What could be better than a rotating panel of comedians, hidden snacks, occasional alcohol and an hour and a half to kill, the general mayhem of “The Big Fat Quiz of Everything,” hosted by comedian Jimmy Carr (“8 out of 10 Cats”), a three-episode off shoot of “The Big Fat Quiz of the Year,” a British trivia quiz game show in which the comedians attempt to answer questions about — everything.

The “Everything” series aired Aug. 15, 22 and 28 on Channel 4 in the UK and can be currently viewed on YouTube. The game show is split into three teams of two comedians and the host. The questions range from music and sports to history and politics, as well as videos featuring various celebrities posing questions not asked by the host.

General mayhem ensues as the panel pits their wits against each other in the show that has some comedians coming back for multiple episodes to entertain the audience with jokes that are spectacular for horrific to hilarious reasons.

Facing off in the first episode were the teams of Claudia Winkleman (“Strictly Come Dancing”) and David Mitchell (“Peep Show”), Mel Giedroyc (“The Great British Bake Off”) and Kristen Schaal (“The Last Man on Earth”) and Jonathan Ross
(“Friday Night with Jonathan Ross”) and Bob Mortimer (“Shooting Stars”).

The teams comprising the second episode were: Noel Fielding (“The Mighty Boosh”) and Richard Ayoade (“The IT Crowd”); Adam Buxton (“Hot Fuzz”) and Jonathan Ross; Aisling Bea (“The Savage Eye”) and Rob Beckett (“8 out of 10 Cats”).

The final episode was staffed by the following teams: Alan Carr (“Alan Carr: Chatty Man”) and Romesh Ranganathan (“Mock the Week”); Dara Ó Briain (“Mock the Week”) and Chelsea Peretti (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”); Noel Fielding and Eddie Izzard (“Valkyrie”).

Given that it is a British show, there are quite a few references that get lost on an American audience, such as Jon Snow, a newscaster on Channel 4 News. The only Jon Snow here in the States is Ned Stark’s illegitimate son from “Game of Thrones.” Other lost references include British slang and TV shows. The American audience can sympathize with American comedians Chelsea Peretti and Kristen Schaal as they appear to be just as lost.

The most entertaining comedian by far is Richard Ayoade. Known for “The IT Crowd,” he is also a writer like most of the guests on the show. The second episode included a long three-minute diatribe once his Maltesers, a UK milk chocolate malt balls, are stolen from him leading into a rant about bullies. “It’s like every break time at school, there’s always someone like you with my tray of Maltesers,” Ayoade spits out as Rob Beckett starts shoving them into his mouth one-by-one. His straight-faced accusations and insults as he decides he will “take the matter to tribunal” as the “bullying” is wildly hysterical.

The banter, wits and insults are so different from American TV shows. The comedians have absolutely no filter as they jot down obviously wrong answers for laughs. The jokes are equally vile and amusing, and some of the most hilarity comes when the comedians make fun of the host.  The absurdity of how uncaring they are about the crudeness of their jokes is slightly refreshing and enjoyable watch, even if purely for the no holds barred attitudes of the comedians.

Psychologist Dr. Jason Bull (Michael Weatherly, “NCIS”) is the man behind the curtain at the Trial Analysis Corporation — not to be confused with jury analysis consultation; there is a world of difference between the two. “Bull,” based on Dr. Phil McGraw’s (“The Dr. Phil Show”) previous career as a trial consultant, premiered Sep. 20 at 9 pm EST on CBS.

The series features Dr. Bull and his team of experts as they analyze, predict, and swing the jury using methods that may veer off the yellow brick road of the law.

In the first episode, Brandon Peters, son of billionaire Pete Peters, is being accused of the murder of a teenage drug dealer, Alyssa Yang. With a team of lawyers in tow, Brandon’s father hires Dr. Bull to take care of his son. To
the benefit of the audience, Marissa explains just how their defense strategy is derived through profiling jurors, mirror juries and
mock trials. The mock jury is observed by a wall of cameras, and their hands placed on devices monitor various physiological responses to the words of the lawyer. All information is fed into a matrix “which is scary in its predictive efficiency.”

