title: Foxy Brown (film)

text: According to director Jack Hill, due to tension between American International Pictures (AIP) and him, he was not invited to direct the sequel for "Coffy" until last minute. Tensions arose at a screening of a different film on which AIP had been working, which they were eager to show to Hill. Hill walked out, unimpressed, and AIP made a vow to never hire him again. AIP founder Samuel Z. Arkoff reconciled with Hill, however, after the success of "Coffy".


title: Foxy Brown (film)

text: "Foxy Brown" was originally intended to be a sequel to his "Coffy", also starring Pam Grier, and originally used the working title "Burn, Coffy, Burn!" However, AIP decided at the last minute it did not want to do a sequel. Therefore, it is never said exactly what kind of job Foxy Brown has – "Coffy" was a nurse, and since this was no longer to be a sequel, they could not give Foxy Brown that job and did not have time to rewrite the script to establish just what kind of job she had.


title: Foxy Brown (film)

text: On the audio commentary on the film's DVD release, Hill mentions that he was initially against the outfits that the wardrobe department chose for Foxy Brown. Since Pam Grier had become a star in "Coffy", an impetus existed to present the actress as even more stylish than she had appeared in the previous film. The 14 costumes were designed by a California couturier named Ruthie West, who was also the stylist for the Jackson 5, Thelma Houston, Bobbie Gentry, the Curtis Brothers, and Sisters Love, among others. Hill, by his own account, though, initially felt that the outfits were too trendy and specific to the time period, and within a few years would cause the film to look dated and obsolete. In the years since the film's release, however, Hill has reversed his opinion on Foxy's clothes, particularly in the wake of not only "Foxy Brown"s ascent into pop culture icon, but also the '70s nostalgia movement that started in the mid-1990s. Hill also mentioned that the character of Foxy Brown became something of a female empowerment symbol that seemed to transcend the time period of the film.


title: Foxy Brown (film)

text: A. H. Weiler of "The New York Times" wrote that Grier was "in a rut" and "fast becoming a bore despite all the sex, brawls and gore in 'Foxy Brown'". "Variety" wrote that even by blaxploitation standards, the film is "something of a mess. Hill's screenplay has peculiar narrative gaps that are not concealed by heaps on 'right on, brother' dialog, while his direction is frenzied without being exciting." The review concluded that Grier was "reasonably competent and self-assured" and would be interesting to see in a different role. Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film one star out of four and wrote, "Some critics have found meaning in recent black films featuring large, well-endowed women as heroic figures. I find nothing ground-breaking about that. '"Foxy Brown"' is selling Pam Grier's body just like it was sold a couple years ago in a half-dozen Philippine women-in-prison pictures." Linda Gross of the "Los Angeles Times" stated, "For the most part, "'Foxy Brown"' is just another movie about vengeance, vigilantes, dope, call girls and violence — interspersed with sex, vulgarity and hatred." The "Atlanta Daily World" wrote that Grier had the star caliber to "carry a film and to have the title role." Verina Glaessner of "The Monthly Film Bulletin" wrote, "For all its additional heavyweight violence ... "Foxy Brown" is in every way a far less interesting work than writer-director Jack Hill's previous film with Pam Grier, "Coffy." ... Hill's colourless script does little for an actress who unmistakeably has, regardless of her material, all the strength and resilience of a Jane Russell."


title: Foxy Brown (film)

text: In 2003, the character Foxy Brown was one of 400 characters nominated in AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains list.


title: Foxy Brown (film)

text: The film's songs were written and performed by Willie Hutch, and a soundtrack album was released on Motown Records in 1974.


title: Foxy Brown (film)

text: In 2001, "Foxy Brown" was released on DVD with a commentary track by director Jack Hill. In 2010, the film was digitized in High Definition (1080i) and broadcast on MGM HD. In 2013, Arrow Video released a region B/2 (UK only) restored Blu-ray that featured extras including a director’s audio commentary track, new interviews with the cast, and a collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Josiah Howard, author of" Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide." In 2015, Olive Films released a region A/1 (US only) Blu-ray with no special features.


title: Foxy Brown (film)

text: "Foxy Brown" is considered to be one of the most influential blaxploitation films, with Pam Grier's character seen as the female archetype of the genre. The film and the character of Foxy Brown have directly influenced or were referenced in multiple films in subsequent years, including "Girl 6" (1996), "Urban Legend" (1998), "Undercover Brother" (2002), and "Austin Powers in Goldmember" (2002). "Jackie Brown", the Quentin Tarantino film starring Grier in the title role, is an homage to "Foxy Brown". In the 2001 horror film "Bones," Grier references her Foxy Brown character.


title: Foxy Brown (film)

text: It is often noted by film historians as one of the first blaxploitation films to provide a portrayal of a strong and independent woman; until Grier, women often existed exclusively to support their men for a small part of the film.


title: Foxy Brown (film)

text: Additionally, "Foxy Brown" and the preceding film "Coffy" are unique for their establishment of pushers and pimps as villains. Before these films, the blaxploitation genre often espoused empathy for the social positions of such individuals.


title: Foxy Brown (film)

text: In December 2016, a television series based on the film was reported as being developed by streaming service Hulu, with DeVon Franklin and Tony Krantz executive producing, and Meagan Good starring as Foxy Brown. As of October, 2022, the TV series has yet to appear.


title: Doug E. Doug

text: Doug E. Doug (born Douglas Bourne; January 7, 1970) is an American actor. He started his career at age 17 as a stand-up comedian. He played the role of Griffin Vesey on the CBS sitcom "Cosby", Sanka Coffie in the film "Cool Runnings", and the voice of Bernie in the animated film "Shark Tale".


title: Doug E. Doug

text: Doug has appeared in a number of films, including "Jungle Fever" (1991), "Hangin' with the Homeboys" (1991), "Class Act" (1992), "Cool Runnings" (1993), "Operation Dumbo Drop" (1995), the remake of Disney's "That Darn Cat" (1997), and "Eight Legged Freaks" (2002). He was the star of his own short-lived ABC sitcom, "Where I Live", a show which won the acclaim of Bill Cosby, and subsequently played Hilton Lucas's boarder and surrogate son Griffin Vesey on "Cosby". In 2004, he had a voice role in the animated feature "Shark Tale", and also appeared on two episodes of "" (2004, 2012).


title: Doug E. Doug

text: Doug E. Doug started off his career as a stand-up comic at the age of 17. Doug was first seen at the Apollo Theater by Russell Simmons, who then asked Doug to write and host a syndicated late-night program Simmons produced called "The New Music Report". His entrance into film began when he spoke one line in Spike Lee's film "Mo' Better Blues".


title: Doug E. Doug

text: Doug is known to movie viewers for his starring role as the spirited pushcart driver turned bobsled racer in "Cool Runnings". The movie is loosely based on the true story of the first Jamaica national bobsled team trying to make it to the Winter Olympics.


title: Doug E. Doug

text: Doug is also known for his roles as the ne'er do well Willie Stevens in "Hangin' with the Homeboys". For this role, he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor. He played a class comedian in "Class Act", a soldier enlisted for an unusual duty in "Operation Dumbo Drop", an ill-fated high school student in the horror epic "Dr. Giggles", and an FBI agent in the 1997 remake of That Darn Cat. In the Warner Bros. science fiction comedy "Eight Legged Freaks", he portrayed a paranoid small-town radio host with visions of an alien invasion. In the animated DreamWorks film, "Shark Tale", his is the voice of Bernie the jellyfish.


title: Doug E. Doug

text: In television, Doug starred in the ABC series "Where I Live", a show developed around his life and on which he served as co-producer. In the series, he portrayed Douglas Saint Martin, a quirky teenager growing up in a working-class Caribbean family in New York. Doug also co-hosted the VH-1 series "Rock of Ages" and spent four seasons starring as the character Griffin in the television series "Cosby". On the Nickelodeon animated show, "Little Bill", Doug voiced Percy the pet store owner. Doug guest-starred in "Touched by an Angel", "Law and Order: SVU", and NBC's "Conviction".


title: Doug E. Doug

text: Doug made his debut as a director/producer with the screenplay "Citizen James", in which he also co-wrote and starred. "Citizen James" aired on Starz Encore/ BET Movies.


title: Doug E. Doug

text: Doug launched a new YouTube comedy channel The Doug Life Show in late 2012 as part of The Comedy Shaq Network. It is a series of skit comedy and commentaries very loosely based around the experiences, thoughts, and life of Doug.


title: Wai Ching Ho

text: She is known for her role as Madame Gao in the Marvel Cinematic Universe onscreen, in "Daredevil" (2015–2016), "Iron Fist" and "The Defenders" (both 2017).


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: The thirty-sixth government of Israel, or the Bennett–Lapid government, is the cabinet of Israel formed on 13 June 2021 after the 2021 Israeli legislative election. On 2 June 2021, a coalition agreement was signed between Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Yamina, the Labor Party, Yisrael Beiteinu, New Hope, Meretz, and the United Arab List.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: The government has had two prime ministers during its existence. Namely, under a rotation agreement, Naftali Bennett of Yamina initially served as Prime Minister but ultimately ceded the position to Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid, after the coalition fell on June 30, 2022. Lapid became Prime Minister on July 1, 2022. Due to the collapse of the government, Lapid is a caretaker Prime Minister and will only serve until elections are held on November 1, 2022.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: Yamina and Yesh Atid became the fourth and fifth parties, respectively, to lead an Israeli government – following Mapai/Labor Party (1948–1977; 1984–1986; 1992–1996; 1999–2001), Herut/Likud (1977–1984; 1986–1992; 1996–1999; 2001–2005; 2009–2021), and Kadima (2005–2009).


