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The recruiting trail is about to heat up with summer official visits set to begin in earnest this weekend. Heres one thought on the 2024 class of each Big 12 program before the pot gets boiling.

National rank: 45 Number of commits: 5 Average player rating: 86.32

The Bears have understandably hit the home state hard, with four of the five commitments coming from Texas thus far. But Baylor is also hoping to dip into Arizona for three-star tight end Dillon Hipp. The 6-foot-6, 240-pound prospect and top tight end in the state has a busy June with four official visits: Ole Miss, Arizona State, TCU and Baylor. Fortunately for the Bears, theyre batting cleanup, with Hipp slated to visit Waco on June 23.

National rank: 63 Number of commits: 4 Average player rating: 84.71

The Cougars are working hard to land a quarterback in the 2024 class. BYU missed out on four-star prospect Isaac Wilson to in-state rival Utah, which stung even worse considering hes the younger brother of former BYU star Zach Wilson. Regardless, Kalani Sitake and his staff have a couple more irons in the fire, including three-star Carson Suesue, who made an unofficial visit in March and will transfer to Granger High School in Salt Lake City for his senior year. The Cougars are also pursuing unrated Enoch Watson, the younger brother of incoming BYU linebacker Pierson Watson.

National rank: 21 Number of commits: 9 Average player rating: 87.13

Can the Bearcats maintain their white-hot start to the 2024 recruiting cycle? Despite being the only team in the league to undergo a coaching change this offseason, the Big 12 newcomers currently have a top-25 class that ranks second in the conference. Thats partially a result of already having nine commits, headlined by four-star, top-300 linebacker Qua Birdsong. The rankings will change drastically between now and the early signing period, but it will be interesting to see what else the Bearcats can add this summer and where they wind up in the league pecking order. One of Cincinnatis top remaining targets is four-star quarterback Samaj Jones out of Philadelphia, who has visits scheduled with West Virginia, Cincinnati and Oklahoma in June.

National rank: 90 Number of commits: 1 Average player rating: 84.52

Are we going to see a P5 recruiting bump for the Coogs? Houston currently has the 90th-ranked class nationally dead last in the new Big 12 with only one commit. The Cougars have long had to battle the Group of 5 stigma while recruiting against power-conference foes in one of the most talent-rich states in the country. It will take some time to roll back that ocean, but Houston fans were probably hoping for a quicker impact and faster start on the trail following a disappointing season in 2022. The program needs to come out of the summer visit sessions with some notable progress.

National rank: 31 Number of commits: 7 Average player rating: 85.83

Matt Campbell is getting back to his old development ways. The Cyclones arent completely shying away from bigger swings, including four-star wideout Witt Edwards, who is scheduled to visit in June, and battles with Oklahoma for tight end Cooper Alexander and running back Xavier Robinson. But they are also targeting less-heralded prospects such as in-state receiver Reece Vander Zee, Florida wideout Shamar Rigby, Illinois linebacker Cael Brezina and Brent and Wade Helton, twin offensive linemen out of California. All are expected to make official visits to Iowa State in June.

National rank: 54 Number of commits: 5 Average player rating: 86.62

A few months after Jayhawks defensive backs coach Jordan Peterson scored a commitment from cornerback Jacoby Davis out of Houston just before national signing day, Peterson is continuing to flex his recruiting muscles. He helped Kansas earn a top-four spot for three-star edge rusher Deshawn Warner out of the Phoenix area, and already got a commitment from three-star cornerback Aundre Gibson, Warners teammate and cousin. Peterson is also dipping back into Texas to pursue high-end three-star defensive back Rodney Bimage, who has a 247Sports crystal ball to Texas A&M but will visit Lawrence on June 15.

National rank: 34 Number of commits: 6 Average player rating: 87.25

The vibes are good in Manhattan. The Wildcats are fresh off a 2022 conference championship and locked up head coach Chris Klieman with an eight-year extension this offseason. So theres little sense of panic as Kansas State eases into the 2024 class, although a shuttered airport wont help matters this summer. With a handful of offensive commits in tow, the Wildcats are targeting a pair of high-end three-star edge rushers in Caleb Redd and Wyatt Gilmore, with Redd slated to visit in late June.