To cover every aspect of the defense, Bull has a gifted team consisting of Benny Colon (Freddy Rodriquez, “Six Feet Under”), the brilliant attorney hand-picked by Bull to run his mock trials; Chuck Palmer (Christopher Jackson, “Gossip Girl”), the stylist who is responsible for the final touches; Marissa Morgan (Geneva Carr, Broadway star), the neurolinguistics expert who was previously employed by Homeland Security; former NYPD Detective Danny James (Jamie Lee Kirchner, “The Mob Doctor”) and hacker Cable McCrory (Annabelle Attanasio, “The Knick”).

Though Bull can hardly go wrong with this extraordinary team, it is his expertise in human behavior and highly developed observational skills that enable him to “read” the jury and know exactly what they are thinking that sets him apart.

From the get go, the lead lawyer is wary of Dr. Bull and his “woo woo psychology.” Even though he is cautious, he does not seem to listen to his own accusations as he tells Bull “you’re a con man, but you haven’t conned me.” This occurs seconds before Bull lifts the watch of his arm, with the seasoned skill of a pick pocket in order to have it bugged. He will stop at nothing to gather the information he needs to win.

Dr. Bull believes that “the old jingle” of innocent until proven guilty is a thing of the past. Juries come in with preconceived notions before the opening arguments of the case are even made. His team follows the jurors throughout the trial believing that anticipating their verdicts from the moment they take their seats is the key to winning.

The show edges onto legal drama ground, as the basis of Dr. Bull’s work focuses on jury trials, checking off a box at CBS, who just saw fan favorite “The Good Wife” end in the spring. Bull mixes perception, detective work and science into his trial analysis. This is far different from
most current series in the genre but is not the first of its kind. The show is slightly reminiscent of “Lie to Me” which focused on bringing to light deception by analyzing micro-expressions on the human face.

There are a lot of clichés; most blatant is the hacker in the beanie, sweater and jeans. The well-placed fortune cookie sayings of Bull are part of his charm. While his client balks at revealing personal truths on the stand, Dr. Bull tells him, “don’t give up on people, they’re all we’ve got.”

Slightly disappointing is the use of this visual gimmick where the jurors “speak to” Bull so that the audience knows that he got it right. What may have worked hilariously for Mel Gibson in “What Women Want” comes off less stylistic and more so an easy out for the writers, Paul Attanasio (“House”) and Dr. Phil McGraw. They should have relied on the audience believing in the premise of Bull’s abilities.

Weatherly is taking a huge career risk as he moves from being an “NCIS” regular cast member, to the main character of “Bull.” It is highly unlikely that “Bull” will gain critical acclaim, or a number of seasons that remotely resembles his former show, but it is an exciting premise. Although the intrigue was not at the scale of “The Good Wife,” it also did not seem to be trying to take its spot.

The analysis of behavior patterns brings the world of law and technology together. It will be interesting if the show continues to use the technology as a prop. The pilot fell prey to the use of gadgets to drum up interest, but it could be more entertaining to delve
into the intricacies and possibilities that the new era of science brings into jury analysis. “Bull” still has a few more episodes to sway the audience as well as he sways his juries, let’s hope he does so just in time to be able to predict a season renewal.

Piedmont Park was once again home to one of Atlanta’s annual music festivals, Music Midtown. Over 200,000 people had come from all over to attend this year’s festival. Typically taking place on a Friday and Saturday, the festival this year took place on Saturday and Sunday instead. The decision to change the days of the festival were not too popular, at least among Tech students because of school and work the next day.

In the past, the festival has welcomed many big name artists such as Elton John, Drake, Coldplay and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Although arguably not as strong of a lineup as in the past, this year’s Music Midtown had a diverse range of performances.

The four headliners ­— Beck, Twenty-One Pilots, Deadmau5 and the Killers all drew huge crowds while catering to a different group of people. Besides these four closing acts, there were several noteworthy acts that had taken place earlier in the day. These performances included Chvrches, Lucius, Daya and Melanie Martinez.