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: The government is the first to include an independent Arab Israeli party as an official member of the governing coalition. It is Israel's second government, after the Netanyahu-Gantz rotation government, to function under an automatic and legally-binding system of rotation in the position of prime minister. The investiture vote in the Knesset was held on 13 June 2021. The Bennett-Lapid government was confirmed by a vote of 60 to 59, with one MK from the United Arab List abstaining. Bennett was thus sworn in as Israel's 13th prime minister, with Lapid serving as alternate prime minister.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: President Reuven Rivlin met with all elected parties and received their recommendations for prime minister on 5 April 2021, and gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the mandate on 6 April. This was the first time in Israel's history where there were recommendations for three candidates (Netanyahu, Yair Lapid, and Naftali Bennett), rather than two, after the legislative election. Netanyahu was given a mandate to form a new government by the end of 4 May, but he failed to form a government by the deadline.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: The 2021 election once more produced a hung Knesset, with neither the pro-Netanyahu right-wing bloc (Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Religious Zionist Party; with 52 seats) nor the ideologically diverse non-Arab anti-Netanyahu opposition (Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Labor Party, Yisrael Beiteinu, New Hope, and Meretz; with 51 seats) winning enough seats to form a new government outright (61 seats are needed for an absolute majority). This left the conservative Yamina and the two Arab political factions, the Joint List and United Arab List, as the potential kingmakers for a Knesset majority.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: Yamina leader Naftali Bennett stated that his first preference was the formation of a right-wing government, while his second choice would be the establishment of a broader "national unity government", to avoid a fifth election in just over two years time. Even with the potential addition of Yamina, the pro-Netanyahu bloc would still have been short of an absolute majority by two seats. Namely, Gideon Sa'ar of the right-wing New Hope party had refused to enter into any coalition in which Netanyahu would remain prime minister, thus hindering the formation of a pure right-wing majority government. In addition, while Netanyahu had been open to limited forms of cooperation with the United Arab List to put an end to the deadlock, the Religious Zionist Party ruled out being a part of any right-wing majority which would rely on the UAL's outside support.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: On 6 April 2021, Benjamin Netanyahu was given the first mandate to establish a coalition by the president Reuven Rivlin. During his efforts to form a government, he offered both his allies and his rivals several proposals for rotation agreements, which would see the prime ministership change hands between parties mid-term. Namely, in a bid to appease Bennett and Sa'ar – either of whom was foreseen to take part in a potential rotation, he offered the post to fellow Likud member and Knesset speaker Yariv Levin. Thereafter, Netanyahu also unsuccessfully tried to include Aryeh Deri of Shas, and then the incumbent Alternate Prime Minister, Benny Gantz of Blue and White, into similar agreements. Netanyahu's mandate to form a government formally expired at midnight on 4 May 2021.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: While Netanyahu held the formal mandate to lead talks on a new government, simultaneous discussions were taking place between the parties of the "change bloc". Namely, Lapid stated his willingness to enter into a rotation government with Naftali Bennett, and even offered him the opportunity to hold the post of prime minister for the first half of the Knesset term. These efforts to establish a broad anti-Netanyahu government, which would span the whole political spectrum, were challenged by questions relating to the distribution of ministerial portfolios between the three main blocs (right, centre, and left), as well as to the possibility of including a mutual veto into any coalition agreement among the parties. Another concern was that such an ideologically diverse, seven-party, coalition would still not hold an absolute parliamentary majority – thus requiring outside support to govern effectively. Parties that were mentioned as hypothetical partners in such a cooperation agreement included the United Arab List and United Torah Judaism (especially its Degel HaTorah faction).


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: On 5 May 2021, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid was officially tasked with the formation of a government by president Rivlin. He had been recommended for the prime ministership by 56 Knesset members from seven factions – including New Hope and almost all of the Joint List. On the same day, one of Yamina's Knesset members, Amichai Chikli, voiced his open opposition to any agreement on a new government which would include Meretz or the Joint List, thus potentially lowering the bloc's plurality from 58 to 57 seats.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: On 7 May 2021, several rounds of talks took place between different parties in the bloc, with Yisrael Beiteinu also issuing a formal list of conditions for its entrance into any potential coalition. They included the adoption of laws regarding the following issues: a two-term limit for the prime minister, compulsory voting in elections, compulsory conscription for male ultra-Orthodox Jews, putting more focus on secular studies in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, a penalty of life imprisonment for the rape of a minor, allowing local authorities to decide on the closure of businesses on Saturdays, the introduction of civil law marriage, as well as a new, two-year state budget. The party's chairman, Avigdor Lieberman, also promised to set up two state commissions of inquiry, to investigate the Netanyahu administration's possible culpability in the circumstances which led to a deadly stampede on Mount Meron on 30 April 2021, as well as its overall handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The proposal to allow civil marriages drew strong opposition from the United Arab List, which views it as a "violation of family values".


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: On 8 May 2021, media sources reported that the parties had allegedly agreed on several general mechanisms and basic principles, which were to form the basis of their cooperation. The leaders of the parties still disagreed over the distribution of many ministerial positions within the potential government, specifically the portfolios of justice (demanded by both Yamina, for Ayelet Shaked; and New Hope, for Sa'ar), education (sought by Yamina, New Hope, for Yifat Shasha-Biton; and Meretz, for Nitzan Horowitz) and defense (desired by both Blue and White, for Benny Gantz; and New Hope, for Sa'ar). In addition to the justice and education ministries, Yamina had also asked for the portfolios of public security and of religious affairs, all of which are considered to be "ideological" in nature. Despite these disputes, several points of agreement were reached, including on the matter that Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid would each serve as prime minister for two years. In such an arrangement Lapid would have served as foreign minister under Bennett, while Avigdor Lieberman would have held the position of finance minister. The parties of the potential coalition also discussed a rotation agreement regarding the position of Knesset speaker, which could have been held by Meir Cohen of Yesh Atid and Ze'ev Elkin of New Hope. In exchange for giving its outside support to a "change bloc" and Yamina coalition government, the United Arab List supposedly asked for the chairmanship of an important Knesset committee (either internal or economic affairs), as well as for several measures aimed at improving the living conditions of the Israeli Arabs – a five-year economic plan for the community, a plan on how to decrease violent crimes among Arabs, the annulment of a 2019 law banning illegal construction, and solutions to problems facing the Negev Bedouins.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: According to media sources, by 10 May 2021 the discussions between the six-party "change bloc", Yamina and the United Arab List were progressing toward a successful conclusion. Namely, both the "change bloc" and Yamina had agreed to the UAL's demands – including the legal recognition of three Negev Bedouin communities and a budget to tackle violent crime in the Arab community, thereby gaining its crucial backing – which would have taken the form of a confidence and supply arrangement rather than that of a formal coalition deal. Therefore, if such a UAL-backed minority coalition had indeed been formed, it would have become the first government in Israel to have had the active support of an Israeli Arab political party. In addition to having made progress on an agreement with the UAL, the "change bloc" and Yamina had also reached several other mutual conclusions. These included a policy of avoiding major discussions on matters of religion – unless it was shown that there could be potential broad support for a certain decision in that area; a decision to continue Netanyahu's policies regarding the West Bank – that is, to maintain existing Israeli settlements there, and allow further construction within them, but also to not allow any new settlements or to annex any new areas of the West Bank; and a possibility of setting up a state commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances of the 30 April stampede at a Jewish pilgrimage site on Mount Meron.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: The parties were considering introducing legislation which would have limited the prime minister to two full terms in office (which, without a grandfather clause, could have possibly barred Benjamin Netanyahu from ever returning to the position) and which would have also prohibited anyone who is indicted from receiving the mandate to form a government from the president, as well as from becoming either the prime minister or the leader of the opposition in the Knesset. The New Hope party sought the division of the post of attorney general into two separate offices, thereby creating the position of a general prosecutor as well. With regard to the distribution of cabinet seats, the justice portfolio likely would have gone to New Hope's Sa'ar, while Blue and White's Gantz would probably have continued in the role of defense minister. In addition, Meretz's Horowitz and Tamar Zandberg were tapped for health and environmental protection minister, respectively. Shaked, on the other hand, had been given the choice of serving as either interior, public security, education or transportation minister. The interior ministry is also being sought by Labor's Merav Michaeli, while education is being contested by both Meretz (for Horowitz) and New Hope (for Yifat Shasha-Biton). Blue and White and Yisrael Beiteinu were also said to be making claims for certain key portfolios. Had Meretz or the Labor Party not met their demands regarding cabinet positions, they had supposedly been offered the chairmanships of some Knesset committees as a form of compensation. Local sources thus reported that Lapid had intended to inform president Rivlin of his success in building a government by the end of the second week of May, with the swearing-in of Naftali Bennett as Israel's 13th prime minister then due to take place some time after the Shavuot festival (which fell between 16 and 18 May 2021).