National rank: 28 Number of commits: 6 Average player rating: 91.01

Brent Venables caught his share of flack for a slow start to the 2023 recruiting cycle, and all he had to show for it in the end was a top-four class, according to the 247Sports Composite. The Sooners are already off to a solid start in 2024, and despite recently losing four-star, in-state defensive lineman Xadavien Sims to Oregon, they have a stacked list of defensive targets on the radar. Oklahoma appears to be in the drivers seat for five-star defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri, No. 3 overall in the 2024 class, and is pursuing a few other five-star, top-10 recruits in defensive lineman and Oklahoma native David Stone and linebacker Sammy Brown. All three are expected to be in Norman for official visits June 16-18.

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Wasserman: How a visit with Brent Venables changed my view on Oklahoma's 'no-visit' policy

National rank: 35 Number of commits: 6 Average player rating: 87.09

After a rocky end to the 2022 season and considerable talent drain via the transfer portal this offseason, the Pokes could use a strong haul in the 2024 class. Oklahoma State is currently ranked a very respectable 35th overall, but like BYU, also missed out on Wilson, the four-star quarterback who committed to Utah. In better news, the Cowboys were in early on promising three-star offensive lineman Ory Williams, who visited in April, and appear to be in good position on three-star safety David Kabongo, who has set a commitment date for June 12 with an official visit scheduled in Stillwater a couple of days later.

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Why TCU hit a five-star home run with three-star QB prospect Hauss Hejny

National rank: 50 Number of commits: 4 Average player rating: 88.14

Expectations are soaring for the Horned Frogs coming off a left-field run to the national title game, and TCU is hoping to capitalize on that momentum while also replenishing a ton of lost production. How soon (and significantly) will the boost in profile show up in recruiting? The Frogs made the top five for four-star safety Jordon Johnson-Rubell, a Fort Worth native playing for IMG (Fla.) Academy. The good news for TCU is that it has a hometown advantage, and Johnson-Rubell is slated for an official visit on June 8. The bad news is the Frogs are competing with Ohio State, Michigan, Texas and USC. This will be a tough one to win, but seeing TCU in more of these blue-chip battles is an encouraging step.

National rank: 64 Number of commits: 3 Average player rating: 88.40

A year removed from signing 18 total blue-chip prospects in the 2023 class which was ranked third overall and headlined by five-star quarterback Arch Manning the Longhorns have just three commits and only one four-star in the 2024 class thus far. But things are set to ratchet up in a big way, particularly June 23-25. Texas is expected to host at least a dozen priority targets that weekend, including four-star offensive lineman Daniel Calhoun; in-state cornerbacks Kobe Black (five-star) and Selman Bridges (four-star); four-star running back Jerrick Gibson; and five-star, in-state edge rusher Colin Simmons, a top-five overall recruit. The Longhorns are hovering in the mid-60s of the national rankings and toward the bottom of the conference, but thats sure to look considerably different entering July.

National rank: 19 Number of commits: 9 Average player rating: 88.21

Head coach Joey McGuire has the Red Raiders cooking again on the recruiting trail as he enters his second season, currently with a top-20 national ranking in the 2024 class. Of Techs nine commitments thus far, three are top-500 prospects, including four-star edge Cheta Ofili and three-star QB Will Hammond. The Red Raiders are also heavily in the mix for five-star, in-state receiver Micah Hudson, currently rated the seventh-best prospect in the 2024 class. He has an official visit scheduled to Lubbock on June 9, when Tech will look to make a strong impression ahead of his visit to the Longhorns later that month.

National rank: 51 Number of commits: 4 Average player rating: 88.05

Top-500 defensive lineman Sincere Edwards is currently the highest-rated commit of UCFs 2024 class. The Orlando native has been committed to his hometown school since last August, but it will be interesting to see if the Knights can hold on to him as his interest continues to grow. Edwards took an unofficial visit to Pitt in April that clearly resonated (with an assist from Aaron Donald) and announced he would be back for an official visit in late June. He remains committed to UCF and has an OV June 9, and getting him to campus wont be a problem. But the sharks are circling.

