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November Pop Culture Round Up

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What a wild month November has been! From winning my election (hooray!) to escaping to the coast to celebrate (and sleep!) It’s been a busy month! Before we all head off and unplug for Thanksgiving, I have a great podcast series for the road trip, a great TV series to watch with your parents, and an audiobook suggestion to help you unplug and dream about food.

Reading

I mentioned last month that I didn’t read or listen to a single book in October. It was the first time in forever that I can remember not reading a book. I’m a little slow on the uptick again but I’m getting back into my groove. I started after the election with Stanley Tucci’s new memoir – What I Ate in One Year. It was DELICIOUS. Tucci’s voice is EXACTLY what I wanted to hear after the election as I re-entered reality. The book was a diary of what he ate (and where and with whom) for 2023. If you miss Searching for Italy this will help fill the void.

I was able to unplug and read while we were at the coast for a few days (and sleep, I slept so much it was glorious…) I enjoyed How to End a Love Story which is written by Yulin Kuang who is writing the screenplay for two upcoming Emily Henry books. I think we’re in good hands with her!

Listening

I was born and raised in Oregon and one of the greatest (I thought) stories that happened when I was a kid was bringing the orca from Free Willy to the Oregon Coast Aquarium to “save him” just like the movie. I had no idea what happened to Keiko, but luckily the folks at Serial (always a good podcast series!) were interested enough to create The Good Whale. The story is devastating. I had no idea how sad it would be, but also that so many people cared for this animal and truly wanted what was best for him. The series is perfect for your holiday road trip, older kids would like it too I think. And do NOT skip episode five, it is possibly the best podcast episode I have ever heard.

Watching

I will watch anything that Mike Schur does because he’s a genius. When I saw that Man on the Inside was his show I binged it in a weekend (honestly, if I’d planned better I could have done it in an evening!) Ted Danson is a national treasure and he is perfect as a widower who goes undercover at a retirement home to help figure out who stole something. The characters are wonderful, the story is lovely, and as always you’ll laugh a lot and also think about life more than you’d expect.

I loved the first season of The Diplomat and the second season did not disappoint! Make sure you watch the recap from season one, there’s a lot of names and places and actions that occurred in the first season you’ll be expected to remember. I’m not sure why we only got six episodes this season instead of eight but I’ll take what I can get from Keri Russell and her team!

A few more shows to recommend you catch up on this holiday season…Secret Lives of College Girls is back for a new season and it’s still great! This season of Shrinking is also wonderful, and I totally agree with this review of the show’s MVP of the season. You know I love the Real Housewives, and I am currently in the midst of New York, Salt Lake City and the new season of Beverly Hills just started. Somebody, Somewhere is so wonderful and I’ve talked about it before, this could be a perfect holiday binge watch show… My binge list this week includes Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, My Old Ass, Babes and catching up on the new season of Bad Sisters.

What pop culture are you excited for this holiday season?

October Pop Culture Round Up

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For the first time in as long as I can remember, I didn’t read a single book in October. Also, I have never had an October like this before! Running for office, every day has something new happening and my attention span is SHOT – I can barely focus on a Gilmore Girls rewatch. I did manage to catch a cold at the beginning of the month and read my first People magazine in years – the crossword continues to be a guilty pleasure. I did consume a bit of pop culture this month, here’s what is getting me to election day…

Listening

Last week I was able to get out for Name That Tune at a local watering hole with some friends. It was a great night and the theme was Classics (Pre 1980). I spent the day listening to Steely Dan in preparation and was disappointed they didn’t make an appearance. Who did make the list? Norman Greenbaum, Ziggy Stardust, and Eminem (the whole category was songs he sampled – clever…) It was a fun night, I will be back!