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: On the afternoon of 10 May 2021, the clashes in Jerusalem between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police – which had been ongoing since 6 May, escalated with the firing of over 400 rockets at Israel by both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine. This prompted a response by Israel, who initiated airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. Both attacks were lethal and also caused hundreds of injuries. As a result of these incidents, the talks on the formation of a new government were frozen indefinitely, with the United Arab List refusing to continue the then-nearly finalized negotiations with the "change bloc" and Yamina until the security situation is resolved. On 12 May, UAL leader Mansour Abbas once more clearly expressed his commitment to the continuation of talks with the parties of the prospective new governing coalition, once the widespread violence is brought under control.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: During the evening of 13 May and the morning of 14 May 2021, Yamina formally abandoned the coalition talks with the "change bloc", with Naftali Bennett stating that he no longer favoured establishing a government which would rely on the support of the United Arab List. In his announcement, Bennett cited the ongoing conflict between Palestinian militant groups and the Israeli military, as well as the riots and looting taking place in Israel, as the reasons for his decision. Namely, Bennett emphasized that he felt that a UAL-backed "change bloc" government would not have the capacity to deal with the security challenges facing the country, nor could it implement the necessary legal consequences which would need to befall those who took part in the unrest. Bennett thus declared that he would once again initiate talks with Likud, and would aim to form a broad "unity government", which could possibly also include Yesh Atid, Blue and White, and New Hope. Bennett has agreed to a proposal which would turn the prime ministership into a directly elected position (as it was from 1996 until 2001), which is something that also has the support of Likud. The United Arab List's Mansour Abbas stated that he would be willing to support the decision as well, provided that several conditions – relating to the improvement of the quality of life of Israeli Arabs, were met. Meanwhile, government ministers from Blue and White rejected the possibility of entering a new government with Netanyahu, as did the representatives of New Hope.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: On the morning of 14 May, it was reported that Likud and Yamina had reached a formal agreement on a new government. According to the deal, the latter party will be given eight reserved places among the coalition's top 40 candidates in the next Knesset election, while Bennett and Shaked will also serve as Netanyahu's defense and foreign ministers, respectively. Lapid refused to give up on forming a "change bloc" government, stating that he will keep the presidential mandate until it expires, and also expressed a willingness to face a new election if all other options fail to resolve the deadlock.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: Bennett again changed his position, and indicated on 23 May that he would be open to serving with Lapid. On 25 May, Meretz agreed to a coalition government, and thus, Lapid announced that he will be handing them the ministries of health, environment, and regional cooperation if the coalition government gets formed, while the ministry of treasury will be handed to Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu. Lapid and Bennett met on 27 May, in a move that was not made known to any other members of Yamina. On 28 May, Lapid secured the approval of a change government by the Labor Party. Two days later, Bennett announced he was in favor of a unity government, where he would serve as prime minister until September 2023, at which point Lapid would take over.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: On the afternoon of 1 June 2021, as talks between the various parties were reported to be coming to a conclusion, Mansour Abbas announced that the United Arab List intends to be a full-fledged member of the "change government" coalition. The party was said to be asking for the position of Deputy Interior Minister, who would most likely serve under Ayelet Shaked of Yamina. Meanwhile, four out of six Knesset members from the Joint List – which had formally stayed outside of both the pro-Netanyahu bloc and the "change bloc", stated that they would not support the new Bennett-Lapid government in a possible confidence vote. These MKs are from the Hadash (which includes the Israeli Communist Party and independent Ayman Odeh) and Balad factions of the coalition. On the other hand, the two MKs from the Ta'al faction remain undecided.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: During the evening of 1 June, the negotiations stalled once more. Yamina's Shaked demanded to be named to the Knesset's Judicial Appointments Committee, despite Lapid having already promised the seat to Labour's Michaeli. On the following morning, the negotiations with the United Arab List also encountered new challenges. Specifically, media sources reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu had agreed to repeal a controversial piece of legislation which addresses illegal housing construction – popularly dubbed the "Kaminitz law", and had thereby indirectly encouraged the UAL's MKs to heighten their demands in their talks with the "change bloc". These new demands had the effect of alienating the pro-"change" right-wing parties, Yamina and New Hope, which openly oppose a repeal of the law. Negotiations on the possible "change government" also took place on the sidelines of a Knesset session called to elect the new president of Israel. Isaac Herzog was easily elected as the 11th president of the country, and achieved the support of a broad range of parties. He received 87 votes, to just 26 for his only rival, Miriam Peretz.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: On the night of 2 June, just hours before the expiration of Lapid's mandate to form a government, Yamina made a formal offer to Labour, with the aim of resolving the issue surrounding the membership of the Judicial Appointments Committee. Namely, the proposal consisted of a rotation agreement, according to which Shaked would serve on the body as the government's representative during Bennett's tenure as prime minister, while a Labour MK would represent the coalition parties themselves. Then, when Bennett cedes the prime ministership to Lapid in 2023, Shaked would in turn cede her seat to Michaeli, while the Labour party MK would be replaced by an MK from Yamina.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: In response to this, Michaeli accepted the concept of a rotation, but insisted that she should serve during Bennett's tenure as prime minister, to ensure an ideological balance between the party blocs. Shaked rejected Michaeli's offer. Ultimately, the original proposal was adopted as a compromise solution. At the same time, Lapid, Bennett, and Abbas held a private meeting, with the aim of reaching a last-ditch consensus agreement. The "change bloc" released details of an agreement that had been reached between the various parties regarding the distribution of ministerial portfolios during Lapid's possible tenure as prime minister. Under the deal, Bennett would serve as interior minister (in addition to being Alternate Prime Minister), Shaked would become justice minister, and Sa'ar would take over as foreign minister. Only three hours before the deadline, the Southern Islamic Movement's shura council authorized the United Arab List to give its conditional support to the Bennett-Lapid government. The backing entailed a promise that negotiations would continue on the issues of the so-called "Kaminitz law" and the legalization of Bedouin villages in the Negev desert. Therefore, less than two hours before Lapid's mandate expired, the UAL formally joined the coalition. A new problem for the potential government arose when one of Yamina's MKs, Nir Orbach, stated that he was considering voting against the government in the Knesset. Such a move would deprive the "change government" of an absolute majority, and would tie it with the opposition at 60 seats each. During the negotiations at the Kfar Maccabiah Hotel, rival protests were being held outside by supporters of the Bennett-Lapid deal and by right-wing activists who oppose the "change government". One of the protesters who opposed the possible new government addressed the others and called for Orbach's house in Petah Tikva to be burned, should he vote in favor of the coalition deal.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: On the night of 2 June 2021, and less than an hour before his mandate was due to expire, Lapid informed outgoing president Reuven Rivlin that he can form a new government.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: Had Lapid not succeeded in assembling a coalition by 2 June, he could have been given a one-week extension, but only as long as he claimed to have a government ready to be voted on. If this had not been the case, the mandate would have passed back to the president, who would then in turn have passed the mandate onto the Knesset itself, which would then have had 21 days to nominate one of its members for prime minister. If the Knesset could not agree on a new nominee (by an absolute majority of 61 members), the Knesset would have automatically dissolved, and a new election would have been called.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: On 11 June 2021, Bennett's Yamina party became the last opposition fraction to sign a coalition agreement with Lapid's Yesh Atid party. This set the stage for a new Israeli government to be sworn in on 13 June. On 12 June 2021, media sources released the content of the final coalition agreements signed between the "change bloc" parties in the preceding days.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: The basic guidelines of the new government's policy would be the following: a bill to set term limits for the prime minister and allow only one re-election (though the details of the bill are not yet laid out), the setting up of a commission of inquiry to investigate the April 2021 Mount Meron disaster, the abolition of four existing government ministries – Cyber and National Digital Matters, National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources, Community Empowerment and Advancement, and Strategic Affairs; the increasing of the old-age income supplement to 70% of the minimum wage, the adoption of a reform package to benefit disabled war veterans, the creation of more competition among the providers of kashrut services and the introduction of consistent standards in that area, as well as the changing of the body which selects the chief rabbi (so as to allow for the election of a Zionist to the position), and the opening up of the possibility for gentiles to convert to Judaism by applying with municipal rabbinical authorities. The agreement includes creating binding regulations for reduce GHG emissions.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: The outgoing speaker of the Knesset, Yariv Levin, a member of prime minister Netanyahu's Likud party, had indicated that he would attempt to delay the holding of an investiture vote for the proposed Bennett-Lapid government for as long as legally possible. Thus, on 3 June 2021, some of the parties of the "change bloc" initiated a motion of no-confidence in Levin, with the aim of replacing him with Mickey Levy of Yesh Atid and bringing the investiture vote forward. Immediately thereafter, Yamina MK Nir Orbach indicated that he would oppose the move, and it was then instead unilaterally endorsed by all six MKs from the Joint List. Yesh Atid and Yamina rejected the Joint List's offer of support, and Yamina even indicated that it would only support the election of a new speaker when the new government itself had already been sworn in. On 13 June 2021, the incoming government nominated Levy for the post of speaker, while Shas in turn nominated its MK Yaakov Margi. Levy defeated Margi by a margin of 67–52 and immediately took over the presiding of the Knesset session from Levin.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: The investiture vote for the government was also held on 13 June 2021. While the eight parties of the so-called "change bloc" coalition formally had an absolute majority consisting of 62 Knesset members, one Yamina MK, Amichai Chikli, had already ruled out supporting the incoming government. As of the proposed government's announcement on 2 June 2021, the only opposition MKs who had not yet declared how they would vote were the two members of the Arab Israeli Ta'al faction within the Joint List. On 13 June 2021, Ta'al's MKs indicated that they would be ready to abstain during the investiture vote if the proposed government lost its own majority through defections. This would likely have allowed the Bennett-Lapid government to be confirmed to office by a plurality of MKs. Ultimately, the new government was successfully voted in by a margin of 60 to 59, with the only abstention being that of United Arab List MK Said al-Harumi.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: On 20 June 2022, following several legislative defeats for the governing coalition in the Knesset, Bennett and Lapid jointly announced the introduction of a bill to dissolve the Knesset, stating that Lapid would become the interim prime minister following the dissolution. The bill to dissolve the Knesset passed its first reading on 28 June.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: The bill passed its third reading on 29 June and the date for elections was set for 1 November 2022. Bennett opted to retire from politics and not seek reelection; he resigned as the leader of Yamina on 29 June, and was succeeded by Ayelet Shaked.


title: Thirty-sixth government of Israel

text: On 30 June, in accordance with the coalition agreement, Lapid succeeded Bennett as the caretaker Prime Minister until a new government is formed. Bennett turned down the position of acting Foreign Minister, although he formally remained alternate Prime Minister. Lapid thus continued to hold the position of Foreign Minister.


title: Quinton Flynn

text: Quinton Flynn is an American voice actor and comedian, who has provided the English voices of video game characters such as Raiden in the "Metal Gear" series, Marcus Damon in "Digimon Data Squad", Lea and Axel in the "Kingdom Hearts" series.


title: Quinton Flynn

text: Quinton Flynn was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a graduate of the Bowling Green State University and Kent State University.


title: Quinton Flynn

text: Flynn began his career in 1992, his first acting credit was the character Jonathan Willis Internal Monologe in the television film "". He also worked in sketch comedy, such as portraying Paul McCartney on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" He reprised the role again in the comedy film, "My Dinner with Jimi".


title: Quinton Flynn

text: As a voice actor, he has provided many character voices in animated films, television shows, anime and video games. He is a frequently recurring actor in the "Crash Bandicoot" video game series. He later became the voice of Silver the Hedgehog in the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series starting in 2010, he continued to voice the character for seven more years until 2017 when he was replaced by Bryce Papenbrook.


title: Quinton Flynn

text: Flynn also provided the voice of Reno in "Final Fantasy VII" and its sequels and prequels, and Henry in "No More Heroes." He is also best known for providing the voices of Raiden in the "Metal Gear Solid" video game series and Lea and Axel in the "Kingdom Hearts" series. He played the role of Kael'thas Sunstrider in "Warcraft III" and "World of Warcraft"; his lines in the latter were replaced in 2021.


title: Quinton Flynn

text: In television, he voiced Timon in Disney's "Timon & Pumbaa", replacing Nathan Lane after he voiced the character for 10 episodes. Flynn also provided the voice of Mickey Mouse in the "Mickey Mouse Works" episode "Minnie Takes Care of Pluto".