National rank: 69 Number of commits: 3 Average player rating: 85.56

The Mountaineers are bringing up the rear of the current recruiting rankings among the leagues incumbent members, but they do seem to have some things in the works. Theyre locked in a battle with old rival and new conference foe Cincinnati for Jones, the four-star quarterback out of Philadelphia. WVU might have the advantage, too: Jones is slated to visit this weekend along with high-end three-star wide receiver and high school teammate Brandon Rehmann, with whom the Mountaineers appear to be in a good spot.

(Photo of Steve Sarkisian: Scott Wachter / USA Today)

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Big 12 football recruiting: 14 thoughts on 14 teams as summer visits begin - The Athletic

What do the composer John Tavener, political strategist Steve Bannon and psychologist-cum-guru Jordan Peterson have in common? All have been influenced by Traditionalism: the idea that nature, human societies and individual lives are all grounded in a primordial order beyond the visible world, to which esoteric teachings passed down across centuries afford access for the initiated. It emerged in the first half of the 20th century through the writing of Ren Gunon, a French intellectual who regarded Sufism, Taoism and Indias Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy as amongst the most valuable carriers of this precious wisdom. Public, communal exoteric religion, by contrast Confucianism; Christianity, especially in its modern Protestant forms had little or nothing to recommend it, thought Gunon, unless one was able to penetrate to the esoteric core.

One of Traditionalisms great attractions, across the 20th century and into the 21st, has been the contrast that it draws between what Mark Sedgwick, in this new survey, describes as sacred order and modern disorder. The latter, for Gunon, is the result of societies seeking truth in all the wrong places since the Renaissance: individualism, sentimentality, a reflexive and destructive scepticism, and a fascination with action and material gain. All this, combined with a vision of reality in which nothing that is inaccessible to the sciences is held (or even permitted) to exist, has meant that Western progress is really a steady drift away from truth.

As Sedgwick points out, this critique of modernity is hardly unique to Traditionalism. What Traditionalism offers, however, is a combination of critique and an alternative way of understanding reality. This, he thinks, has contributed to its unexpected resurgence in recent years. Twenty years ago, Sedgwick regarded Traditionalism as being in decline. Now that it has made a come-back in politics not least in Russia, where Aleksandr Dugin (Putins brain) is a fan it is time, he says, to offer a general introduction.

Sedgwick brings an admirable clarity to the task. His prose is economical and he provides mini-summaries as he goes along. Following a section on foundations, he introduces the three major concerns (or core projects) of Traditionalism: self-realisation, religion and politics. He looks, too, at this loose-knit movements interest in art, gender, nature and inter-faith dialogue, before moving on to its connections with the contemporary radical Right. Along the way, we encounter major contributors to Traditionalist thought: the Italian philosopher Julius Evola, controversial for his links to Mussolini and Nazism; the Swiss philosopher and scholar of religion Frithjof Schuon; and the Ceylonese-American philosopher of art Ananda Coomaraswamy, whose work was driven by Traditionalisms concern with Platonic forms and its faith in the revelatory power of symbols.

The blending, in Traditionalism, of romance, nostalgic longing, hierarchy and elitism undoubtedly merits careful handling all the more so since political thinkers from Bannon and Dugin to counterparts in France and Hungary began to show an interest in it, and in Evola in particular. Plus, as Sedgwick points out, previous introductions to Traditionalism have been marred by an attempt to recruit people to [the] cause. Still, his caution, while laudable, is occasionally frustrating. There is less showcasing of the major ideas than one might hope. What exactly are these metaphysical realities in which Traditionalism places such great store? What forms might initiation take? When we arrive at political applications of Traditionalism, sustained exploration loses out to catch-all use of the term problematic in its euphemistic contemporary sense of something wrong or unpleasant.

