| 1. N.I.H. DIRECTOR WANTS TO END ALL-MALE SCIENTIST PANELS: Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said he would no longer speaker at conferences that don’t show dedication to curating diverse panels. In a statement titled “Time to End the Manel Tradition,” Dr. Collins wrote: “I want to send a clear message of concern: It is time to end the tradition in science of all-male speaking panels.” The New York Times: “‘Starting now,’ he added, ‘when I consider speaking invitations, I will expect a level playing field, where scientists of all backgrounds are evaluated fairly for speaking opportunities. If that attention to inclusiveness is not evident in the agenda, I will decline to take part. I challenge other scientific leaders across the biomedical enterprise to do the same.’ His announcement was applauded by scientists who have long urged speaker diversity at conferences.” 2. NEW YORK METS OWNERS TO LAUNCH ESPORTS ORGANIZATION: The owners of the Mets have launched New York’s first esports organization, titled Andbox. The organization will operate New York teams in professional video-game leagues focused on two Activision Blizzard Inc. games: Overwatch and Call of Duty. Bloomberg: “It also will bring more gaming-related events to the New York area, and build out a merchandise division starting with apparel. Andbox was launched by Sterling.VC, an early-stage investment fund backed by Sterling Equities—the family office owned by the Wilpon and Katz families. Sterling’s assets include the Mets and Sportsnet New York, a regional sports network.” 3. FIRST DEMOCRATIC DEBATE ANNOUNCES MODERATORS: NBC News has announced Savannah Guthrie, Lester Holt, Chuck Todd, José Díaz-Balart, and Rachel Maddow will be the moderators of the first debate of the Democratic presidential primary. The debate will take place June 26-27 in Miami and will air on NBC, Telemundo, and MSNBC. The New York Times: “With 10 candidates appearing each night, the debate is expected to be crucial in shaping voters’ early perceptions of the field. The inclusion of Ms. Maddow—MSNBC’s biggest star and, save for Sean Hannity of Fox News, the top-rated pundit on cable news—is a wild card of sorts. Her nightly show is a required stop for Democratic presidential contenders, and she is a widely revered figure on the left. But opinion journalists are rarely chosen to interrogate candidates in the formal setting of a debate stage. And network partisanship has proved a thorny issue early in the campaign, after Democratic leaders barred Fox News from hosting any of the party’s debates, calling the channel biased.” 4. WOODSTOCK 50 LOSES VENUE: Woodstock 50 lost its New York site, the Watkins Glen motor racing venue, on Monday. The development is the latest woe for the Woodstock anniversary event, which also lost its investor earlier this year. Organizers say they are looking for a new location for the festival, which is slated to take place August 16-19 with performers including Jay-Z and Miley Cyrus. Reuters: “On Monday, Watkins Glen said in a statement it had ‘terminated the site license for Woodstock pursuant to provisions of the contract. As such, (it) will not be hosting the Woodstock 50 Festival,’ the site owners said in a statement. Watkins Glen did not say why it had decided to pull out. Gregory Peck, one of the organizers of Woodstock 50, said the team behind the festival was ‘in discussions with another venue’ to host the event and looked ‘forward to sharing the new location when tickets go on sale in the coming weeks.’ … Tickets for the festival, expected to attract about 60,000 people, have not gone on sale.” 5. TONY AWARDS OFFER A NIGHT OF HISTORIC WINS: The 73rd annual Tony Awards took place Sunday, with Hadestown scoring eight wins, including best musical, and The Ferryman winning best play. The ceremony, hosted by James Corden at Radio City Music Hall, also saw a number of historic wins. Ali Stoker became the first actor in a wheelchair to win a Tony, winning featured actress in a musical for Oklahoma! CNN: “Rachel Chavkin won the Tony for best director of a musical for Hadestown as the only female nominated in that category this year and Elaine May won her first ever Tony Award for best leading actress for her role in The Waverly Gallery. … CNN caught up with Corden earlier in the week to discuss his hosting duties, and he revealed that, believe it or not, he gets incredibly nervous. ‘I get nerves to an almost crippling degree,’ he said. ‘I actually went to see someone about it at one point because it was getting to a point where I was so nervous, it was unmanageable.’” | 