Ripped from the Headlines: October, 2019: This Week In Culture: October 12–18, 2019

A company that teaches interrogation techniques to police departments has filed a lawsuit against Netflix for the use of its name in Ava DuVernay's miniseries When They See Us. "The Reid Technique", named for John E. Reid and Associates, was most famously used to coerce false confessions from the Central Park Five, the subjects of the miniseries, in 1989. The suit demands that the network delete all references to the technique.

Nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's 2020 class have been announced, and include such legends as The Notorious B.I.G., Whitney Houston, and Soundgarden. Despite being absolutely huge in Germany, David Hasselhoff was inexplicably excluded from the list for like the 20th time in a row. Kiosk comes to us from the Persian kushkh, which meant a pavilion or portico.

Mistress of Evil, the new Disney sequel to Maleficient, stars Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfeiffer. After the success of the first film, people are watching to see how it fares against Joker, which has already earned more than $200 million. Mesmerize is derived from the name of Friedrich Mesmer, an Austrian doctor who believed in a force he called "animal magnetism". His attempts to put his patients into trances ultimately led to the modern field of hypnotism.

Google announced their new earbuds, called Pixel Buds, which will be available next spring for the low, low price of $179. They'll feature automatic volume adjustment based on ambient sound levels and long-range bluetooth pairing. Unlike Apple AirPods, they'll also come in four colors, so you can choose which hue you think will be easiest to look for when you inevitably lose one of them.

Lizzo has been accused by a second person of stealing parts of her hit song "Truth Hurts" without giving proper credit. Singer Mina Lioness claims she wrote one of the key lyrics, and producer/songwriter Justin Raisen claims he wrote the chords, melody, and some of the lyrics. The Latin word plagiarius means "kidnapper", so it should be no surprise that plagiarism is a serious offense that can get a person in a lot of trouble.

Twitter explained in a blog post what circumstances could possibly prompt it to delete one of President Trumps's tweets, or even block his account. World leaders are given exemptions to many of the platform's terms of service, but the post laid out certain violations, including overt threats against an individual or promoting terrorism. Polarized comes from magnetism, as in the poles of a magnet or the poles of our planet: oppositely charged points.

Rolling Loud, the hip-hop mega-tour, took place in Queens last weekend. 60,000 people attended on each of the two days. The relative lack of performers from New York showed how much the genre has evolved into a national industry. Riotous helpfully means what it sounds like: wild, out of control. Riot is a French word, originally meaning "dispute", "disturbance", or "din" (a loud noise).

Though many see him as the replacement for Dwyane Wade, who retired after 16 seasons with the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler says he's not interested in that role. Fans, however, have high hopes for Butler, and see his work ethic and outspoken — even obnoxious — nature as being excellent fits with the team's personality. Seismic refers to earthquakes and tremors, but can also refer to a major, disruptive change in an unrelated field.

Last Saturday, in Vienna, Eliud Kipchoge ran a marathon in under two hours. He beat the mark by twenty seconds. Though it won't count as a world record, the feat nonetheless proved that it's possible. He was surrounded by pace-setting runners and a vehicle driving ahead of him projected a laser on the road showing where he needed to be in order to beat the clock.

After winning her 24th medal, which was her 18th gold, Simone Biles is now the most-medalled gymnast in the history of the world championships. Widely viewed as the G.O.A.T., the greatest of all time, she also added a fourth skill to the list of feats named for her: a dismount simply called "The Biles".