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The unfashionable idea that links Jordan Peterson and 'Putin's brain' - The Telegraph

Yeonmi Park: In North Korea, every room has to have a portrait of the Kims. The inspector comes out of nowhere in the middle of the night and touches the portraits. If they see any dust... you can get executed.

Joe Rogan: [shakes head] Wow.

This isnt a meme, but a real (slightly abridged) exchange taken from a 2021 episode of the Joe Rogan Podcast. You might have seen it pop up on your social media feeds lately, alongside clips of the North Korean defector talking to Joe Rogan about Chinese organ harvesting, or telling right-wing hack Jordan Peterson about eating tons of grasshoppers to survive life in the dictatorship. Youve probably also seen the memes being shared in response to her unbelievable stories. Yeonmi is a CIA-funded propagandist, they claim, or Yeonmi is scamming wide-eyed westerners with tales from beyond the DPRKs iron curtain for financial gain. Are they wrong?

Born in North Korea, Yeonmi Park fled with her family to China in 2007, at the age of 13, and settled in South Korea in 2009. Five years later, she would move to the United States to work as a human rights activist, spreading the story of her defection at events such as the 2014 One Young World summit in Dublin.

The problem is, Yeonmis tall tales have varied over the years, littered with factual inaccuracies and... poetic licence. How could this happen? Its a question on many peoples lips as she surges back into the spotlight following the publication of her most recent book, While Time Remains: A North Korean Defector's Search for Freedom in America. Wouldnt she remember whether her father escaped with the rest of the family, or was left behind to minimise the risks? And how did she forget about the concept of ice cream?

Below, we dive into some of Yeonmi Parks wildest stories of life in North Korea, and why defectors are incentivised to embellish their suffering under the rule of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

Undeniably, there are many facts of life in North Korea that would be shocking to people on the outside, from the countrys travel restrictions, to its human rights abuses, to its dependence on a growing nuclear arsenal (not to mention the governments totalitarian approach to fashion and hatred of K-pop). Its worth noting, though, that theres also a significant financial incentive to share increasingly shocking stories filled with unsavoury details.

Back in 2017, the South Korean government quadrupled the reward it pays North Korean defectors for useful information on the regime, to just under 700,000. In both South Korea and the US, meanwhile, bestselling memoirs and sensational speaking engagements help convert trauma into cash and they might be a good way to spread information about life in North Korea, if they werent undermined by factual inaccuracies.

Its convenient that Yeonmi mostly addresses already-outraged crowds of Americans and credulous public intellectuals like Peterson, because she often gives the impression that shes making stories up on the fly, responding to questions with a remarkable flair for yes, and... improv.

This would explain some of the contradictions in her narration of events in North Korea. For example, her frequently-recited story about the execution of her best friends mother for watching forbidden media. In some stories, she reports that the media was a South Korean DVD, and the act took place in a stadium. Other times, though, its changed to a James Bond film or a nameless Hollywood blockbuster, and the woman was killed in the street. Either way, its an incredibly dark tale, but its also surprising that shed forget the details of such a formative event. Plus, experts have expressed doubt that such an extreme punishment fits the crime, even in North Korea.

In other appearances, Yeonmis stories are simply improbable. See: her claim on the Joe Rogan Podcast that North Korea only has one train, which runs once a month, and when it breaks down the passengers have to get out and (somehow, despite train carriages typically weighing more than 15 tonnes) push it where they want to go. Or the claim that all of North Koreas plants mysteriously turn poisonous in springtime, and the population is left to feed deadly mud to their children.

Many of Yeonmis more dubious claims have even been shot down by fellow defectors, while commentators on the region have criticised her for her tendency to muddle her message with this nakedly partisan punditry.

One post that has particularly captured the internets imagination (read: sparked numerous memes) over the last week is on the tamer end of the spectrum. Under a picture of her posing outside a Jenis Ice Creams shop, Yeonmi writes: When I was in North Korea, there was no such a concept as dessert. Now I cannot imagine a world without these goodies.