One of the most anticipated performances was Kesha as she has not performed often since her high-profile and ongoing dispute with Dr. Luke. Due to her recent lawsuit, Kesha is unable to perform any of her new songs. As a result, she covered a couple of songs, but this was not popular with the crowd and many people ended up leaving in the middle of her set.

Music Midtown is not as big as other festivals around the country but nevertheless does a good job at maintaining the festival vibes with four large stages, expensive food and drinks, and large crowds. Even for the smallest artists, such as Balkan Beat Box on Saturday, a sizeable crowd aggregated around the stage and were in good spirits.

The presence of food trucks, many of which were Tech regulars, helped to diversify the regular corn-dog and funnel-cake festival fare. Many concertgoers elected to buy a $20 pineapple filled with some sort of slushy concoction which nobody at the stand could describe beyond “it’s delicious.” The free water stations scattered around the festival grounds distilled water ranging from warm to hot but were easy to use, save for the mud that surrounded the areas after spills and rain.

Had the weather been pleasant, the main logistics issue would have been that the food lines were incredibly long and accessibility to first aid tents. There were first aid tents located all around the park, however, navigating to them in the sea of intoxicated people was a problem in itself.

Unfortunately, the weather was anything but pleasant. Saturday was marked by intense heat, and it did not help being crowded by thousands of people who were lighting up. It would have been nice to have fans, tents or complimentary water to help mitigate the heat and allow visitors to rest from the sun and humidity.

The beating sun was replaced by low hanging gray clouds on Sunday. From 2:00 p.m. to around 5:30 p.m. it was raining continuously. With the threat of lightning looming over the area, the event had to be evacuated. This was where Music Midtown dropped the ball. The evacuation was not organized efficiently at all. Firstly, the evacuation was not properly conveyed. Announcements were made near each of
the stages, however the only way for those not near the stage to know what was happening was through either word of mouth or through the Music Midtown mobile application.

The application was intuitive and could have been a great resource, but signal at the event was awful depending on one’s cell service carrier. Many people were not able to get the announcements on their phones informing them about the evacuation.

Those staffing the event were also unclear as to what was happening. Different staff members were communicating different things to the festival attendees. Some were saying that the rest of the festival was canceled and that some of the artists were leaving the venue. Other staff members said that the event was simply being delayed.

Once the weather had cleared up, performances resumed as normal. Besides the evacuation fiasco, Music Midtown ran smoothly and successfully, with a solid and diverse lineup.

So you’ve gotten up and actually made it to your 8 a.m. class. But now it’s pushing 2 p.m and you’re dead on your feet. Those last two episodes on Netflix last night probably could have waited, but that’s in the past and you are desperate for that midday pick-me-up.

You could go back to your dorm and take a quick nap. But how many times has a quick nap turned into a three hour siesta that left you more tired than before? No, it’s not time for a nap. It’s time for coffee.

A whole new world of opportunity opens before you. There’s Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts or Blue Donkey or Highland Bakery or Starbucks or one of several smaller name coffee shops located in various campus buildings.

Now it’s time to weigh the pros and cons. To guide you along your journey of self-awakeness, several students share their opinion the different campus coffee options.

Caroline Ware, a third-year BME student, finds each semester requires more coffee than the last. She frequents The Lab in the biotech quad to get her fix, along with making her own cup daily.

At least once a week, she finds herself over in the nook that is The Lab, between MoSE and the Ford building. “Their frozen drinks are really creative, even though there aren’t that many. Plus they have a ton of different snacks.” The Lab has a unique atmosphere, with several board games and Super Mario Bros. available to play.

Many students use coffee shops to not only brighten their day, but also as a place to do work. Ware adds, “It’s usually quiet enough for me to study upstairs or downstairs and be isolated enough.”

Generally, students’ coffee preference seems to be a thing of convenience or desire. Alexandra Cooke, a third-year IAML (International Affairs & Modern Languages) student, goes to Blue Donkey for their iced coffee and Starbucks for hot coffee, lattes or chai tea.

