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Eric Pfeiffer
February 12, 2025
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Parents that truly get along after a divorce is a rare thing. But it's something pop singer Ariana Grande made clear to her parents Joan Grande, 67, and Edward Butera, 66, was important to her coming into young adulthood. The Wicked actress, 31, explained to podcast host Marc Maron during an interview on his WTF with Marc Maron podcast how she reunited her parents after 18 years of not getting along following their divorce.
During the episode that aired on Monday, Feb. 10, Grande explained that she came to her parents in 2017 right before her 24th birthday. "They’re not together, but they’re best friends," she said. "It took 18 years and it took me forcing it. I forced them to communicate again. I really did."
The longer I'm alive, it seems the more people's names that I have to remember. With two kids in school, sports, and other activities, I find myself trying to keep track of dozens of different friends, teammates, siblings, coaches, teachers, and of course, parents. It makes my brain hurt! Lately I've had half a mind to start a spreadsheet so I can start remembering Who's Who.
In order for that to work, I've got to find a way to stop people's names leaving my head immediately after I'm introduced. I know I'm not the only one who does this. It's like people say their name and it just zips right into one ear and out the other! And for that, I went looking for tips when I stumbled upon a good one from a unique sort of expert.
In 1963, Dr. Maurice Hilleman’s daughter, Jeryl Lynn, was sick. She was infected with MuV, a very contagious virus that causes swelling and inflammation of various glands and body parts. If left untreated could possibly cause deafness, pancreatitis, and, in rare cases, sterility. Using his training and experience, Hilleman rubbed a cotton swab in his own child’s throat to isolate the MuV to see if he could discover a way for others to develop an immunity to this damaging viral disease. He succeeded. Jeryl Lynn recovered on her own, fortunately, but would comfort her baby sister, Kirsten, in 1966 when her father administered a shot of the preventative treatment.
In 1967, Hilleman’s treatment was approved and widely recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Thanks to this treatment, infections of MuV in the United States went from an average of 162,000 cases per year in the 20th century down to only 429 cases recorded in 2023. Hilleman’s work has saved and preserved the health of millions over the last 50-plus years. In fact, the now-called “Jeryl Lynn strain” of the treatment is still being used today. The treatment was a vaccine, recommended to be given to babies and young children. You likely heard of MuV by its more common name: the mumps.
When we think of badass, alt rock icons of the 90s, few are as singular and unique as Dolores O’Riordan, who gave The Cranberries its signature sound, and who was once described as having "the voice of a saint trapped in a glass harp.”
It wasn’t just that O’Riordan flawlessly blended traditional Celtic singing techniques like lilting and keening into rock music (which in itself is an amazing feat) but that her performances never compromised emotional authenticity for the sake of aesthetics. The result, as any fan will tell you, was something both ethereal and raw all at the same time.