title: Quinton Flynn

text: Additionally, he voiced many other characters in "All Grown Up!", "The Angry Beavers", "As Told by Ginger", "", "", "Cow and Chicken", "Dave the Barbarian", "Fantastic Four", "Freakazoid!", "Generator Rex", "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy", "Johnny Bravo", "Mad", "My Life as a Teenage Robot", "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest", "Robot Chicken", "Samurai Jack", "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated", "Spider-Man: The Animated Series", "Stuart Little" and "Teen Titans".


title: Quinton Flynn

text: In anime, he voiced Iruka Umino in "Naruto", "" and "". He also voiced characters such as Shingo Shoji for the Tokyopop dub of the "Initial D" series, Marcus Damon in "Digimon Data Squad", Reno in "Final Fantasy VII Advent Children", Raiden in the English dub of "Metal Gear Solid 2: Bande Dessinee", Carl and McCoy in "Blood+", Kon in "Bleach" series and Dr. Riddles in "Zatch Bell".


title: Russian literature

text: Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia and its émigrés and to Russian-language literature. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Middle Ages, when epics and chronicles in Old East Slavic were composed. By the Age of Enlightenment, literature had grown in importance, and from the early 1830s, Russian literature underwent an astounding golden age in poetry, prose and drama. Romanticism permitted a flowering of poetic talent: Vasily Zhukovsky and later his protégé Alexander Pushkin came to the fore. Prose was flourishing as well. Mikhail Lermontov was one of the most important poets and novelists. The first great Russian novelist was Nikolai Gogol. Then came Ivan Turgenev, who mastered both short stories and novels. Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy soon became internationally renowned. Other important figures of Russian realism were Ivan Goncharov, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin and Nikolai Leskov. In the second half of the century Anton Chekhov excelled in short stories and became a leading dramatist. The beginning of the 20th century ranks as the Silver Age of Russian poetry. The poets most often associated with the "Silver Age" are Konstantin Balmont, Valery Bryusov, Alexander Blok, Anna Akhmatova, Nikolay Gumilyov, Sergei Yesenin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Marina Tsvetaeva. This era produced some first-rate novelists and short-story writers, such as Aleksandr Kuprin, Nobel Prize winner Ivan Bunin, Leonid Andreyev, Fyodor Sologub, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Alexander Belyaev, Andrei Bely and Maxim Gorky.


title: Russian literature

text: After the Revolution of 1917, Russian literature split into Soviet and white émigré parts. While the Soviet Union assured universal literacy and a highly developed book printing industry, it also enforced ideological censorship. In the 1930s Socialist realism became the predominant trend in Russia. Its leading figures were Nikolay Ostrovsky, Alexander Fadeyev and other writers, who laid the foundations of this style. Ostrovsky's novel "How the Steel Was Tempered" has been among the most popular works of Russian Socrealist literature. Some writers, such as Mikhail Bulgakov, Andrei Platonov and Daniil Kharms were criticized and wrote with little or no hope of being published. Various "émigré" writers, such as poets Vladislav Khodasevich, Georgy Ivanov and Vyacheslav Ivanov; novelists such as Gaito Gazdanov, Vladimir Nabokov and Bunin, continued to write in exile. Some writers dared to oppose Soviet ideology, like Nobel Prize-winning novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Varlam Shalamov, who wrote about life in the gulag camps. The Khrushchev Thaw brought some fresh wind to literature and poetry became a mass cultural phenomenon. This "thaw" did not last long; in the 1970s, some of the most prominent authors were banned from publishing and prosecuted for their anti-Soviet sentiments.


title: Russian literature

text: The end of the 20th century was a difficult period for Russian literature, with few distinct voices. Among the most discussed authors of this period were Victor Pelevin, who gained popularity with short stories and novels, novelist and playwright Vladimir Sorokin, and the poet Dmitri Prigov. In the 21st century, a new generation of Russian authors appeared, differing greatly from the postmodernist Russian prose of the late 20th century, which led critics to speak about "new realism".


title: Russian literature

text: Russian authors have significantly contributed to numerous literary genres. Russia has five Nobel Prize in literature laureates. As of 2011, Russia was the fourth largest book producer in the world in terms of published titles. A popular folk saying claims Russians are "the world's most reading nation".


title: Russian literature

text: Old Russian literature consists of several masterpieces written in the Old East Slavic (i.e. the language of Kievan Rus', not to be confused with the contemporaneous Church Slavonic nor with modern Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian). The main type of Old Russian historical literature were chronicles, most of them anonymous. Anonymous works also include "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" and "Praying of Daniel the Immured". Hagiographies (, "zhitiya svyatykh", "lives of the saints") formed a popular genre of the Old Russian literature. "Life of Alexander Nevsky" offers a well-known example. Other Russian literary works include "Zadonschina", "Physiologist", "Synopsis" and "A Journey Beyond the Three Seas". Bylinas – oral folk epics – fused Christian and pagan traditions. Medieval Russian literature had an overwhelmingly religious character and used an adapted form of the Church Slavonic language with many South Slavic elements. The first work in colloquial Russian, the autobiography of the archpriest Avvakum, emerged only in the mid-17th century.


title: Russian literature

text: After taking the throne at the end of the 17th century, Peter the Great's influence on the Russian culture would extend far into the 18th century. Peter's reign during the beginning of the 18th century initiated a series of modernizing changes in Russian literature. The reforms he implemented encouraged Russian artists and scientists to make innovations in their crafts and fields with the intention of creating an economy and culture comparable. Peter's example set a precedent for the remainder of the 18th century as Russian writers began to form clear ideas about the proper use and progression of the Russian language. Through their debates regarding versification of the Russian language and tone of Russian literature, the writers in the first half of the 18th century were able to lay foundation for the more poignant, topical work of the late 18th century.


title: Russian literature

text: Satirist Antiokh Dmitrievich Kantemir, 1708–1744, was one of the earliest Russian writers not only to praise the ideals of Peter I's reforms but the ideals of the growing Enlightenment movement in Europe. Kantemir's works regularly expressed his admiration for Peter, most notably in his epic dedicated to the emperor entitled "Petrida". More often, however, Kantemir indirectly praised Peter's influence through his satiric criticism of Russia's “superficiality and obscurantism,” which he saw as manifestations of the backwardness Peter attempted to correct through his reforms. Kantemir honored this tradition of reform not only through his support for Peter, but by initiating a decade-long debate on the proper syllabic versification using the Russian language.


title: Russian literature

text: Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, a poet, playwright, essayist, translator and contemporary to Antiokh Kantemir, also found himself deeply entrenched in Enlightenment conventions in his work with the Russian Academy of Sciences and his groundbreaking translations of French and classical works to the Russian language. A turning point in the course of Russian literature, his translation of Paul Tallemant's work "Voyage to the Isle of Love", was the first to use the Russian vernacular as opposed the formal and outdated Church-Slavonic. This introduction set a precedent for secular works to be composed in the vernacular, while sacred texts would remain in Church-Slavonic. However, his work was often incredibly theoretical and scholarly, focused on promoting the versification of the language with which he spoke.


title: Russian literature

text: While Trediakovsky's approach to writing is often described as highly erudite, the young writer and scholarly rival to Trediakovsky, Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov, 1717–1777, was dedicated to the styles of French classicism. Sumarokov's interest in the form of French literature mirrored his devotion to the westernizing spirit of Peter the Great's age. Although he often disagreed with Trediakovsky, Sumarokov also advocated the use of simple, natural language in order to diversify the audience and make more efficient use of the Russian language. Like his colleagues and counterparts, Sumarokov extolled the legacy of Peter I, writing in his manifesto "Epistle on Poetry", “The great Peter hurls his thunder from the Baltic shores, the Russian sword glitters in all corners of the universe”. Peter the Great's policies of westernization and displays of military prowess naturally attracted Sumarokov and his contemporaries.


title: Russian literature

text: Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, in particular, expressed his gratitude for and dedication to Peter's legacy in his unfinished "Peter the Great", Lomonosov's works often focused on themes of the awe-inspiring, grandeur nature, and was therefore drawn to Peter because of the magnitude of his military, architectural and cultural feats. In contrast to Sumarokov's devotion to simplicity, Lomonosov favored a belief in a hierarchy of literary styles divided into high, middle and low. This style facilitated Lomonosov's grandiose, high minded writing and use of both vernacular and Church-Slavonic.


title: Russian literature

text: The influence of Peter I and debates over the function and form of literature as it related to the Russian language in the first half of the 18th century set a stylistic precedent for the writers during the reign of Catherine the Great in the second half of the century. However, the themes and scopes of the works these writers produced were often more poignant, political and controversial. Alexander Nikolayevich Radishchev, for example, shocked the Russian public with his depictions of the socio-economic condition of the serfs. Empress Catherine II condemned this portrayal, forcing Radishchev into exile in Siberia.


title: Russian literature

text: Others, however, picked topics less offensive to the autocrat. Nikolay Karamzin, 1766–1826, for example, is known for his advocacy of Russian writers adopting traits in the poetry and prose like a heightened sense of emotion and physical vanity, considered to be feminine at the time as well as supporting the cause of female Russian writers. Karamzin's call for male writers to write with femininity was not in accordance with the Enlightenment ideals of reason and theory, considered masculine attributes. His works were thus not universally well received; however, they did reflect in some areas of society a growing respect for, or at least ambivalence toward, a female ruler in Catherine the Great. This concept heralded an era of regarding female characteristics in writing as an abstract concept linked with attributes of frivolity, vanity and pathos.


title: Russian literature

text: Some writers, on the other hand, were more direct in their praise for Catherine II. Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin, famous for his odes, often dedicated his poems to Empress Catherine II. In contrast to most of his contemporaries, Derzhavin was highly devoted to his state; he served in the military, before rising to various roles in Catherine II's government, including secretary to the Empress and Minister of Justice. Unlike those who took after the grand style of Mikhail Lomonosov and Alexander Sumarokov, Derzhavin was concerned with the minute details of his subjects.


title: Russian literature

text: Denis Fonvizin, an author primarily of comedy, approached the subject of the Russian nobility with an angle of critique. Fonvizin felt the nobility should be held to the standards they were under the reign of Peter the Great, during which the quality of devotion to the state was rewarded. His works criticized the current system for rewarding the nobility without holding them responsible for the duties they once performed. Using satire and comedy, Fonvizin supported a system of nobility in which the elite were rewarded based upon personal merit rather than the hierarchal favoritism that was rampant during Catherine the Great's reign.