“I don’t like Dunkin Donuts coffee that much, so I go for the other two. Highland Bakery also has good coffee, but I’m not by Tech Tower often,” Cooke said.

Cooke also has a Keurig she uses to make her coffee daily (or sometimes twice a day).

Some students have stronger opinions and stronger coffee. Daniel Alston, a second-year IE, disagrees with Cooke (although Starbucks’ green tea frappe holds a special place in his heart).

“Dunkin has better prices point than Starbucks and the brew is strong. If you know how you like your coffee, and it’s not overly fancy, Dunkin makes more sense,” Alston.

Erika Sutton, a third-year CE, usually buys Dunkin Donuts.

“Well, I prefer Starbucks. But Dunkin is cheaper. The coffee isn’t as good, but it’s good enough when you need caffeine or something sweet.”

Even the students who do not drink coffee often still know where to point a desperate coffee-drinker in need. Bradleigh Hooper, a third-year transfer ME, adds that, “if I were a coffee drinker I’d probably go to Starbucks at Clough most often.”

Troy Bresch, a first-year ChBE, agrees. “Starbucks is the most popular one … If I were [drinking coffee] I might as well go where I think most people go.”

Maddie Shelby, another first-year ChBE, favors Starbucks for a different reason, saying that “being from Seattle, we don’t have Dunkin or Blue Donkey, so it’s what I’m used to.”

So if you’re on campus and in a pinch, the general consensus coffee shop seems to be that whatever’s closest. Though, if you’re in the mood for something a little out of the ordinary like a specialty frozen drink or iced coffee, then you might have to go out of your way to fill that coffee shaped hole in your heart.

After a rough start in Kansas this preseason, Women’s Volleyball opened their 2016 home season with three impressive wins over Georgia State, Kennesaw State and UGA.

The first game against Georgia State was a clean sweep, with the Jackets winning the first three sets on the way to an easy first win at home. Later that evening, however, Kennesaw State forced a fifth set, pushing the Jackets to earn the set and the win.

The big game came on Friday night, Sep. 9, as the Jackets played host to the Bulldogs, a team that was undefeated coming into that match. O’Keefe Gym was packed full of hundreds of Tech fans eager for a win, and the atmosphere throughout the entire match was energetic and electrifying.

The players were grateful for the atmosphere the crowd and pep band provided.

“The band did a great job as always; we love the band,” said junior outside hitter Gabi Stavnetchei after the game.

Not only was the atmosphere a factor in the Jackets’ impressive showing, playing the Bulldogs was “perfect” motivation.

“We just want to win so badly and at home when we have everyone on our side. We knew it was going to be a tough match; they were undefeated, and teams always tend to grow against their rivals.

“We were ready for a long game, but we were able to take care of our side and win in 3. Sweep[ing] the until-then-undefeated UGA at home with a packed gym was simply awesome.”

Despite struggling to close out sets against KSU the night before, the Jackets showed much improvement in the final few points of each, outlasting UGA 29-27 in the third set to perfect the sweep.

While every player had big moments in the game against UGA, both Stavnetchei and senior outside hitter Teegan Van Gunst led the attacking charge for the Jackets, tallying 10 and 14 kills, respectively, the two highest totals for Tech and tying a career high for the former.

Additionally, freshman middle blocker Kodie Comby had an outstanding match, registering 8 kills along with 3 block assists. This effort led to Comby being named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Freshman of the Week, the first ever Jacket to receive the award.

The Jackets looked aggressive up front against UGA, something that seemed to be lacking in the first two matches. In the middle of the first set, both outside hitters served up a spectacular string of spikes but were unable to convert those efforts into points.

This effort, though, sat well with the Jackets, as it sparked much more aggression from the rest of the team, sometimes too much for their own good.

“We can be really athletic sometimes and over-jump while blocking, which can make [it] really easy for the other team to score … We just have to make sure that … we can control where the balls go after hitting our hands and not our arms.”

Early-season miscommunications and follies are inevitable, particularly with new members joining the team and young players adjusting to collegiate volleyball. With a long road ahead, head coach Michelle Collier and her assistants will undoubtedly address these issues.