Admittedly, I cannot imagine a world without goodies, either. However, it seems unlikely that Yeonmi never actually stumbled across an ice cream during her time in North Korea, since they did actually exist as evidenced in travel blogs and images from the early 2000s.In 2022, Kim Jong Un himself even took special measures to speed up the construction of a new ice cream factory.

Thats the question... According to Yeonmi herself, many of her mistakes were the result of a language barrier when she was still learning English. In a response to a 2014 article in the Diplomat, she added: I apologise that there have been times when my childhood memories were not perfect, saying that she was cross-checking details with her mum as she authored her first book.

Naturally, these disclaimers arent good enough for many internet sceptics, who point to the Wests long tradition of using defectors as propaganda mouthpieces (a tactic thats been employed in North Korea, as well). Many have suggested that Yeonmi is one such psy-op, as well as pointing out ties to shady organisations like the Atlas Network.Others have even speculated that her outrageous claims are being used by DPRK sympathisers to undermine other defectors accounts of their suffering.

In case you havent noticed, Yeonmi Park has found a significant audience with right-wing figures and more conservative-leaning pundits. This might not be surprising she presents a perfect opportunity to *own the commies* but their inane culture wars drivel does, unfortunately, seem to have rubbed off on Yeonmi herself.

Yes, Yeonmi is now slamming cancel culture at Americas Ivy League universities in articles for the Telegraph. In one interview, she complains that her lessons at Columbia demonised capitalism, taught her that maths is racist, and claimed anything that was white was bad, comparing the university to a North Korean classroom. Elsewhere, she decries the woke tyranny of Western culture, saying: Even North Korea isnt this crazy. (Comparing the US to North Korea: based. Doing it because you dont like what theyre teaching in schools, instead of the states shared love of incarceration and nuclear aggression: sadly, cringe.)

According to yet another Joe Rogan interview clip, this swing toward the right-wing was prompted by an incident during the George Floyd protests in 2020, when she was allegedly robbed by three Black woman, and stopped from calling the police by a crowd of 20 white bystanders. Apparently, that was the catalyst for her speaking out and becoming a self-proclaimed enemy of the woke not necessarily the most objective viewpoint for gathering useful intel.

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Yeonmi Park: is the DPRK defector a western psy-op? - Dazed

Fatuma Adar is thrilled to be offering a Black Out night for Shes Not Special, her upcoming show with music opening next week for a five-night run at the Tarragon Mainspace Theatre.

In fact, shes so excited about the special May 26 performance aimed at Black audiences that shes recording that night for comedy album posterity.

Its especially important after a similar Black Out night last winter during the National Arts Centres run of Aleshea Harriss acclaimed play Is God Is resulted in controversy.

When conservative voices like Jonathan Kay and Jordan Peterson criticized the single night as exclusionary and racially segregated (even though the idea of Black Out nights originated in 2019 at Jeremy O. Harriss acclaimed Broadway production Slave Play), right-wing American media picked up the story a reaction that made Adar, the writer/composer of last years Dora Award-winning musical Dixon Road, roll her eyes.

First of all, these people (who criticized Black Out nights) dont go to the theatre, said Adar. The times when Ive felt most segregated have been when Im at a show and nobody looks like me. Black Out nights are a great time to not think about being policed or watched.

I didnt have a lot of access to theatre growing up, she continued. I was taken to movie theatres and felt comfortable there. But I didnt know about theatre. There are so many questions around it. Am I supposed to be here? Do I need to mind my Ps and Qs? Were developing more diverse work onstage, but there hasnt been as much focus on developing diversity in the audience. And I think Black Out nights help with that. Theyre a celebration.

Adar, who released a film version of Shes Not Special directed by Graham Isador at 2022s Next Stage Festival, after the Omicron COVID-19 wave prevented a live version, wants people of all backgrounds to have fun and let loose at the new version of the show.

The energy around identity shows can sometimes be a little sombre, she admitted. This is just going to be a fun time. We have a live band, which will let me live out my rock star fantasies. Roya (DelSol, the director of photography on the digital version) has created more videos and projections. I want people to relax those tense shoulders they often have at plays as if theyre going to a comedy club or a concert.