title: Russian literature

text: Romanticism permitted a flowering of especially poetic talent: the names of Vasily Zhukovsky and later that of his protégé Alexander Pushkin came to the fore. Pushkin is credited with both crystallizing the literary Russian language and introducing a new level of artistry to Russian literature. His best-known work is a novel in verse, "Eugene Onegin" (1833). An entire new generation of poets including Mikhail Lermontov (also known for the novel "A Hero of Our Time", 1841), Yevgeny Baratynsky, Konstantin Batyushkov, Nikolay Nekrasov, Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Fyodor Tyutchev and Afanasy Fet followed in Pushkin's steps.


title: Russian literature

text: Prose was flourishing as well. The first great Russian novel was "Dead Souls" (1842) by Nikolai Gogol. The realistic school of fiction can be said to have begun with Ivan Goncharov, mainly remembered for his novel "Oblomov" (1859), and Ivan Turgenev. Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy soon became internationally renowned to the point that many scholars such as F. R. Leavis have described one or the other as the greatest novelist ever. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin is known for his grotesque satire, and the satirical chronicle "The History of a Town" (1870) and the family saga "The Golovlyov Family" (1880) are considered his masterpieces. Nikolai Leskov is best remembered for his shorter fiction and for his unique "skaz" techniques. Late in the century Anton Chekhov emerged as a master of the short story as well as a leading international dramatist.


title: Russian literature

text: Other important 19th-century developments included the fabulist Ivan Krylov; non-fiction writers such as the critic Vissarion Belinsky and the political reformer Alexander Herzen; playwrights such as Aleksandr Griboyedov, Aleksandr Ostrovsky, Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin and the satirist Kozma Prutkov (a collective pen name).


title: Russian literature

text: The beginning of the 20th century ranks as the Silver Age of Russian poetry. Well-known poets of the period include: Alexander Blok, Sergei Yesenin, Valery Bryusov, Konstantin Balmont, Mikhail Kuzmin, Igor Severyanin, Sasha Chorny, Nikolay Gumilyov, Maximilian Voloshin, Innokenty Annensky, Zinaida Gippius. The poets most often associated with the "Silver Age" are Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva, Osip Mandelstam and Boris Pasternak.


title: Russian literature

text: While the Silver Age is considered to be the development of the 19th-century Russian literature tradition, some avant-garde poets tried to overturn it: Velimir Khlebnikov, David Burliuk, Aleksei Kruchenykh and Vladimir Mayakovsky.


title: Russian literature

text: Though the Silver Age is famous mostly for its poetry, it produced some first-rate novelists and short-story writers, such as Aleksandr Kuprin, Nobel Prize winner Ivan Bunin, Leonid Andreyev, Fedor Sologub, Aleksey Remizov, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Alexander Belyaev, Dmitry Merezhkovsky and Andrei Bely, though most of them wrote poetry as well as prose.


title: Russian literature

text: The first years of the Soviet regime after the October Revolution of 1917, featured a proliferation of avant-garde literature groups. One of the most important was the Oberiu movement (1928–1930s), which included the most famous Russian absurdist Daniil Kharms (1905–1942), Konstantin Vaginov (1899–1934), Alexander Vvedensky (1904–1941) and Nikolay Zabolotsky (1903–1958). Other famous authors experimenting with language included the novelists Yuri Olesha (1899–1960), Andrei Platonov (1899–1951) and Boris Pilnyak (1894–1938) and the short-story writers Isaak Babel (1894–1940) and Mikhail Zoshchenko (1894–1958). The OPOJAZ group of literary critics, also known as Russian formalism, was founded in 1916 in close connection with Russian Futurism. Two of its members also produced influential literary works, namely Viktor Shklovsky (1893–1984), whose numerous books ("" and "Zoo, or Letters Not About Love", both 1923) defy genre in that they present a novel mix of narration, autobiography, and aesthetic as well as social commentary, and Yury Tynyanov (1893–1943), who used his knowledge of Russia's literary history to produce a set of historical novels mainly set in the Pushkin era (e.g., "Lieutenant Kijé").


title: Russian literature

text: Following the establishment of Bolshevik rule, Mayakovsky worked on interpreting the facts of the new reality. His works, such as "Ode to the Revolution" and "Left March" (both 1918), brought innovations to poetry. In "Left March", Mayakovsky calls for a struggle against the enemies of the Russian Revolution. The poem "150 000 000" (1921) discusses the leading role played by the masses in the revolution. In the poem "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1924), Mayakovsky looks at the life and work at the leader of Russia's revolution and depicts them against a broad historical background. In the poem "All Right!" (1927), Mayakovsky writes about socialist society as the "springtime of humanity". Mayakovsky was instrumental in producing a new type of poetry in which politics played a major part.


title: Russian literature

text: In the 1930s, Socialist Realism became the predominant trend in Russia. Writers like those of the Serapion Brothers group (1921–), who insisted on the right of an author to write independently of political ideology, were forced by authorities to reject their views and accept socialist realist principles. Some 1930s writers, such as Osip Mandelstam, Daniil Kharms, leader of Oberiu, Leonid Dobychin (1894–1936), Mikhail Bulgakov (1891–1940), author of "The White Guard" (1923) and "The Master and Margarita" (1928–1940), and Andrei Platonov, author of novels "Chevengur" (1928) and "The Foundation Pit" (1930) were attacked by the official critics as "formalists" and ideological enemies and wrote with little or no hope of being published. Isaac Babel, Boris Pilnyak and other writers, who continued to publish their works but could not get used to the socrealist principles by the end of the 1930s, were executed on fabricated charges.


title: Russian literature

text: After his return to Russia Maxim Gorky was proclaimed by the Soviet authorities as "the founder of Socialist Realism". His novel "Mother" (1906), which Gorky himself considered one of his biggest failures, inspired proletarian writers to found the socrealist movement. Gorky defined socialist realism as the "realism of people who are rebuilding the world" and pointed out that it looks at the past "from the heights of the future's goals", although he defined it not as a strict style (which is studied in Andrei Sinyavsky's essay "On Socialist Realism"), but as a label for the "union of writers of styles", who write for one purpose, to help in the development of the new man in socialist society. Gorky became the initiator of creating the Writer's Union, a state organization, intended to unite the socrealist writers. Despite the official reputation, Gorky's post-revolutionary works, such as the novel "The Life of Klim Samgin" (1925–1936) can't be defined as socrealist.


title: Russian literature

text: Andrei Bely (1880–1934), author of "Petersburg" (1913/1922), a well-known modernist writer, also was a member of Writer's Union and tried to become a "true" socrealist by writing a series of articles and making ideological revisions to his memoirs, and he also planned to begin a study of Socialist realism. However, he continued writing with his unique techniques. Although he was actively published during his lifetime, his major works would not be reissued until the end of the 1970s.


title: Russian literature

text: Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) was one of the most significant figures in the official Soviet literature. His main socrealist work is "Virgin Soil Upturned" (1935), a novel in which Sholokhov glorifies the collectivization. However, his best-known and the most significant literary achievement is "Quiet Flows the Don" (1928–1940), an epic novel which realistically depicts the life of Don Cossacks during the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and Russian Civil War.


title: Russian literature

text: Nikolai Ostrovsky's novel "How the Steel Was Tempered" (1932–1934) has been among the most popular works of literary socrealism, with tens of millions of copies printed in many languages around the world. In China, various versions of the book have sold more than 10 million copies. In Russia more than 35 million copies of the book are in circulation. The book is a fictionalized autobiography of Ostrovsky's life: he had a difficult working-class childhood, became a Komsomol member in July 1919 and volunteered to join the Red Army. The novel's protagonist, Pavel Korchagin, represented the "young hero" of Russian literature: he is dedicated to his political causes, which help him to overcome his tragedies. Alexander Fadeyev (1901–1956) was also a well-known Socialist realism writer. His novel "The Rout" (1927) deals with the partisan struggle in Russia's Far East during the Russian Revolution and Civil War of 1917–1922. Fadeyev described the theme of this novel as one of a revolution significantly transforming the masses.


title: Russian literature

text: Meanwhile, "émigré" writers, such as poets Vladislav Khodasevich (1886–1939), Georgy Ivanov (1894–1958) and Vyacheslav Ivanov (1866–1949); novelists such as Aleksandr Kuprin, Aleksei Remizov, Ayn Rand, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, M. Ageyev (1898–1973), Mark Aldanov, (1880s–1957), Gaito Gazdanov (1903–1971) and Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977); and short-story Nobel Prize-winning writer Ivan Bunin (1870–1953), continued to write in exile. During his emigration Bunin wrote his most significant works, such as his only novel "The Life of Arseniev" (1927–1939) and short story cycle "Dark Avenues" (1937–1944). While Bunin wrote about the pre-revolutionary Russia, life of the "émigrés" was described in Nabokov's "Mary" (1926)" and The Gift" (1938), Gazdanov's "An Evening with Claire" (1929) and "The Specter of Alexander Wolf" (1948) and Georgy Ivanov's novel "Disintegration of the Atom" (1938).


title: Russian literature

text: After the end of World War II Nobel Prize-winning Boris Pasternak (1890–1960) wrote a novel "Doctor Zhivago" (1945–1955). Publication of the novel in Italy caused a scandal, as the Soviet authorities forced Pasternak to renounce his 1958 Nobel Prize and denounced as an internal White emigre and a Fascist fifth columnist. Pasternak was expelled from the Writer's Union.


title: Russian literature

text: The Khrushchev Thaw () brought some fresh wind to literature. Poetry became a mass-cultural phenomenon: Bella Akhmadulina (1937–2010), Robert Rozhdestvensky (1932–1994), Andrei Voznesensky (1933–2010), and Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1933–2017), read their poems in stadiums and attracted huge crowds.


title: Russian literature

text: Some writers dared to oppose Soviet ideology, like short-story writer Varlam Shalamov (1907–1982) and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008), who wrote about life in the gulag camps, or Vasily Grossman (1905–1964), with his description of World War II events countering the Soviet official historiography (his epic novel "Life and Fate" (1959) was not published in the Soviet Union until the Perestroika). Such writers, dubbed "dissidents", could not publish their major works until the 1960s.