The Jackets have one more tournament this weekend — the Coastal Carolina Tournament in Conway, S.C., versus North Florida and Coastal Carolina on Sep. 16–17 — before opening up ACC play against the Pittsburgh Panthers on Sep. 23.

The team will hope to repeat the offensive and defensive dominance they showed last Friday against the Bulldogs.

This weekend’s games and all games are broadcast on ACC Network Extra. Tech returns home to O’Keefe Gym on Friday, Sep. 30, as the Jackets take on the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels in their ACC home opener.

From Sep. 9–11, the Tech golf team competed at the Carpet Capital Invitational in Rocky Face, Ga. For the fourth straight year, the Jackets were able to claim the individual title. Freshman Luke Schniederjans won the tournament with a score of -11 through three rounds.

The Powder Springs, Ga., native’s strong performance started on Saturday when he hit a six-under 66, launching himself into a tie for the lead. It ended on Sunday, his two-under 70 on the tournament’s final day enough for him to break a tie with Auburn redshirt senior Ryan Benton.

Schniederjans’ brother, Ollie, won the tournament two straight years in 2013 and 2014, beginning the streak that his younger brother carries on.

Unfortunately for Tech, Schniederjans’ success did not count towards the team’s, due to his classification.

14 teams attended the tournament, with each contributing five golfers to be counted towards their team’s score. Players not selected towards their college’s delegation could nevertheless compete at the tournament; however, their scores wouldn’t count towards their teams’ rankings.

This was the case for Schniederjans, who outplayed his fellow Jackets despite not being chosen to represent Tech. His success may have been in part due to his familiarity with the course, as he later told ramblinwreck.com.

“I played a high school tournament two or three times [on this course], so that helped me,” Schniederjans said after the third day’s conclusion.

The five golfers who did compete for the scored Tech team were junior James Clark, senior Michael Hines, sophomore Tyler Joiner, freshman Andy Ogletree and junior Chris Petefish.

The team as a whole finished tied for 5th overall with a total score of -8. The biggest problem that prevented the Jackets from grabbing a higher spot was an extremely sluggish start for the first two days. After the second day, the Jackets were sitting in 10th place with a score of +5.

However, behind the strong performances of Clark and Hines, the team managed to put up a -13 final round, catapulting themselves up in the rankings. With two ACC teams beating Tech at this event in Virginia (1st with a score of -31) and Clemson (3rd with a score of -16), the Jackets will have to look to improve greatly this fall if they want to be competitive in the spring.

Individually, the Jackets that competed as a team showed highly variable individual performances. On one hand were Clark and Hines, both of whom finished under par and tied for 11th and 18th, respectively. On the other hand were Ogletree and Petefish, both finishing above par and far down the leaderboard.

For a player like Ogletree, a true freshman, this could be chalked up to nerves or lack of experience. But for an athlete like Petefish, who is a junior who led the team in many events last year, this is a disappointing start.

The good news for Tech’s team, though, is that Schniederjans came through. Entering this tournament, his ability to adapt to the high level of collegiate competition was unknown. He was not ranked as high nationally as his teammates and fellow freshmen Ogletree and Tyler Strafaci. However, given the opportunity to play in an early-season tournament, he took full advantage.

Tech will compete in the Maui Jim Invitational from Sep. 23–25. This event will include different teams and will allow Tech to test itself against teams that it wouldn’t usually face until the postseason. It will be interesting to see how talented freshmen like Schniederjans mesh with the team moving forward.

As this summer’s TV seasons start winding down, it is time to turn attention to the upcoming fall roster. With a wide variety of incoming new shows, viewers can weed through new pilots while treasuring premieres of renewed favorites. An interesting trend for the approaching months is time-travel. Though it is not a new plot line in the science-fiction genre, its resurgence is fascinating.

