Best Of: Rhiannon Giddens / Investigating Diddy’s Rise & Fall

Rhiannon Giddens reclaims the banjo’s African diasporic origins, challenging the myth of it as a white mountain instrument while discussing her work on Beyoncé’s *Cowboy Carter* and the Black string band tradition. Film critic Justin Chang reviews the action thriller *Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother*, highlighting its stylized, gonzo depiction of a devout Muslim assassin navigating faith and violence in Houston. Investigative reporter Cheyenne Roundtree examines the rise and fall of Sean Combs in her book *Bad Boy for Life*, detailing how Combs leveraged his status as a cultural gatekeeper to shield himself from decades of documented violence and abuse. These segments collectively explore the intersection of cultural history, artistic reinvention, and the systemic protection of powerful figures within the entertainment industry.