title: Russian literature

text: But the thaw did not last long. In the 1970s, some of the most prominent authors were not only banned from publishing but were also prosecuted for their anti-Soviet sentiments, or for parasitism. Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the country. Others, such as Nobel Prize–winning poet Joseph Brodsky (1940–1996); novelists Vasily Aksyonov (1932–2009), Eduard Limonov (1943–2020), Andrei Sinyavsky (1925–1997), Andrei Bitov (1937–2018), Sasha Sokolov (1943–) and Vladimir Voinovich (1932–2018); and short-story writer Sergei Dovlatov (1941–1990), had to emigrate to the West, while Oleg Grigoriev (1943–1992) and Venedikt Yerofeyev (1938–1990) "emigrated" to alcoholism, and Yury Dombrovsky (1909–1978) was murdered shortly after publishing his novel "The Faculty of Useless Knowledge" (1975). Their books were not published officially until the perestroika period of the 1980s, although fans continued to reprint them manually in a manner called "samizdat" (self-publishing).


title: Russian literature

text: Children's literature in the Soviet Union counted as a major genre because of its educational role. A large share of early-Soviet children's books were poems: Korney Chukovsky (1882–1969), Samuil Marshak (1887–1964) and Agnia Barto (1906–1981) were among the most read poets. "Adult" poets, such as Mayakovsky and Sergey Mikhalkov (1913–2009), contributed to the genre as well. Some of the early Soviet children's prose consisted of loose adaptations of foreign fairy-tales unknown in contemporary Russia. Alexey N. Tolstoy (1882–1945) wrote "Buratino", a light-hearted and shortened adaptation of Carlo Collodi's "Pinocchio". Alexander Volkov (1891–1977) introduced fantasy fiction to Soviet children with his loose translation of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", published as "The Wizard of the Emerald City" in 1939, and then wrote a series of five sequels, unrelated to Baum. Other notable authors include Nikolay Nosov (1908–1976), Lazar Lagin (1903–1979), Vitaly Bianki (1894–1959) and Vladimir Suteev (1903–1993).


title: Russian literature

text: While fairy tales were relatively free from ideological oppression, the realistic children's prose of the Stalin era was highly ideological and pursued the goal to raise children as patriots and communists. A notable writer in this vein was Arkady Gaydar (1904–1941), himself a Red Army commander (colonel) in Russian Civil War: his stories and plays about Timur describe a team of young pioneer volunteers who help the elderly and resist hooligans. There was a genre of hero-pioneer story that bore some similarities with Christian genre of hagiography. In the times of Khrushchov (First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964) and of Brezhnev (in power 1966–1982), however, the pressure lightened. Mid- and late-Soviet children's books by Eduard Uspensky, Yuri Entin, Viktor Dragunsky bear no signs of propaganda. In the 1970s many of these books, as well as stories by foreign children's writers, were adapted into animation.


title: Russian literature

text: Soviet Science fiction, inspired by scientistic revolution, industrialisation, and the country's space pioneering, was flourishing, albeit in the limits allowed by censors. Early science fiction authors, such as Alexander Belyaev, Grigory Adamov, Vladimir Obruchev, Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy, stuck to hard science fiction and regarded H. G. Wells and Jules Verne as examples to follow. Two notable exceptions to this trend were early Soviet dissidents Yevgeny Zamyatin, author of dystopian novel "We", and Mikhail Bulgakov, who used science fiction in "Heart of a Dog", "The Fatal Eggs" and "" to satirize Communist ideology vs. what it is actual practice. Like the dissident writers of the future, Zamyatin and Bulgakov had serious problems with publishing their books due to censorship in the Soviet Union.


title: Russian literature

text: Since the Khrushchev thaw in the 1950s, Soviet science fiction began to form its own style. Philosophy, ethics, utopian and dystopian ideas became its core, and Social science fiction was the most popular subgenre.


title: Russian literature

text: Although the view of Earth's future as that of utopian communist society was the only view that was welcome, the liberties of genre still offered a loophole for free expression. Books of brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, and Kir Bulychev, among others, are reminiscent of social problems and often include satire of contemporary Soviet society. Ivan Yefremov, on the contrary, arose to fame with his utopian views on future as well as on Ancient Greece in his historical novels. The Strugatskies are also credited for the Soviet's first science fantasy, the Monday Begins on Saturday trilogy. Other notable science fiction writers included Vladimir Savchenko, Georgy Gurevich, Alexander Kazantsev, Georgy Martynov, Yeremey Parnov. Space opera was less developed, since both state censors and serious writers watched it unfavorably. Nevertheless, there were moderately successful attempts to adapt space westerns to Soviet soil. The first was Alexander Kolpakov with "Griada", after came Sergey Snegov with "Men Like Gods", among others.


title: Russian literature

text: A specific branch of both science fiction and children's books appeared in mid-Soviet era: the children's science fiction. It was meant to educate children while entertaining them. The star of the genre was Bulychov, who, along with his adult books, created children's space adventure series about Alisa Selezneva, a teenage girl from the future. Others include Nikolay Nosov with his books about dwarf Neznayka, Evgeny Veltistov, who wrote about robot boy Electronic, Vitaly Melentyev, Vladislav Krapivin, Vitaly Gubarev.


title: Russian literature

text: Mystery was another popular genre. Detectives by brothers Arkady and Georgy Vayner and spy novels by Yulian Semyonov were best-selling, and many of them were adapted into film or TV in the 1970s and 1980s.


title: Russian literature

text: Village prose is a genre that conveys nostalgic descriptions of rural life. Valentin Rasputin's 1976 novel,


title: Russian literature

text: "Proshchaniye s Matyoroy" ("Farewell to Matyora") depicted a village faced with destruction to make room for a hydroelectric plant.


title: Russian literature

text: Historical fiction in the early Soviet era included a large share of memoirs, fictionalized or not. Valentin Katayev and Lev Kassil wrote semi-autobiographic books about children's life in Tsarist Russia. Vladimir Gilyarovsky wrote "Moscow and Muscovites", about life in pre-revolutionary Moscow. There were also attempts to write an epic novel about the Revolution, similar to Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace", based on the writers' own experience. Aleksey Tolstoy's "The Road to Calvary" (1920–1941) and Mikhail Sholokhov's "And Quiet Flows the Don" (1928–1940) depict Russia from the start of the Revolution to the end of the Civil War. "The Road to Calvary" demonstrates the victory of socialist ideas, while "And Quiet Flows the Don" gives a realist and a brutal image. Maxim Gorky's and Andrei Bely's experimental novels "The Life of Klim Samgin" (1925–1936) and "Moscow" (1926–1931) trace the relationship of Russian "intelligentsia" with the revolutionary movement. Mikhail Bulgakov conceived to write a trilogy about the Civil War, but wrote only the first part, "The White Guard" (1923). The late Soviet historical fiction was dominated by World War II novels and short stories by authors such as the representatives of Lieutenant prose (such as Vasil Bykov), Vasily Grossman, Konstantin Simonov, Boris Vasilyev, Viktor Astafyev, Boris Polevoy, among many others, based on the authors' own war experience. Vasily Yan and Konstantin Badygin are best known for their novels on Medieval Rus, and Yury Tynyanov for writing on Russian Empire. Valentin Pikul wrote about many different epochs and countries in an Alexander Dumas-inspired style. In the 1970s there appeared a relatively independent Village Prose, whose most prominent representatives were Viktor Astafyev and Valentin Rasputin.


title: Russian literature

text: Any sort of fiction that dealt with the occult, either horror, adult-oriented fantasy or magic realism, was unwelcome in Soviet Russia. Until the 1980s very few books in these genres were written, and even fewer were published, although earlier books, such as by Gogol, were not banned. Of the rare exceptions, Bulgakov in "Master and Margarita" (not published in author's lifetime) and Strugatskies in "Monday Begins on Saturday" introduced magic and mystical creatures into contemporary Soviet reality to satirize it. Another exception was early Soviet writer Alexander Grin, who wrote romantic tales, both realistic and fantastic.


title: Russian literature

text: The end of the 20th century proved a difficult period for Russian literature, with relatively few distinct voices. Although the censorship was lifted and writers could now freely express their thoughts, the political and economic chaos of the 1990s affected the book market and literature heavily. The book printing industry descended into crisis, the number of printed book copies dropped several times in comparison to Soviet era, and it took about a decade to revive.


title: Russian literature

text: Among the most discussed authors of this period were Victor Pelevin, who gained popularity with first short stories and then novels, novelist and playwright Vladimir Sorokin, and the poet Dmitry Prigov. A relatively new trend in Russian literature is that female short story writers Tatyana Tolstaya or Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, and novelists Lyudmila Ulitskaya or Dina Rubina have come into prominence. Short stories of Sergei Dovlatov who emigrated to the USA in 1979 and died in 1990 became very popular in Russia posthumously. The tradition of the classic Russian novel continues with such authors as Mikhail Shishkin and Vasily Aksyonov.


title: Russian literature

text: Detective stories and thrillers have proven a very successful genre of new Russian literature: in the 1990s serial detective novels by Alexandra Marinina, Polina Dashkova and Darya Dontsova were published in millions of copies. In the next decade Boris Akunin who wrote more sophisticated popular fiction, e.g. a series of novels about the 19th century sleuth Erast Fandorin, was eagerly read across the country.


title: Russian literature

text: Science fiction was always well selling, albeit second to fantasy, that was relatively new to Russian readers. These genres boomed in the late 1990s, with authors like Sergey Lukyanenko, Nick Perumov, Maria Semenova, Vera Kamsha, Alexey Pekhov, Anton Vilgotsky and Vadim Panov. A good share of modern Russian science fiction and fantasy is written in Ukraine, especially in Kharkiv, home to H. L. Oldie, Alexander Zorich, Yuri Nikitin and Andrey Valentinov. Many others hail from Kyiv, including Marina and Sergey Dyachenko and Vladimir Arenev. Significant contribution to Russian horror literature has been done by Ukrainians Andrey Dashkov and Alexander Vargo.