With cult followings, timeless classics, such as “Doctor Who” and “Fringe”, have explored time travel for years. Recent shows that delve into the time-travel pool include “The Flash,” “Legends of Tomorrow” and “Continuum.” The success of the aforementioned “Flash,” “Legends” and long-running “Doctor Who,” which has had multiple surges of interest over the years, might have contributed to three major networks developing shows in the time-travel category.

In the fall, audiences can look forward to new shows from ABC, NBC and FOX. From executive producer Kevin Williamson (“The Vampire Diaries”), “Time after Time” is an ABC show that follows the science fiction author H.G. Wells (Freddie Stroma, “Pitch Perfect”) as he travels to present-day Manhattan pursuing Jack the Ripper, an infamous serial killer from the 1800s. The show is based on Karl Alexander‘s novel and will premiere mid-season.

Similar use of a time machine to change history is the plot of NBC’s new show “Timeless,” which will air Oct. 3. Criminal Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic, “Pan-Am”) steals a time machine to rewrite history, such as the Hindenburg explosion. A scientist (Malcolm Barrett, “Better Off Ted”), a history professor (Abigail Spencer, “Cowboys and Aliens”), and a soldier (Matt Lanter, “90210”) use a prototype of the time machine to follow Flynn back in time. The  unlikely team tries to foil Flynn’s plan of forever changing the history of the world.

FOX’s take on the time-travelling theme falls into the comedy genre. From Director Jared Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite”), “Making History” will join “Time after Time” as a midseason premiere. A computer science professor (Adam Pally, “The Mindy Project”) travels to the 1700s. He establishes a better life for himself than his modern one and dates Paul Revere’s daughter (Leighton Meester, “Gossip Girl”). Since his actions are changing history, such as Paul Revere’s famous ride, he enlists his friend, a history professor (Yassir Lester, “Girls”) to go to revolutionary times. The trio navigates through history and the complications of time travel together.

Hopefully, the three different premises will set the shows apart, despite their common theme of time travel. With heightening interest in science fiction tales, the popularity of the topic of time travel has grown but may have reached its peak. Current technological advances, specifically in animation, will make it interesting to see the varied portrayal of time travel and the events of the past brought to life again, from the Hindenburg in “Timeless” to the revolution bound to occur in “Making History.”

To get it out of the way early: no, “In the Heights” is not “Hamilton,” but there are two important caveats, in case that statement causes any disinterest.

First, unlike its newer and more topical sibling, a non-New Yorker who would prefer to buy food for a month can experience “In the Heights” with little to no hardship involved. Second, “In the Heights” is just as adept at convincing viewers to care about stories they had seldom, if ever, considered. Similarities abound in the stories themselves, including their execution.

The story, for its part, manages to be both universally relatable and unabashedly about the Hispanic immigrant’s experience in New York. This duality is almost certainly the point, but any meta-commentary on the theatergoing community comes second to the captivating group of characters.

Usnavi, an orphaned young man, who runs a corner grocery, dreams of both the Dominican Republic of his roots and the girl who works across the street. Vanessa, the girl in question, is trapped in the barrio, working a menial job but longs to be Downtown and away from her alcoholic mother. The neighborhood’s mother figure, Abuela Claudia, acts as the resident metaphor for enjoying simpler pleasures of a bygone era. Nina, who at the beginning of the show has returned from her first year at Stanford, possesses a secret that puts her at odds with her parents.

Moments of emotional heaviness interplay deftly with comic relief by characters such as Sonny and Graffiti Pete — who is also an adept breakdancer — and Piragua Guy, who offers a real shaved ice to a lucky audience member in the front row.

The cast all bear uncanny auditory likenesses to their predecessors in the original Broadway cast. When Diego Klock-Pérez begins the opening number as Usnavi, muted gasps can be heard scattered throughout the audience, as though Lin-Manuel himself is somehow onstage. All of the main actresses are similarly gifted, though Klock-Pérez is most obviously trying to channel another actor’s interpretation. Since Klock-Pérez is both as charming as Miranda and arguably a better singer, the strategy pays off.

The company obviously benefitted from shifting up to a larger stage from the Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville, which offered an appropriate intimacy but lacked enough room for the choreography that makes songs like “96,000” so impressive to watch.

