???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

(all times CLT)

Netflix hicksploitation doc series Tiger King is back for more, and like its much-abused big cats, we wish it would be put out of its misery. After the first season of the Netflix megahit brought us the story of the most outlandish collection of slack-jawed yokels since the Simpsons’ Cletus, and their systematic exploitation of big cats, Tiger King is here with a second season.

Seriously, Netflix. Move on: And just like the previous season’s disappointment, this one promises to bring more hick-related drama and nothing on the actual harm these idiots do the cats they keep — which was something that was given lip service in season 1. Dear, Netflix. If you want to replicate your quarantine successes, may we recommend more of “The Last Dance” and less of “Tiger Zift.”

⚽ The leagues are finally coming back:

The Egyptian Premier League returns tonight with four matches, the most important of which is Al Ittihad against El Gouna at 8pm. Tomorrow, El Zamalek will face Al Ismaili at 5:30pm, while Al Ahly will host Al Mokawaloon at 8pm.

Some European leagues will return tomorrow with a single match after taking some time off due to World Cup qualifiers. The German League, which starts its new week at 9:30 pm with a match between Augsburg and Bayern Munich. In Spain, Levante will play Atletico Bilbao at 10 pm, at the same time as the important meeting between Monaco and Lille in the French League.

But as usual, Saturday is when it all comes to blows: Gameweek 12 in the English Premier League begins with a match between Leicester City and Chelsea at 2:30pm and ends with Liverpool playing against Arsenal at 7:30pm. In between are six matches, all at 5pm: Watford against Manchester United, Aston Villa against Brighton, Burnley against Crystal Palace, Newcastle against Brentford, Norwich City against Southampton, Wolverhampton against West Ham.

In La Liga, Atletico Madrid and Osasuna will face off at 7:30pm followed by Barcelona who will play against Espanyol at 10pm.

Serie A: Lazio hosts Juventus at 7pm, while Milan goes out to face Fiorentina at 10pm.

Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund will compete against Stuttgart at 4:30pm on Saturday.

In the French League, Paris Saint-Germain faces Nantes at 6pm.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

You may have heard about Macaronita during Sahel season, when they took the beach by storm in Hacienda Red, but they’ve made their way back to Cairo at Street 88 in Palm Hills in Sheikh Zayed. Macaronita serves creamy and delicious fresh pasta dishes that you can’t go wrong with. The two appetizers on their menu are must-trys: M’naire (steakhouse fries with truffle and parmesan) and their cheesy chicken balls. Meanwhile, any pasta lover should indulge in their bacon-shroom pasta with caramelized onion rigatoni, la bomba (chicken mushroom truffle), pink sea (seafood with pink sauce), or their fantastic crunch pesto with smoked almonds. You don’t have to stray too far for dessert — Macaronita serves a chocolate pasta that comes topped with vanilla ice cream.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

(all times CLT)

Ironman 70.3 Egypt is taking place tomorrow in Sahl Hasheesh with the race offering qualifying slots to the 2022 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. The course will start with a swimming race in the Red Sea, followed by biking, and ending with a run on the promenade overlooking the beach.

Uptown Cairo is hosting the Uptown Dreamscapes Exhibition, featuring 17 emerging contemporary artists with the venue offering an LED light display to make the experience more immersive. The exhibit will start today at 7pm and run until Sunday.

An old name in the Egyptian rap scene, El Joker, is playing at the Zamalek Theater tomorrow at 7pm.

Extra Bass Vol 1 is bringing together the best of the underground music scene tomorrow at Family Park. Disco Misr, Al Morabba3, Aziz Maraka, Massar Egbari, and Autostrad are all playing at the music festival.

???? EARS TO THE GROUND-

NPR’s Throughline: “A line from the past to the present.” Hosted by two immigrants with Middle Eastern roots, Rund Abdelfatah from Palestine and Ramtin Arablouei from Iran, the podcast takes trending news pieces (or themes) and dissects them for context and (super interesting) historical background. Throughline offers new narratives around modern day events, often highlighting the history of underrepresented minorities in history. Their episode topics range from vaccines (which was coincidentally released pre-covid in January 2020) all the way to the happenings in Afghanistan, wherein they detail the history of the Taliban and all the politics involved since. More recent episodes discuss the Middle East cultural influence on the 2021 movie Dune (listen, runtime: 44:00), how drones will change the way wars work (listen, runtime: 01:01:00), and an epidemic of nostalgia that has been heightened by the pandemic (listen, runtime: 58:00).

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

It’s the month of biographies: While oldie rock bands often had a reputation for trouble, few did it like Led Zeppelin. In Bob Spitz’s Led Zeppelin: The Biography, he looks at the band’s voyage from the early beginning to worldwide tours. Spitz, who also wrote a biography on the Beatles, has a flair for storytelling and intertwining events with the era’s music.

Meanwhile, fans of the TV show The Office finally have something new to dig into with Welcome to Dunder Mifflin: The Ultimate Oral History of The Office, which uses hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with the cast and creators to tell the behind the scenes story of the one of the most watched shows in the world.

Finally, Will Smith is out with his self-titled autobiography Will that covers his childhood to the start of his acting career with the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air all the way to the international fame he now has in droves. The book was written with Mark Manson, who is known for penning The Subtle Art of Not Giving a [REDACTED].