title: Russian literature

text: Russian poetry of that period produced a number of avant-garde greats. The members of the Lianosovo group of poets, notably Genrikh Sapgir, Igor Kholin and Vsevolod Nekrasov, who previously chose to refrain from publication in Soviet periodicals, became very influential, especially in Moscow, and the same goes for another masterful experimental poet, Gennady Aigi. Also popular were poets following some other poetic trends, e.g. Vladimir Aristov and Ivan Zhdanov from "Poetry Club" and Konstantin Kedrov and Elena Katsuba from "DOOS", who all used complex metaphors which they called meta-metaphors. In St. Petersburg, members of "New Leningrad Poetry School" that included not only the famous Joseph Brodsky but also Victor Krivulin, Sergey Stratanovsky and Elena Shvarts, were prominent first in the Soviet-times underground – and later in mainstream poetry.


title: Russian literature

text: Some other poets, e.g. Sergey Gandlevsky and Dmitry Vodennikov, gained popularity by writing in a retro style, which reflected the sliding of newly written Russian poetry into being consciously imitative of the patterns and forms developed as early as in the 19th century.


title: Russian literature

text: In the 21st century, a new generation of Russian authors appeared differing greatly from the postmodernist Russian prose of the late 20th century, which lead critics to speak about “new realism”. Having grown up after the fall of the Soviet Union, the "new realists" write about every day life, but without using the mystical and surrealist elements of their predecessors.


title: Russian literature

text: The "new realists" are writers who assume there is a place for preaching in journalism, social and political writing and the media, but that “direct action” is the responsibility of civil society.


title: Russian literature

text: Leading "new realists" include Ilja Stogoff, Zakhar Prilepin, Alexander Karasyov, Arkady Babchenko, Vladimir Lorchenkov and Alexander Snegiryov.


title: Russian literature

text: Scottish poet Robert Burns became a ‘people's poet’ in Russia. In Imperial times the Russian aristocracy were so out of touch with the peasantry that Burns, translated into Russian, became a symbol for the ordinary Russian people. A new translation of Burns, begun in 1924 by Samuil Marshak, proved enormously popular selling over 600,000 copies.


title: Russian literature

text: Lord Byron was a major influence on almost all Russian poets of the Golden Era, including Pushkin, Vyazemsky, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Baratynsky, Delvig and, especially, Lermontov.


title: Russian literature

text: Writers such as Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac were widely influential. Also, Jules Verne inspired several generations of Russian science fiction writers.


title: Russian literature

text: Russian literature is not only written by Russians. In the Soviet times such popular writers as Belarusian Vasil Bykaŭ, Kyrgyz Chinghiz Aitmatov and Abkhaz Fazil Iskander wrote some of their books in Russian. Some renowned contemporary authors writing in Russian have been born and live in Ukraine (Andrey Kurkov, H. L. Oldie, Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko) or Baltic States (Garros and Evdokimov, Max Frei). Most Ukrainian fantasy and science fiction authors write in Russian, which gives them access to a much broader audience, and usually publish their books via Russian publishers such as Eksmo, Azbuka and AST.


title: Russian literature

text: A number of prominent Russian authors such as novelists Mikhail Shishkin, Rubén Gallego, Julia Kissina, Svetlana Martynchik and Dina Rubina, poets Alexei Tsvetkov and Bakhyt Kenjeev, though born in USSR, live and work in West Europe, North America or Israel.


title: Russian literature

text: Suffering, often as a means of redemption, is a recurrent theme in Russian literature. Fyodor Dostoyevsky in particular is noted for exploring suffering in works such as "Notes from Underground" and "Crime and Punishment". Christianity and Christian symbolism are also important themes, notably in the works of Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy and Chekhov. In the 20th century, suffering as a mechanism of evil was explored by authors such as Solzhenitsyn in "The Gulag Archipelago". A leading Russian literary critic of the 20th century Viktor Shklovsky, in his book, "Zoo, or Letters Not About Love", wrote, "Russian literature has a bad tradition. Russian literature is devoted to the description of unsuccessful love affairs."


title: Nathan Parsons

text: Nathan Dean Parsons (born 16 June 1988) is an Australian-born American actor, known for his work in daytime television on the ABC daytime soap opera "General Hospital" as the character of Ethan Lovett.<ref name="SID 06/01/09"></ref> He also had roles on primetime television shows as vampire James Kent on the seventh and final season of the HBO drama series "True Blood", and the role of exiled werewolf Jackson Kenner on The CW drama series "The Originals". Recently, he has been on "Once Upon a Time" as Hansel/Jack/Nick Branson and is currently portraying the lead of Max Evans in The CW series "Roswell, New Mexico".


title: Nathan Parsons

text: Nathan Parsons was born in Adelaide, South Australia, but raised in Boulder, Colorado, and Austin, Texas. He moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California after being accepted into their Bachelor of Fine Arts Acting program, but dropped out after three semesters. He is also a member of Boom Kat Dance Theatre, a non-profit dance company based in Santa Monica, California. Currently, in their third year, Boom Kat has been made a resident company of the Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica following the success of their third production NeverWonderland. In his spare time, Parsons enjoys dance, rock climbing, hiking, lacrosse, football, soccer, yoga, and scuba diving.


title: Nathan Parsons

text: As a child actor, he did voice-over work dubbing Japanese anime for ADV Films, including the lead role of Jean Roque-Raltique in "" and parts in "Soul Hunter", "Devil Lady" and "". Parsons has previously appeared in the films "Teeth" (2007) and "The Brotherhood V: Alumni" (2009).


title: Nathan Parsons

text: Parsons originally auditioned for a different role on "General Hospital" and was not cast, but the series subsequently created a new character for him. He made his first appearance as con artist Ethan Lovett on 30 January 2009.<ref name="SID 02/09/09"></ref> Parsons was initially hired on a recurring basis but was soon put on contract with the series, working closely with multi-Daytime Emmy Award-winner Anthony Geary. Parsons's debut storyline hinted at the secret parentage of his character Ethan,<ref name="SID 06/01/09 2"></ref><ref name="SOD 05/12/09"></ref> who was later established as the son of Luke Spencer (Geary) and Holly Sutton (Emma Samms), characters made household names during "General Hospital" 1980s peak. In March 2009 "Soaps In Depth" magazine credited Parsons with "taking the show by storm" and dubbed Ethan "one of daytime's most riveting young characters."<ref name="SID 03/23/09"></ref>


title: Nathan Parsons

text: In December 2011, Parsons announced that he had decided not to renew his contract with General Hospital (which was expiring in early 2012). His last airdate was 7 March 2012, in a final scene that was shared with his on-screen parents, Anthony Geary and Emma Samms. The storyline was left open-ended for his possible return.


title: Nathan Parsons

text: In May 2012, Parsons was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Younger Actor category for his portrayal of Ethan Lovett on General Hospital. The 2012 Daytime Emmy Awards were televised live on 23 June 2012, from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Though Parsons did not win in this category, he was prominently featured in the telecast as a presenter for the coveted Outstanding Lead Actor category, in which his former co-stars, Anthony Geary and Maurice Benard, were both nominated. Parsons presented the award to his former on-screen father, Anthony Geary (for an unprecedented 7th win), and was acknowledged in Geary's acceptance speech. General Hospital also won the Outstanding Drama Series award.


title: Nathan Parsons

text: In April 2013, Parsons returned to "General Hospital" as Ethan Lovett as part of the show's 50th Anniversary Celebration. His return aired over two days, 2 and 3 April, in which he appeared with Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer), Genie Francis (Laura Spencer) and Constance Towers (Helena Cassadine). He also reprised his character again in July 2015 for two episodes.


title: Nathan Parsons

text: Parsons debuted on "Bunheads" on 16 July 2012, in an episode entitled "Money for Nothing", which introduced his character of Godot. While Godot was well known and idolized by the "bunheads", the lead character of Michelle (Sutton Foster) had never met him, as he had only just returned from a year-long surfing trip. There was a brief, but instant rapport between Michelle and Godot; a relationship that was played out through season 1. He went on to appear in another six episodes through the show's first and only season.


title: Nathan Parsons

text: Parsons replaced Luke Grimes as James in the final season of "True Blood" and appeared on "The Originals" as Jackson Kenner from 2014 to 2018.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: "Thinking Out Loud" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, recorded for his second studio album, "×" (2014). It was written by Sheeran and Amy Wadge, and produced by frequent collaborator Jake Gosling. It was released in the US on 24 September 2014 as the album's third single.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: In the UK, the song spent 19 weeks within the top 40 before peaking at number one in early November 2014; it became Sheeran's second number one single there. The single has also reached the top spot in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands, Slovakia and South Africa, and peaked at number two on both the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and the Canadian Hot 100. It was Sheeran's highest-charting single in North America until "Shape of You" topped the charts in both countries in 2017.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: In June 2015, "Thinking Out Loud" became the first single to spend a full year in the UK top 40. In September 2015, it also became the seventh single to have achieved triple platinum certification in the UK during the 21st century. In October 2015, the song became the first to be streamed over 500 million times on Spotify, is also one of the most streamed songs in the UK and has been viewed more than 3.4 billion times on YouTube as of April 2022.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: "Thinking Out Loud" received nominations for Grammy Award for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards, winning the latter two.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: Sheeran wrote "Thinking Out Loud" with Amy Wadge, a Wales-based singer-songwriter. He met Wadge when he was 17 years old and they had since written several songs together. Of these, five songs composed the extended play "Songs I Wrote with Amy", which Sheeran independently released on 4 April 2010. Wadge also co-wrote the song "Gold Rush", a track on the deluxe version of Sheeran's debut album, "+" (2011).


