Essential Ebro Laura Rosenberg

Laura, Rosenberg and Marisa Mendez go deep on a ranking of the 100 best television shows of the 21st century, starting with the controversy over why The Sopranos wasn’t eligible despite most of its episodes airing after 2000. From there, they work through the top 20 and compare their own favorites — including Six Feet Under , Friday Night Lights , Girls , Arrested Development and The Office . Esse...

Marisa Mendez sits in with Laura and Rosenberg as they dig into the case being called the “Cornell Seven.” A former Cornell student has filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity in 2024. The Tompkins County district attorney has now reopened the criminal investigation, saying allegations in the new lawsuit differ significantly...

The crew catches up on what they missed this week, starting with SNL UK taking aim at Ed Sheeran, Macklemore and Robert Kraft before Rosenberg unloads over Jayden Daniels’ latest injury. Daniels dislocated his left elbow against Dallas — the same elbow he injured last season — after falling on the final play of the first half. X-rays showed no fracture, with further evaluation needed to determine...

The crew starts with Ye’s return to Chicago for the dedication of Dr. Donda West Way , honoring his late mother’s contributions to education, literature and the city. What should be a straightforward celebration quickly turns into a debate after Ye insists on unveiling the street sign himself — and Rosenberg has some feelings about it. Dr. West taught at Chicago State University for more than two...

The show opens with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s video attacking New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani ahead of Netanyahu’s UN General Assembly appearance. Netanyahu accused Mamdani of supporting Hamas and inciting violence against Jewish New Yorkers. Ebro, Laura and Rosenberg use the exchange to explore how criticism of Israel, antisemitism, identity and social-media algorithms can co...

The show opens with Ebro, Laura and Rosenberg reacting to President Donald Trump’s meeting with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion, including Mamdani’s response when Trump defended barring several news organizations from the White House. They also discuss the president’s declining approval numbers and the unusual political relationship between Trump and Mamdani. Laura then discus...

Ebro and Laura dig into the backlash surrounding a Converse campaign image that critics said evoked a KKK hood and lynching imagery. Converse removed the ad and apologized, but the conversation turns to a bigger question: how does an image like that make it through multiple layers of a major corporate marketing operation, and was outrage itself part of the strategy?  Later, Ed Sheeran address...

Rapsody joins Ebro, Laura and Rosenberg for Family Friday to talk about the freedom she has found at this stage of her career. She opens up about the space she has carved out for herself, running a relatively small team and the moment she stopped measuring success by industry expectations — describing 2024 as her “surrender year” and this chapter as her “freedom season.” She also gets into God Got...

With Colin Kaepernick back in the spotlight on his book tour, Ebro and Laura revisit how his national anthem protest became a national controversy and how much of the original message was lost amid the backlash. They discuss his decision to kneel, the role of veterans in shaping that form of protest, the NFL’s response and why the current Macklemore controversy has them thinking again about the po...

The Macklemore fallout gets even bigger. Ed Sheeran addresses Macklemore’s removal from his tour, while the remaining opening acts and his backing band withdraw in solidarity. Ebro, Laura and Rosenberg debate whether Sheeran misread the moment by trying to remain neutral, how much responsibility belongs with Robert Kraft and other venue owners, and whether Sheeran should have risked canceling show...

The crew spends much of the episode unpacking Macklemore’s claim that Robert Kraft and other stadium owners pressured Ed Sheeran to remove him from upcoming stadium dates after his pro-Palestinian remarks. They debate whether Sheeran should have stood by his longtime friend, what responsibility comes with being one of the world’s biggest artists and whether attempts to silence Macklemore have only...

The crew opens with a bigger conversation about artificial intelligence, from AI-powered scams and deepfakes to whether the companies building increasingly powerful systems should be trusted to regulate themselves. They question who should ultimately set the rules and connect today’s fears around AI to the surveillance powers Americans accepted after 9/11. Laura then reports that Lil Durk was foun...

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Laura and Rosenberg spend most of the episode remembering the day and trying to explain its impact to people who did not experience it firsthand. Laura recalls heading to BMCC from Inwood as the city began shutting down, while Rosenberg reflects on how difficult it still is to look away from footage and stories from that morning. The conversa...

