcast series.

The tech giant is launching Under Cover of Knight, a series about a mysterious woman living in Athens, Texas.

Under Cover of Knight tells the story of Sue Knight, who was found dead in 1996 in her home.

Her will named a loose acquaintance – Steve Barksdale – as the executor of her estate, but after an alleged phone call from the CIA and a dire warning from the local sheriff, the executor stopped asking questions. More than 25 years later, Sue’s memory haunts the town of Athens and the people who knew her. Who was Sue, really? Why did this English expat settle in small-town Texas? And could she still be alive?

The series will launch on June 12 with its first two episodes (you can hear a trailer below).

It is Apple’s latest original podcast, having launched series including The Line,...

Welcome to our weekly rundown of the best new music — featuring big singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more. This week, the first release of the year from Post Malone, Kelly Clarkson teases her highly anticipated album Chemistry, Doja Cat adds to the narrative in a remix with Sza, and some punky fun from The Linda Lindas.

Post Malone, “Chemical” (YouTube)

Kelly Clarkson, “Mine” (YouTube)

Jorja Smith, “Try Me” (YouTube)

Sza feat. Doja Cat, “Kill Bill” (YouTube)

Fivio Foreign, “Hot Sauce” (YouTube)

Ice Spice feat. Nicki Minaj, “Princess Diana” (YouTube)

Diplo feat.

Indian origin British singer-songwriter Rika, who won Best UK Female Act at the Brit Asia Music Awards in 2019, feels that people should not obsess over social media and that fear of missing out should not play on one’s mind while consuming or posting content.

The singer said: “If you are not comfortable being on social media then you should refrain from using the platform because social media with all its pros still has its cons. It’s great to be on social media, to connect with the world at large and to put your voice out there. But again like everything in this world social media too has its downside.”

Rika, who recently became the first artiste to be signed by Warner Music India, further mentioned, “Social media is a part of life, it’s not the focal point. What you post on the Internet gives a peek into your personality.

Exclusive: Apple TV+ is hoping to find gold with its latest original podcast.

The tech giant is launching Missed Fortune, an audio series centered around the true story around one man’s years-long quest to find a million dollar treasure hidden in 2010 by eccentric art dealer Forrest Fenn.

It is the company’s latest original podcast as the company continues to ramp up its move into original audio series. Previous originals include The Line, Hooked, Run, Bambi, Run and Wild Things: Siegfried & Roy – a strategy that it has been expanding on after spending years merely in the distribution side of the podcast business.

The company, which runs its original podcasts through its television arm Apple TV+, will launch the first three episodes of the nine-part series on August 15.

It is hosted by journalist and former Outside Podcast host Peter Frick-Wright.

Since the hunt began, thousands of searchers went out in pursuit of the treasure,...

Epix’s four-part docuseries “Fall River” and Oxygen’s “Cold Justice” were among the key winners of CrimeCon’s first annual Clue Awards, announced on Saturday night at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel.

The event took place during CrimeCon, a live event for true crime content creators, industry professionals and fans. Law & Crime network founder, NewsNation host and ABC chief legal analyst Dan Abrams hosted the ceremony.

Winners of the awards were selected from a panel of over 30 true crime professionals, ranging from executives at NBC, iHeart Media and Spotify, to authors and podcast hosts.

In the television categories, Epix received the award for best docuseries, for its Blumhouse Television and Pyramid Productions series “Fall River.” The series, which was directed and produced by James Buddy Day, ran in May 2021 and centered on a series of crimes in Fall River, Mass., where three young women were killed in 1979. Police blamed...

Apple has named its second original podcast -- and officially premiered its first.

The hardware giant will tackle opioids and bank robbery in Hooked, which is produced by Campside Media -- the studio behind Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen, Deadline reports.

In April, it was reported that the company was readying a series about magicician duo Siegfried & Roy -- the first original show not tied to one of its existing Apple TV+ series. That said, Hooked marks the first show to debut on its podcast platform.

Hooked is a biography of Tony Hathaway, who became addicted to opioids, leading to his descent from a successful career in engineering to a 30-year stint as a notorious bank robber. The podcast is an adaptation of a story for Bloomberg Businessweek that was written by Campside Media founder Josh Dean in 2019.

Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

Apple is taking a further step into ordering original audio series with a new podcast about opioids and bank robbery.

The tech giant has launched Hooked from Campside Media, the Sister-backed company behind Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen series.

The series explores the true story of Tony Hathaway, whose addiction to legally prescribed opioids led him to spiral from a top engineer to becoming one of the most prolific bank robbers in American history.

It is hosted by journalist and Campside Media co-founder Josh Dean and features three years worth of interviews with Hathaway, his family, law enforcement and others involved in the story. Dean exec produces alongside Vanessa Grigoriadis, Adam Hoff, Matt Shaer, and Mark McAdam.

Hooked is an adaptation of Dean’s story Hooked: America’s Busiest Bank Robber for Bloomberg Businessweek.

A television adaptation was in development by John Ridley for ABC Signature.

It marks only the second...

Music supervisor Iain Cooke found himself immersed in two different eras over the past year in helping craft the pop landscape of TV projects. He focused on one year for just-released AppleTV+ doc “1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything. But the bold miniseries “It’s a Sin,” with its frank depiction of AIDS ripping through the day-to-day lives of a tight-knit group of young London pals in the ’80s, proved a specific challenge.

“We were trying hard to preserve the integrity of this immensely personal story that [creator] Russell T. Davies had been trying to tell for many years, and so many of the choices were very specific and represented a time and a place”, said Cooke. “I’m a huge fan of Russell’s writing, I don’t know of many other writers that can have you laughing out loud then sobbing inconsolably within half a page, and he creates...

