NBC will air a much-hyped interview this Sunday between Megyn Kelly and Alex Jones, the man behind the website Infowars. His millions of viewers and listeners know Jones as a spitfire journalist and commentator who tells stories the mainstream media are afraid to tell. But others call him a conspiracy theorist who incites violence.

Kelly defended the interview this week, saying she wanted to call attention to the relationship between Jones and the Trump administration, which gave him a one-day press pass last month.

“I would submit to you that neither I nor NBC News has elevated Alex Jones in any way,” Kelly said this week. “He’s been elevated by 5 or 6 million viewers or listeners, and by the president of the United States.”

Even before its airing, the interview has inflamed dozens of critics, including JPMorganChase, which pulled its ads from the Sunday broadcast, and Sandy Hook Promise, which dropped Kelly as the host of an upcoming gala. Jones in the past has covered conspiracy theories alleging the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., didn’t really happen. Jones himself has said he believes the children died but has questions about the mainstream media account of what happened.

Jones also reported on Pizzagate, a story about an alleged sex-trafficking ring out of a pizza shop in Washington, D.C. After a gunman entered the shop and shot at patrons (no one was hurt) in December, Jones said he did not believe the allegations of trafficking were true.

The interview has angered Jones himself, who called it a hit job on him and denounced it as fake news.

“I knew in my gut this was going to blow up in their face,” he said on his show.

NBC still plans to air the interview, though the network’s news chairman, Andy Lack, said it will be edited with the sensitivity of viewers in mind.

Taylor Swift performs in Houston. Associated Press/Photo by John Salangsang/Invision

Too big to boycott

After a yearslong stalemate, Taylor Swift handed over the keys to her entire music catalog to Spotify, Pandora, and other music streaming services last week.

Swift made waves in the music industry in 2014 by pulling most of her music from services she felt didn’t pay enough for it. Apple Music, for example, offered users a free trial month, and artists did not get paid royalties for songs those users listened to, according to TechCrunch. Swift’s battle with streaming services exemplified the struggles facing musicians in an era in which more and more listeners expect music on-demand for free.

So what changed? For one, streaming companies have negotiated more favorable deals with artists: Spotify now waits two weeks to play some labels’ new albums on its ad-supported, free service, giving record companies time to lure paying customers to new releases. Second, music streaming has gotten so big that the small amount of revenue each listener brings adds up enough to make it worthwhile for musicians to participate.

Finally, Swift and other artists realize they can’t rely on music sales as their main stream of income. Instead, the tunes, heard mostly online, serve to draw fans to tours and merchandise, the bread and butter of today’s music industry. —L.L.

Taylor Swift performs in Houston. Associated Press/Photo by John Salangsang/Invision

Moment of silence in Gotham

A crowd of big-name stars—George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, and Christian Bale—have donned Batman’s cape and cowl over the years. But Adam West will forever stand out as the first actor who brought the superhero to life for mainstream America. The TV version of Batman starred West alongside Burt Ward as Robin for three seasons in the 1960s, and a feature film debuted in theaters between seasons one and two. Since then, Batman has grown out his stubble, adopted a much deeper voice, and even started carrying a gun (that shoots bullets, not grapping hooks). The Caped Crusader has gotten so dark that The Lego Batman Movie released last year mostly devoted itself to spoofing the hero’s angst.

But West’s Batman brought Boy Scout sensibilities to a world in which it was easy to tell the good guys from the bad. Criminals weren’t misunderstood; they were selfish and made bad choices. Today’s Batman operates in spite of and even sometimes against the police, while West’s Batman shared mutual respect with authorities. The 1966 movie opened with a dedication: “We wish to express our gratitude to the enemies of crime and crusaders against crime throughout the world for their inspirational example.” That film is available for streaming on Netflix and offers what almost no other Bat-flick can: good, clean fun. —L.L.

Taylor Swift performs in Houston. Associated Press/Photo by John Salangsang/Invision

Another final bow

Actress Glenne Headly also died last week at age 62. Her best-known role was probably as Tess Trueheart in Dick Tracy, but her other memorable performances included the band director’s long-suffering wife in Mr. Holland’s Opus and Elmira Boot Johnson in Lonesome Dove—both women underestimated by the men around them. Headly also appeared as a cutthroat civil rights attorney in last summer’s HBO series The Night Of. —L.L.

Coloring with a bluer blue

Crayola is cooking up a new crayon using the first new blue pigment created in 200 years. In 2009, scientists at Oregon State University were working on engineering materials for electronics when their mixture of yttrium, indium, and manganese oxides came out a bright shade of blue. Blue is not only rare in organic materials, it’s also difficult to create in labs. Starting July 1, customers can vote on the name for Crayola’s new crayon using the pigment, currently called YInMn blue for the elements that comprise it. —L.L.

Counterculture

Each week, The World and Everything in It features a discussion of cultural news between executive producer and cohost Nick Eicher and John Stonestreet, president of the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. On today’s “Culture Friday,” Stonestreet analyzes the renewed fascination with the dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale after last year’s presidential election. Today’s America is a terrible comparison to the book’s fictional world, he says. A much better parallel comes from totalitarian regimes in the Islamic world, Stonestreet argues. —Leigh Jones