Click to expand

While full of hilarious satire, Shes Not Special also deals with some serious hot-button subjects, like the pressure put on Black artists to represent their entire race in one show. And the temptation, guided by well-meaning white liberal artistic directors, to exploit any trauma in their background for dramatic dividends.

Adar, who jokes that as a Black Muslim woman shes a triple threat, is encouraged by the kind of diversity shes seeing onstage these days.

Within a few months, weve had three options of Black operas to see, she said. And in terms of Black plays, you are now able to say, This is more comedically my style or That serious play is more my taste. You have this wide variety of options rather than this one play having to speak to everyone. Audiences are getting to know the difference between, say, a Kanika Ambrose play (like our place) or something director Weyni Mengesha is working on. Im excited about the specificity of voices.

Another sacred cow she goes after in Shes Not Special is the arts granting system, in which artists are encouraged to check off certain boxes. As a producer, she argues theres an inherent flaw in that.

I think (granting agencies) are assuming if they dont have specific boxes checked they wont have any works representing certain voices, she said. But I dont think thats true. Its like with acting awards. If you have people of all genders included, many assume just white men will get nominated even if theyre not making the best work. I think all this has more to do with the assumptions of the cultural gatekeepers.

Having impressed cultural titans like Bo Burnham and her childhood idol Fefe Dobson the latter contributed a message for Shes Not Special Adar is getting more comfortable with positive critical attention, despite her history of impostor syndrome.

One thing she loves about working in live theatre, and more recently TV, is the fact that its collaborative, a big bonus after developing so many works in isolation during the pandemic.

With Dixon Road I remember thinking, Sure I can be self-critical and feel like I dont deserve something, but ultimately that kind of negative self-talk diminishes the efforts of all these other people doing so much work around me.

Correction May 18, 2023: This article was updated to correct that Shes Not Special will have a five-night run at Tarragons Mainspace Theatre, not Extraspace.

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Yes, Fatuma Adar is having a Black Out night at Shes Not Special but she wants everyone to have fun at her show - Toronto Star

This will be the final week on the road recruiting for most of the Kansas coaches. They will use the next seven to 10 days to start winding down and get ready for the camp season.

But before that happens, they will have an important visitor on campus.

Jonathan Kamara, one of the top prospects in Arizona, confirmed to Jayhawk Slant he will take an unofficial visit this weekend.

I'm just looking forward to seeing everybody, Kamara said. I've talked to a majority of the staff and people in the recruiting department office. Im ready to match names to face and just see and greet everyone.

Kansas cornerbacks coach Jordan Peterson started recruiting the Phoenix area last year and quickly built relationships. Desert Edge High School has been one of the main schools he targeted when he landed in Phoenix last May.

Peterson is recruiting the area this week and will visit the school again.

It has been really fun getting to know him, Kamara said. He's a happy person and his energy is unmatched. Every time he seems excited and it's amazing.

Kamara picked up an offer from Kansas in February. He said Peterson told him they like his physicality for his size and how well he moves.

He plans to take his unofficial visit this weekend with his uncle.

At 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, he was an All-Metro selection last year and is receiving a lot of interest from college coaches. Two of his recent offers came from Texas and Iowa State.

It was crazy getting the offer from Texas because knowing the history behind the program and just how historic everything with the program is, he said.

Kamara is expected to visit Kansas twice in the next two months. He has an official visit scheduled with KU at the end of June when he will visit with two of his teammates Aundre Gibson and Deshawn Warner.

Gibson, a cornerback, committed to the Jayhawks in the spring.

He just said he loved it up there and it's different up there, Kamara said of Gibson. He said the excitement about us (Desert Edge players) is crazy and they think they have something good going on with us and that we can go be great up there."

There has been a lot of attention from Big 12 schools and Kansas State is another school who offered. Kamara said a lot of coaches are reaching out and more attention could come this week.

This week I could get more offers because they have a showcase and a lot of schools are coming out to see me, he said.

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Jonathan Kamara ready for Kansas visit this weekend - Rivals.com - Kansas