The Rialto’s lighting effects are equally impressive, with smooth transitions and a smart setup that occasionally casts the ensemble’s shadows off the sides of the stage and onto the walls. This effect extends the undeniable kinetic energy into the audience. The stage pieces themselves are remarkably detailed with clever elements that fold out to reveal the interiors of shops and businesses.

Miranda’s music shines, as one seeing the show in a post-“Hamilton” world would expect. “In the Heights” and “96,000,” songs’ incorporation of hip-hop elements will garner comparisons to the “Cabinet Battle” songs. While they are far less technically impressive, these two songs accomplish an entirely different feat of switching languages within a matter of seconds.

The intimate knowledge of rhyming and rhythmic structures, which make Hamilton so engaging to listen to, are present in its earlier cousin, applied to fewer SAT words and more rhyming interpolations of languages (“and after mañana, mi pana/ya gotta just keep watchin’”).

Perhaps as a testimony to the broader, ensemble-focused nature of “Heights,” relatively minor characters such as Abuela Claudia and Nina’s parents get their own songs and chances to relay different perspectives of the same events. The showstoppers are undeniably the songs in which the entire company is contributing onstage together. However, individual songs and duets like “When the Sun Goes Down” and “Paciencia y Fe” best showcased the imperfect humanity that Miranda is uncannily good at expressing in words.

Instrumentally, there are prominent influences from boleros and salsa music, often changing in tone and modernity to adapt to the age and background of each character — Vanessa’s songs are fluttery and flirtatious, while older parent figures are bound to more slower tempos and sombre ballroom pieces.

Boleros and salsa music are prominent influences of the soundtrack. Oddly enough, the early-2000s pop and Broadway hybrid sounds uncannily like moments from “High School Musical” in its best form. The “hydrants are open” melody from “Finale” is extraordinarily beautiful and reminiscent of “Everyday” from “High School Musical 2”.

It is the audience of “High School Musical” that  ideally might enjoy  “In the Heights” the most. The adult jokes that are present will fly over children’s heads. If the premise does not deter an adult from attending, the musical does not contain anything more radical or progressive to be “offended” by.

Millennials, however, will understand Nina’s frantic worries about college in “Breathe” all too well, just as they will identify with Usnavi’s anxious word-vomit around Vanessa. In a
relatable way, almost every character desires to “get out” and be
in a romanticized place where they belong.

With long overdue representation, Hispanic millennials may have the most personal experience with “In the Heights,” but the overarching theme of joy and gratitude in the face of hardship speaks to all audiences.

“In the Heights” will be playing at the Rialto through Sep. 18. Tickets start at $20. The Rialto Center for the Arts is only a short walk or drive from campus, across from Woodruff Park.

“Narcos” had a lot to live up to with its second offering. Though this season’s fortes are vary widely from those of its predecessor, it delivers another helping of gripping crime drama. Wagner Moura (“Elite Squad”) once again steals the show with his stellar — albeit Brazilian — portrayal of Pablo Escobar.

However, the show takes a different attitude towards Escobar as a human. By portraying the drug lord physically and mentally on the run from the authorities for the majority of the 10 new episodes, the show breaks away from the ever-present antagonizing attitude of him that was mostly shown in its first season. By the last quarter of season two, it is hard not to feel a twinge of sympathy for the lonely and seemingly resigned version of Escobar.

If the first season of Narcos was an illustration of Escobar’s rise to power, this one portrays his rapid descent. In this season, harboring frustration and even anger towards the authorities’ single-minded obsession with catching Escobar is easier.

The depiction of the hunt for Escobar shows their blindness to other issues that should have had priority, such as investigating the Cali cartel. Both the Colombian and American authorities working toward his capture are shown to have immense flaws in both judgment and methodology.

Another welcome departure from the first season was the dialing back of the almost incessant narration by D.E.A. Agent Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook, “Gone Girl”). Holbrook’s narration works better as an expository tool this time, mainly due to its sparing usage.