With Ebro away in San Francisco, Laura and Rosenberg dig into the Republican midterm convention in Dallas after Democratic Sen. John Fetterman appeared in a video introducing Republican Sen. Dave McCormick. They question Fetterman’s “common sense Democrat” positioning, his rejection of socialism and whether he could become an especially important swing vote if control of the Senate is closely divi...

Rob Markman joins the crew for a conversation about BET.com removing years of interviews, articles and other editorial work. As former MTV News contributors, Rob and Rosenberg reflect on how much hip-hop history has already disappeared from BET, MTV and other digital outlets — including interviews with artists who are no longer alive — and why creators need to preserve their own work. The conversa...

Rob Markman returns to ELR to talk Ransom, Rapsody and why hip-hop no longer needs a participation trophy for filling stadiums. The crew then recaps Jay-Z’s London shows, including his birthday tribute to Beyoncé and appearances from the Fugees and other guests. Laura reports that prosecutors will not pursue the criminal case against Big Tigger following his June arrest. Then the crew reacts to th...

Family Friday begins with the crew thinking seriously about bringing the ELR community together in person. They debate everything from an intimate dinner and live podcast to a straightforward party, while considering ticket prices, sponsors, food, drinks and giving Patreon supporters early access. The Patrionis are invited to weigh in on what kind of event they would actually want. Listener emails...

Tizzy ENT joins the show to explain how his social-media work identifies people captured committing assaults, hate crimes and other harmful acts, and why he believes TikTok has changed dramatically in recent months. He says he has been banned four times in six months after being banned only twice since joining in 2018, and describes returning from his latest suspension to unusually low reach despi...

The crew starts with a follow-up on deregulation and imported beef before a viral Central Park encounter sparks a much bigger conversation about privacy. After a streamer films a lawyer making out with a junior colleague, Ebro, Laura and Rosenberg debate workplace power dynamics, infidelity and whether chasing strangers with cameras for content should be normalized just because the algorithm rewar...

The crew opens with Complex’s reader ranking of the greatest hip-hop beats ever, led by Mobb Deep’s “Shook Ones, Pt. II.” That launches a deep dive into “Still D.R.E.,” “C.R.E.A.M.,” “N.Y. State of Mind,” “They Reminisce Over You,” “Grindin’” and the art of sampling, with Ebro and Rosenberg debating whether production ingenuity should matter as much as a beat’s cultural impact. After celebrating L...

The crew opens with Ebro getting cursed out by Olivia Dean fans waiting outside Madison Square Garden for tickets, which turns into a larger conversation about how quickly artists can become arena-level stars without everyone realizing it. They debate fragmented music discovery, the declining role of radio and why different generations increasingly live inside completely different musical ecosyste...

The crew kicks off Family Friday with listener emails, hat problems and some overdue music talk, including Busta Rhymes and J Dilla’s Diligence 2 . Rosenberg praises the project’s largely unfamiliar Dilla production, Lil Wayne’s performance and a guest list that includes D’Angelo, Slum Village, Big Sean, Bun B, Anderson .Paak, John Mayer, Jon Batiste and Common. Then the conversation turns to Hake...

The crew opens with more reflections on Dolly Parton’s legacy before touching on Kacey Musgraves supporting immigrant families and Laura and Rosenberg’s love of true-crime television. In The Rundown, they discuss another canceled Kanye West concert and a three-part Wendy Williams documentary reportedly being produced without her approval. That sparks a larger debate about privacy, celebrity gossip...

Ebro, Laura and Rosenberg devote the episode to remembering Dolly Parton, reflecting on the unusually universal outpouring of love following her death and the way she built a legacy around kindness, inclusion and generosity. They revisit her willingness to speak about workers’ rights, her refusal to judge others and the Imagination Library, which has distributed hundreds of millions of free books...

Ebro follows up on the crew’s beef discussion by shouting out an upstate New York farm that sells directly to consumers and digging deeper into questions surrounding hundreds of thousands of tons of proposed imported beef. The conversation moves into rejected meat, food safety and the difference between eliminating unnecessary red tape and deregulating industries to the point that consumers may be...