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: In February 2014, Wadge visited Sheeran at home for a "chilling-out time". Around that time, Sheeran's second studio album, "×", was nearly completed. Wadge revealed that her visit was not supposed to be a songwriting session. While Sheeran was taking a shower, Wadge played a few chords on a guitar. The tune caught the attention of Sheeran and he ran downstairs. Sheeran suggested working with the tune, but only after returning home from dinner, work began. The melody developed from a simple riff. According to Sheeran, he composed the melody on a guitar in a manner which was "very Van-like", referring to Van Morrison. The Irish musician has been an inspiration to Sheeran since a young age, and Sheeran wanted to capture that vibe when he composed the song.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: In the kitchen, Sheeran and Wadge began writing the song at 2:00am on 4 February 2014, and completed it in 20 minutes. According to Wadge, the lyrical content resulted from her and Sheeran's talking about "everlasting love", inspired by the circumstances relevant at that time. Sheeran also revealed that the lyrics were inspired by his then-girlfriend, Athina Andrelos, whom Sheeran met in early 2014. Sheeran would later explain that he wrote the song "in a relationship at a really, really happy point". Immediately after writing, Sheeran recorded the song on his phone. He was keen to include "Thinking Out Loud" on the second album. He properly recorded the song the following day at the Sticky Studios, a recording facility located in the small Surrey village of Windlesham, and informed Wadge of its inclusion on the album. It became the last song recorded for the album. For "Thinking Out Loud", Sheeran sought the assistance of Jake Gosling, who produced much of his debut album and had earlier contributed tracks, four of which appear on the standard version of the second album.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: "Thinking Out Loud" is a romantic ballad with blue-eyed soul influences. Sheeran referred to it as a "walking down the aisle song". In the lyrics, Sheeran reflects on "getting older and fidelity and love in a fairly conventional context", according to Eric Clarke, professor of music at University of Oxford.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: The song was composed in the key of D major with a tempo of 79 beats per minute. Sheeran's vocals range from B to A. In the mix, Sheeran's voice is "unusually" loud over the instruments, which, for Mike Senior of the music technology magazine, "Sound on Sound", is "surprisingly rare" in contemporary records. Senior analysed the vocal elements in which he found that, in spite of several notes sung off pitch, "the overall framework of the vocal remains fundamentally in tune".


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: Journalists noted similarities between "Thinking Out Loud" and "Let's Get It On", a 1973 single by soul musician, Marvin Gaye. Andrew Unterberger of "Spin" wrote that "the gently loping four-note bass pattern and crisp '70s soul drums absolutely smack of the Gaye classic, as do the embrace-insistent lyrics and general candlelit-bedroom feel". Jason Lipshutz of "Billboard" called it a "sleek update" of the classic.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: Prior to the album release, Sheeran debuted "Thinking Out Loud" on 24 May 2014 by performing it live on the British music television show, "Later... with Jools Holland". The debut followed the release of the video accompaniment to "Sing", the album's lead single. "Thinking Out Loud" was immediately perceived as having contrast to "Sing", which is a "high-energy funk/R&B-infused song". "Thinking Out Loud" became available on 18 June 2014 as an "instant grat" download for consumers who pre-ordered "×" on the iTunes Store. It served as a promotional single from "×", which was released two days later. On the standard version of the album, "Thinking Out Loud" is the next-to-last track, the last being "Afire Love".


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: "Thinking Out Loud" was initially serviced to Australian radio on 14 August 2014 and later released on 24 September 2014. It served as the third of five singles released from the album; it followed the songs, "Sing" and "Don't", the first and second single respectively. According to Sheeran, no one from his record label wanted to release "Thinking Out Loud" as a single, favouring over "Photograph" as the "big song". "Photograph" was supposed to be the main single, but when "Thinking Out Loud" spent several weeks within the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart albeit not receiving rotation, the latter song was kept as the third single. "Photograph" was later released as the fifth and final single. "Thinking Out Loud" was issued on 7" vinyl exclusively as part of the Black Friday Record Store Day, which was celebrated on 28 November 2014. The vinyl record included, as a B-side, the live version of "I'm A Mess" which Sheeran performed at the Lightship 95 studio. On 26 December 2015, Sheeran released an Irish-language version of "Thinking Out Loud" for the Irish album "CEOL 2016".


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: Lauren Murphy of "The Irish Times" noted that the "injection of blue-eyed soul" on the song is "enjoyable", and that it "makes Sheeran's aptitude for melody difficult to dismiss". Jim Beviglia of the "American Songwriter" thought that although "tidy", "Thinking Out Loud" comes "toothless" compared with the "daring confessionals" Sheeran made on the other songs.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: "The Washington Post" writer, Allison Stewart, has hailed the song as "a blatant and mercilessly effective bid for 'I'll Be'-style wedding-song immortality". "Billboard" magazine's Jason Lipshutz, commented that Sheeran "pushes this bold stab at romance past its sappiest moments, and ends the album on a likable note". Jamieson Cox of "Time" wrote that "the album’s greatest moment by a country mile is relegated to its penultimate slot", referring to "Thinking Out Loud".


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: "Thinking Out Loud" topped several charts in Europe, Oceania and South Africa, and reached the top ten in several other countries in North America (see Weekly charts below). Upon the album's release, the single debuted at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. On 2 November 2014, "Thinking Out Loud" topped the UK Singles Chart in its 19th week in the Top 40 becoming Sheeran's second UK number one and breaking the record for the longest ascent to number one. In the week ending 27 June 2015, it had spent a record consecutive 52 weeks (or a full year) inside the top 40. Around the same time, the single had accumulated 1.65 million combined sales and streams; it became one of the 161 million-selling singles and the 26th best-selling of the 2010s in the UK. On 18 September 2015, the British Phonographic Industry certified the single triple platinum for combined sales (including streaming points) of 1,800,000 units. As of September 2017, the song has sold 1,219,000 copies with 130 million streams, making a total of 2,521,000 units sold in the United Kingdom. In November 2022, its certification was upgraded to septuple platinum, denoting sales and streams of over 4,200,000.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: In the US, "Thinking Out Loud" peaked at number two on the all-encompassing chart "Billboard" Hot 100; the single became Sheeran's highest-charting single until the release of "Shape of You" in 2017. It remained the runner-up spot for eight consecutive weeks, a chart feat last held in 2004. "Thinking Out Loud" was kept off the top spot by "Uptown Funk", although it outperformed the latter song for a week in February 2015 on the "Billboard" Digital Songs. On other specific US charts, "Thinking Out Loud" reached number one on the "Billboard" Adult Pop Songs for the week ending 21 February 2015, marking Sheeran's first. For the week ending 21 March 2015, "Thinking Out Loud" held the top position on the "Billboard" Pop Songs, Adult Pop Songs, and Adult Contemporary charts, becoming the fourth song in history to lead all three adult charts simultaneously. In celebration of Google Play's fifth anniversary, Google announced "Thinking Out Loud" as the top selling song on the platform. "Thinking Out Loud" is Sheeran's best-selling song in the United States, with 5,622,000 copies sold as of September 2017.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: In the UK, Sheeran's native country, "Thinking Out Loud" claimed the record for the most streams in a single week in December 2014. The track accumulated over 1,638,000 streams, and subsequently achieved a personal best of 1,850,000 streams in the week ending 21 December 2014. This record has since been broken by several songs.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: In April 2015, the song ranked as the most popular based on the 2.8 million sleep-themed playlists created by Spotify users. Sleep is one of the company's most popular categories that, according to Spotify, "people also use for general relaxation and to help themselves unwind". "The Guardian" columnist Tim Dowling suggested that the report indicated "very popular, slightly mellow songs that keep cropping up on sleep playlists" but not a list of a "carefully curated journey to unconsciousness".


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: In October 2015, "Thinking Out Loud" set the record of most streams of a song on Spotify, having accumulated over 500 million streams. The company created the "Sheerio Index", an interactive graphic map which showed where Sheeran was most popular. The color-based map indicated that Sheeran was most popular in Denmark. It was surpassed a month later by "Lean On", a song by Major Lazer and DJ Snake featuring MØ.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: Emil Nava directed the video accompaniment to the single. Most of it was filmed in the Crystal Ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The video was shot continuously using a 16 mm film camera.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: Unlike Sheeran's earlier videos, where he assumed a low profile, he took the lead role on "Thinking Out Loud". In the video, Sheeran executes a contemporary dance with Brittany Cherry, a contestant from the televised American dance competition, "So You Think You Can Dance". The routine was choreographed by Nappytabs and with training help from Paul Karmiryan. While on concert tour, Sheeran spent five hours a day for three weeks to practice with Cherry.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: The video was released on October 7, 2014. After the first 24 hours, the video had over 2.7 million views on video-sharing website, YouTube. As of October 2022, it has 3.5 billion views, making it the 17th most viewed video on the site. The music video received four nominations at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year and Best Male Video.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: On 26 October 2014, Sheeran performed the song on third live results show of series 11 of "The X Factor". He also performed it on 9 November 2014 in the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards. Sheeran also performed the song as a special guest at "The Voice"s live finale on 16 December 2014. Furthermore, Sheeran performed the track on the Christmas Special of "The Jonathan Ross Show" on 20 December 2014. He also performed the song at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards on 8 February 2015 along with John Mayer, Questlove, Adam Blackstone, and Herbie Hancock. Sheeran performed "Thinking Out Loud" on 13 April 2015 results show of the second series of "The X Factor" in New Zealand. Sheeran also performed "Thinking Out Loud" at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2014.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: On 28 April 2015 episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon", actor Jeremy Renner, known for his role as Hawkeye in the "Avengers" movies, performed on piano and sang a song captioned by Fallon's show on YouTube as "Hawkeye Sings About His Super Powers". While not parodying Sheeran's lyrics, it is sung to the same tune. The lyrics suggest that Hawkeye feels defensive compared with the other Avengers as he was the only mortally human one in a team of superhuman or enhanced heroes: "But listen, I've got powers too; they're pretty sweet. / I promise I can do so much more than just archery ... / I can open a pickle jar. / I'm friggin' Hawkeye. / Maybe I'm as super as they are."


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: The song and video were also parodied in the CW series "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend". Titled "Let's Have Intercourse", the song was sung by Scott Michael Foster with Rachel Bloom appearing in the scene dancing with Foster in the same manner as Sheeran and Cherry. The lyrics are an appeal by Foster's character, Nathaniel Plimpton III, to series protagonist Rebecca Bunch (Bloom) to have sex whilst trapped in an elevator. The song was featured in the 2016 film "Me Before You." It was also covered in the film "Bridget Jones's Baby." This song was also used during a December 25, 2017 Christmas NBA Game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors during the 2017-18 NBA season.


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: On 10 August 2016, it was revealed that the family of Ed Townsend, who wrote Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" was suing Ed Sheeran saying "the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic compositions of 'Thinking' are substantially and/or strikingly similar to the drum composition of 'Let's [Get It On]'." The case was dismissed without prejudice in February 2017. Two years later, on 28 June 2018, Ed Sheeran was again sued on similar grounds, this time for $100 million in damages by Structured Asset Sales, owners of one-third of the copyright to "Let's Get It On".


title: Thinking Out Loud

text: Canadian country singer Chad Brownlee recorded a cover version and released it as a single in 2015. He also released a video of himself performing the song.