In addition, the series always felt at its most authentic when it narrows the viewpoint to that of a member of Pablo’s entourage or family. This season capitalizes on that strength by closely following the plight of Pablo’s mother, wife and children, and it manages to keep their lengthy stay in a hotel room intriguing.

Unfortunately, the strong writing found in those scenes is counterbalanced by some hasty lines delivered near the beginning of the season by members of the American authorities. The corniness found in some dialogue suggests that the show is a broadcast television feel-good family show, rather than the crime drama it is.

One of the main consequences of this season’s arc is that the Cali cartel, which was clearly set up to be the next season’s antagonist, is allowed to consolidate resources and power for itself. One of the closing scenes implies that season three of “Narcos” may focus on D.E.A. agent Javier Peña (Pedro Pascal, “Game of Thrones”) and his quest to ensnare Cali cartel boss Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela (Damián Alcázar, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”).

If “Narcos” takes this direction in the future, director Andrés Baiz (“The Hidden Face”) will face the challenge of making that story more compelling than what has already been told through the lens of Escobar’s ascension and subsequent fall.

Let’s quit playing games. It’s time that Hillary Clinton was forthcoming about her health.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist, nor a jaded conservative who believes that voting for the Clintons is tantamount to electing Frank Underwood as my representative. I am a left-leaning millennial, one who will likely cast his ballot for former Secretary Clinton.

But I also think we have the right to know who we’re electing, and if that person, should he or she be elected, is physically able the fulfill the duties of our nation’s highest office.

Rumors about Clinton’s health have dogged her for a while now. But for the most part, they have appeared to be more the invention of angry Republicans than legitimate questions of her fitness to serve. But her sudden, stumbling exit from a 9/11 memorial service and the hours that followed provided legs to those concerns.

Her reaction was, unfortunately, emblematic of the way she has handled many of the controversies she has faced along the campaign path. Her entourage drove her to her daughter’s apartment, where she spent a few hours and made a brief public appearance afterwards. Soon, the Clinton campaign was admitting that the former secretary of state had been diagnosed with pneumonia a few days before.

I’m not particularly concerned that Clinton has pneumonia; it’s hardly life-threatening, especially when treated by the world-class doctors that come with the territory of being a major presidential candidate. But the fact that she refused to disclose this ailment, all the while attending a major ceremony and coming into contact with dozens of people, is jarring.

So I’m asking Hillary Clinton to be honest with the American electorate about the health conditions she has, whatever they may be. At this point, some Clinton supporters might exclaim, “Well, Trump hasn’t even given us specific test results or, frankly, a legitimate-looking doctor’s letter. Why should we expect Clinton do offer anything more than she has already done?”

If that’s your viewpoint, I cannot blame you for it. But these whataboutisms, insistence that Trump abide by Clinton’s standards or vice versa, help no one. They just provide justification to deprive us of information about both candidates. My hope is that before November rolls around, we get a better understanding of how healthy Mr. Trump is. Seeing that he is yet to release his tax returns, a promise he made in the heat of the fabricated Obama birther controversy, I’m not optimistic.

However, Secretary Clinton has an opportunity to break her silence by explaining what befell her at the memorial service, the coughing fits that preceded it and perhaps even answer some questions from the media. Not only that, she can begin to repair the image of opacity that has frustrated voters who dislike Trump but cannot put faith her.

The experience that introduced me to American politics in earnest was Aaron Sorkin’s epic “The West Wing.” President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet, the show’s fiery protagonist, secretly labors under the strains of multiple sclerosis until its symptoms are too obvious to conceal. The result is a national scandal, threats of impeachment and embarrassment to the office. If Clinton carries hidden ailments into office, the subsequent repercussions will make Bartlet’s tribulations look enviable.

Just as Donald Trump has no constitutional obligation to release his tax returns, Hillary Clinton has none to explain her medical state. But both can change the narratives surrounding their campaigns should they do so, particularly Clinton; an unscripted media appearance would help her campaign go a long way towards putting this latest scandal in the past and returning to critiques of Mr. Trump’s nebulous policies and dubious personal details.