The Wirecutter Show, What a Day, Think Out Loud, The Daily, Pod Save America, Offline, and OPB Politics Now continue to fuel me through this election season. And I find myself turning it off for music or the radio more frequently…

Watching

I finished English Teacher on Hulu last week and it was so funny and smart and raunchier than expected. If you haven’t binged it yet, add that to your to do list on a rainy fall weekend! I just finished the latest season of Only Murders in the Building and the cameos and celebrity appearances were fantastically over the top. Plus – I am in full support of the rumor that Meryl Streep and Martin Short are dating, it’s adorable. Abbott Elementary, Shrinking, and Somebody, Somewhere are back and I couldn’t be happier about it! SNL is back and every single election year cameo is PERFECT!

Earlier this month we watched Will & Harper and it is as wonderful and kind and thoughtful as everyone is telling you. I can’t recommend watching it enough, I even believe it could be a good choice over the holiday with families if they’re SNL fans. Seth Meyers has a new special on HBO Dad Man Walking and I didn’t think a comedy special could be written specifically to my brother and nephews, but here we are. It was hilarious, I will be rewatching it more than once.

After the election we will run away for a few days to unplug and rest. I can’t wait. It will be lots of long walks, ignoring my phone, reading, and binging a few shows. I’m looking forward to it! What are you excited for in November? Any new pop culture you’re looking forward to? I can’t wait for the next season of Bad Sisters, the new season of The Diplomat and the new Marisa Pessl book Darkly.

September Pop Culture Round Up

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With less than 40 days to the election, I don’t know about you but I can’t focus on much besides reality TV and a few podcasts. I did manage to read a book this month, and found some time to decompress with some beautiful people behaving badly…Oh and saw Green Day with my husband on a school night!

Reading

I don’t have a ton of extra time right now, and I can’t focus on much these days but I did find a bit of time over Labor Day to enjoy some time in the backyard reading a book. Very Bad Company was a perfect end of summer read if you like bad people behaving badly. A corporate retreat in Miami leaves one of the executive team members of a tech startup found dead. Each chapter is from a different employee’s point of view which is a story writing style that I often find I enjoy. It was clever, fun, and a great weekend distraction.

Listening

Leah Sottile, my favorite journalist, has a new podcast out called Hush produced by OPB. It’s about a man in Salem, Oregon who was wrongfully sentenced for a murder in the 90’s and then magically had his sentence over turned and he was released a couple of years ago. It has some great twists and turns so far!

At the end of September Think Out Loud did a series on Hanford. You may remember I read The Cassandra this summer which takes place during the height of the Manhattan Project at Hanford, and with my husband’s family from the area I am always fascinating by this. Each interview is about something different, from the past to the present and the future of the region. Speaking of, my incredible grandfather (in-law, but he was absolutely the best grandpa I ever had!) passed away earlier this month at 100 years old. He worked at Hanford until he retired and then he lead tours of the B Reactor for years. I am sad I never got to take a tour with him.

I’m still loving The Wirecutter Show, and the new host of What A Day, although they’re futzing with the format and I hope the settle on it soon. Also, if you liked the Scamanda podcast I recommended a year or two ago, I didn’t realize it was becoming a show on ABC/Hulu until I saw the trailer on You Tube the other day!

Watching

What’s better than the return of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City? A lot of things, but it’s making me happy to have these good time girls back on my TV. I binged right through The Perfect Couple on Netflix a couple of weeks ago and loved all the twists and turns, it was exactly the kind of weekend “beautiful people behaving bad” story I needed.

Multiple people recommended Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter and holy cow it did NOT disappoint. I don’t always love true crime, but this one goes in so many twists and turns you couldn’t have expected. It’s only 2 episodes (about 90 min each) – it was perfect for a plane ride distraction over the weekend.

I finally started Only Murders in the Building and the abundance of riches in the guest stars is ridiculous, and exactly why this show is so fun. I also started English Teacher and I did not expect it to be as hilarious and raunchy as it is – highly recommend (if that’s your thing.)

What pop culture is keeping you going this month? Anything coming up soon that you’re excited for? I’m hoping to watch Nobody Wants This and Will & Harper in the next couple of weeks, and I’m excited to read the new Rumaan Alam and Lianne Moriarty after November 5th, oh and the 50th season of SNL!