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Yale University is getting in formation with a new course dedicated to studying Beyoncé. Starting this upcoming spring semester, Yale will offer a class titled “Beyonce Makes History: Black Radical Tradition History, Culture, Theory & Politics Through Music.” The aim, according to its course description, is to use her work as a lens through which to examine Black intellectual thought and activism. It’s the latest college course to take on pop culture-inspired themes by focusing on a global music superstar, as universities around the world have embraced classes on the cultural impact of celebrities including Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga. Following Beyoncé’s innovations and influence from her self-titled 2013 album to her latest, “Cowboy Carter,” students will anal...

Cryptocurrencies extended their rally on Sunday, with bitcoin touching $80,000 for the first time ever. The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by 4.5% at $79,800.19, according to Coin Metrics. Ether rose 3%, after passing the $3,000 level on Saturday. It last changed hands at $3,203.10. Smaller coins saw bigger moves as investors continued to digest the implications of a second term for President-elect Donald Trump. The payments coin XRP surged 11%. The decentralized finance token tied to Cardano rocketed 40%. Memecoins dogecoin a nd Shiba Inu coin soared 17% and 31%, respectively. “Crypto is poised to enter a golden era,” Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, said in a research note Friday. “Trump has pr...

Director Jon M. Chu and his wife, Kristin Hodge, expanded their family by one more, welcoming the birth of their daughter on Nov. 9. Her birth coincided with another big moment in Chu's life: the Los Angeles premiere of “Wicked,” a musical fantasy film he directed that was produced by Universal Pictures, which is owned by NBCUniversal, TODAY’s parent company. Chu shared a “special magical announcement” on his Instagram stories, posting a photo of a green and black friendship bracelet placed on a tray table in the hospital that read “defy gravity.” “This movie has always moved in mysterious ways,” he wrote on the image. “Today is a day I’ve been dreaming about for a long time. Two babies (a movie and a little girl) all at one time and I truly couldn’t be happier.” Chu announced ...

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, on Sunday said that he and his House Republican colleagues are “not taking anything off the table” related to investigating special counsel Jack Smith. “We want the facts,” Jordan told CNN ’ s “ State of the Union ,” days after Smith and the Justice Department started the process of winding down two federal investigations into President-elect Donald Trump, who was projected to win the presidential election last week. “I assume there’s going to be some report. But all we’re saying is, ‘preserve everything,’ so we, the Congress, who have a constitutional duty to do oversight, can see everything,” Jordan added. Asked specifically multiple times whether Jordan would call on Smith to ...

Jamie Stupey has lived most of her life without answers to her mother’s disappearance. “There’s so much I don’t know,” she told Dateline. Jamie was only 2 years old when her mother, 24-year-old Barbara McClure, vanished in Seattle, following a night out with friends. That was 46 years ago. Jamie’s parents separated shortly after she was born and later divorced. She was raised by her father and stepmother, following her mother’s disappearance. Jamie says she would wonder about her mom from time to time, but was mostly shielded from what happened. “I never really knew what to ask,” Jamie said. “It was kind of like, I always knew it was a thing, but I never really paid attention to it.” That changed as Jamie got older. According to a Facebook post by the King County Sheriff’s ...

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., on Sunday dodged when asked if President-elect Donald Trump should seek to preserve the Department of Justice’s independence from the White House, telling moderator Kristen Welker that former President John F. Kennedy previously appointed his brother Robert F. Kennedy as attorney general and that Trump can “choose who he wants.” “I think that John Kennedy appointed his brother, little brother Bobby, as attorney general. The president gets to choose who he wants,” Barrasso told Kristen Welker, the moderator of NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “We’ll have hearings on whoever the president appoints as the attorney general of the United States. And I’m looking forward to those discussions and those hearings,” Barrasso added. “I’m looking forward to moving quickly w...

This past week, we were lucky enough to take part in electing the 47th President of our country. Regardless of whether you’re happy or unhappy with the results, it’s important to hold a sense of gratitude that we have a say in the process. Electing our officials to represent us, the people, is a unique gift provided to us by our founding fathers.  Would you rather the process was easier? Join the club. I’d rather many things in my life were easier, from paying taxes to buying insurance, but some things are complicated for a reason. Easier is not always better.  There’s a reality we all must come to grips with. Democracy is messy.  We need to look no further to define this as fact than the election of 1800. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr each had 73 electoral votes, both of them having def...

A Federal Emergency Management Agency employee was fired after recently advising a survivor assistance team to not visit homes with yard signs that support President-elect Donald Trump during Hurricane Milton relief efforts. FEMA did not clarify where the incident happened, or when and did not identify the employee. But in a statement on Saturday, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell called the incident "reprehensible." "This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation," she said in the statement shared with NBC News. Criswell said FEMA's more than 22,000 employees are dedicated to helping those impacted by disasters. "I want to be clear to all of my employees and the American people, this type of behavior and...

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Sunday defended keeping Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the Supreme Court, after some Democrats have reportedly considered pressuring her to step down while President Joe Biden is still in office. “No,” Sanders said, when asked by “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker whether he thinks Sotomayor, who is 70, should step down from her post while Biden can nominate a liberal replacement. He added that he’s heard “a little bit” of talk from Democratic senators about asking Sotomayor, who is serving a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, to step aside. “I don’t think it’s sensible,” Sanders said, without elaborating on his position further. Since President-elect Donald Trump was projected to win the presidential election last week, there’s ...