Exclusive: The team behind Chameleon: The Hollywood Con Queen, the breakout podcast series that unmasked the man behind one of the strangest entertainment-related grifts, has set its second season.

Campside Media, the Sister-backed company that produces the show in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment, is making Chameleon: High Rollers with new host Trevor Aaronson.

You can listen to the trailer below.

The second season, which has been described as American Hustler-esque, will follow the FBI as they investigate a money laundering conspiracy in Vegas — or track a conspiracy that never existed at all.

The series will investigate the stranger-than-fiction tale using more than 20 hours of FBI recordings, taking listeners into a sordid, neon-lit world of diet clinics, fitness models, high-end restaurants, strip clubs, lascivious men, arms dealers, secret scams, and lawsuits.

Hollywood Con Queen Subject Of eOne Will Gluck-Noah Pink Scripted Series & Unscripted Docuseries Based On ‘Chameleon’ Podcast That Unmasked...

A group of leading long-form journalists have launched a podcast studio backed by Sister, the production group run by Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone and behind hit HBO/Sky drama Chernobyl.

Josh Dean, Vanessa Grigoriadis and Matthew Shaer as well as screenwriter and producer Adam Hoff have formed Campside, which will focus on premium narrative non-fiction storytelling.

Campside has formed with a “significant” start-up investment from Sister. The company has a slate of around 11 non-fiction podcasts in production or development spanning the true crime, scandal, and adventure genres.

Stacey Snider, Global Chief Executive of Sister, and the Campside quartet told Deadline how the deal came about and what they hope to achieve.

Campside’s first podcast will be a 10-part series on the Hollywood Con Queen scam, which has seen hundreds of people in town taken in by a person impersonating the likes of Amy Pascal and Kathleen Kennedy.

Elisa Viihde, the popular Finnish Svod service behind “All the Sins” and “Shadow Lines,” is developing “Bad Apples,” a daring psychological drama series, with Lagardere Studios Distribution.

The concept for “Bad Apples” was created by Marja Pyykkö who will also be directed the eight-part show. Fire Monkey Productions is producing the series with Mia Ylönen (“Moscow Noir”) on board to write.

“Bad Apples” is set in 1970’s Finland when women unwilling to conform to society were considered damaged and sent to an asylum on an islolated island for treatment. Away from the world, these women seemed to have found a way to be themselves until a strange rumour started spreading about a secret ward. The series will follow a student activist, Onerva, who is committed to an experimental psychiatric program for women at a 1970s sanatorium.

Anni Wessman, the head of international at Elisa, said “Bad Apples” will be headlined...

Snapchat has unveiled a new slate of 10 original series and renewals for its serialized series Endless Summer, Deep Creek and The Dead Girls Detective Agency. The announcements were part of Snapchat’s Snap Partner Summit Thursday in West Hollywood.

“In 2019, mobile will surpass television in time spent for U.S. adults. This transformation is creating massive new opportunities,” said Sean Mills, Snap senior director of content, during the keynote. “But realizing this potential is not as simple as repurposing old content for new screens. Mobile storytelling has to be different because the way we use our phones is so different.”

The 10 new series include six scripted projects, New Form’s Two Sides, which focuses on a young couple navigating a breakup told from both characters’ points of view simultaneously; sci-fi series Commanders from Dakota Pictures; sneaker cult comedy Sneakerheads from Indigo and Emjag Productions; and Denton’s Death Rate from Insurrection Media.

Dylan Scott will start off 2019 at full speed as he launches his new headlining Nothing to Do Town Tour in January. The “My Girl” singer currently has 17 dates lined up, beginning with a January 17th show at New York’s Gramercy Theatre.

The tour marks Scott’s second outing as a headlining performer and he’ll be joined this time by Seth Ennis, who recently released the Little Big Town collaboration “Call Your Mama.” Running through February 23rd, the tour includes stops at Louisville, Kentucky’s Mercury Ballroom and Nashville’s Cannery Ballroom,...

Boy band Why Don’t We have announced their debut album 8 Letters. The full-length LP will arrive on August 31st.

Why Don’t We’s forthcoming album comes after two years of Ep releases from the group, including last year’s Invitation which was the first of their releases to chart on the Billboard 200. To preview their latest, they’ve released the title track, a romantic, smooth power ballad. Previously released singles “Talk” and “Hooked” will also appear on the eight-track project.

The group was formed in September 2016 by Jon Lucero,...

Vanilla Ice was game to spit lines with our photog ... and, although we're not really in the matchmaking biz, a bromance was born!! We got the rapper out at Lax on Sunday and our guy didn't waste any time ... reminding Ice they rapped the first verse to his 1990 track, "Hooked," last time around. With a second run-in, our guy gave the second verse a shot, and Vanilla didn't skip a beat. Even more hilarious? Our...

In today’s film news roundup, Ruby Modine reprises her villain role in the “Happy Death Day” sequel, Passionflix has cast its leads for “Driven,” and Breaking Glass sets a June release for Lgbtq story “Hooked.”

Castings

Ruby Modine has signed on to reprise her role as Lori Spengler in Blumhouse Productions’ thriller sequel “Happy Death Day 2” opposite Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Suraj Sharma, and Sarah Yarkin.

Modine, daughter of Matthew Modine, broke out as part of the cast of Showtime’s “Shameless” in 2016, then scored the role in director Christopher Landon’s “Happy Death Day” as a nursing student at Bayfield University and its campus hospital.

Landon wrote the original script, which he directs. John Baldecchi and Angela Mancuso serve as executive producers. Jason Blum returns as producer with Ryan Turek as co-producer.

“Happy Death Day 2” starts shooting in New Orleans in two weeks. Modine is represented by Gersh.