We are one month in to 2026 and somehow it feels like it’s already been a full year since Christmas. Although it has been dry and mild weather here in the Northwest, it’s still cold enough that pop culture has been consumed – to keep us warm inside, and to escape from what’s going in the world. Here’s a few things that have given me a much needed break this month.

Reading

I’m trying out StoryGraph this year, if you’ve moved over from Goodreads, let’s be friends!

As usual I am off to a slow start this year – but I did read Everyone is Lying to You at the end of the year and I loved it! It’s a mystery about a MAHA Influencer who goes missing and it was a perfect end of year mystery/influencer commentary/with a bit of religious culty-ness! If you spent the holidays (or let’s be honest – yesterday) doom scrolling, this is the book for you!

I loved My Sister the Serial Killer a few years back, and had eagerly anticipated the authors new book. Cursed Daughters was so great I emailed a former client (who I knew loved her first book) and told her to get it ASAP. It’s a beautiful multi-generational story about a family of women who, yes, are cursed to never have love. I had a hard time putting it down once I got into it.

I also listened to Dinner for Vampires – after multiple friends told me it was great. And it absolutely filled my celebrity cult bucket! On the other end of cult stories, I read a great graphic novel, Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me. I knew nothing about the Mitford sisters before reading this but it was a fascinating story about a family of sisters at the turn of the 19th century who go in drastically different directions throughout their lives – from Resistance to Hitler’s confidant. It was a good time for this story to be told.

Listening

I can’t get enough of Good Hang with Amy Poehler! Sure the podcast category at the Golden Globes was dumb, but YES she deserved to win it (and honestly, Will Arnett is fine, but her beating her ex husband was admittedly VERY satisfying to watch.)

I just finished listening to A Very British Cult and it was fine… maybe I needed to pay better attention but it didn’t feel like it stuck the landing.

My morning podcast routine is The Headlines from NYT, then What a Day, if The Daily is a good topic (rarely – or I’ve gotten enough on it) I’ll listen to that. I really like Alex Wagner so have been listening to some Runaway Country episodes too. If there’s a new Good Hang that’s going to get started on a dog walk for sure. Occasionally I’ll listen to Late Night with Seth Meyers for the Closer Look segment (rarely the interview), few and far between I’ll listen to Pod Save America, and I always keep an eye on Think Out Loud and OPB Politics Now.

Watching

I am now starting my sixth year of tracking everything I watch in a spreadsheet. At some point I really should talk to an app developer and turn this into the next Storygraph, but for now, we have a google sheet.

I did a much needed rewatch of Schitts Creek over the holidays and to start the new year. I am trying to decide my next rewatch binge and leaning towards The Good Place since it’s been a minute. What comfort shows are you watching?

I am so happy that my favorite British comfort show is back, All Creatures Great and Small. It is so lovely and kind and nice to watch. I am also thrilled that The Pitt is back for Season 2! It’s off to a great start, and I am excited for Dr. Robby’s sabbatical, he clearly deserves it.

The Beast Within was so good and creepy and fantastic. Matthew Rhys doesn’t play creepy dudes enough and I wish he would. Claire Danes spiralling is ALWAYS a good time (side quest – she was great on Good Hang!) Marcello Hernandez: American Boy was so funny, and so great, a perfect weekend comedy special.

I also watched a movie (I know!) on a quick weekend trip with friends to the coast. I have had Twinless on my to watch list for a while and we finally watched it. It was so great, very funny, set in Portland and also kind of sweet. We also watched Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart and it was really good, and a great story told from Elizabeth and her family’s perspectives which we haven’t really heard like this before. Check that your windows are locked folks.

Okay, that’s the pop culture that got me through January, what pop culture is helping you start 2026 off well? What are you excited for this year?

Welcome to the end of the year, where I share my top 10 list from all the pop culture I’ve consumed over the year. This year I watched too much TV, listened to some great podcasts, and read a few great books! Here’s my favorites to share with you as we wrap up 2025. Make sure to share your favorites in the comments!

Hush – I will read and listen to anything that Leah Sottile creates. Her latest season of the podcast Hush was another epic installment in “true crime that’s really journalists doing good journalism”. This would be a great travel binge podcast this holiday season.

Good Hang with Amy Poehler – Please don’t make me pick a favorite episode so far. Amy is such a fun and down to earth interviewer and her guests have all been incredible. I have always wanted to be friends with Amy Poehler and this podcast further cements that.

What Kind of Paradise – I can’t stop thinking about this book I read two months ago. What if the Unibomber had a child that he raised in the woods and then life happens and you hear her story in flashbacks? I had heard good things, but this was even better than I expected.

Careless People – I had no interest in reading the book about how terrible Facebook is, but a friend told me it reads like a novel and is super fast paced. Accurate, I forgot sometimes these are real people, not characters that I hate even more than I did before. If you are concerned about social media and the future of tech, don’t skip this. Also, listen to the audiobook on this one- the author is from New Zealand…

The God of the Woods – I read this at the beginning of the year and it was intense and riveting. I don’t always like people who mysteriously disappear or kids being taken, but this story was something else. Every time I see someone is reading this book I get excited for them to experience it.

And So It Goes – Did I think I needed a two part documentary about Billy Joel this summer? No, I didn’t. But was it incredible and did I learn a lot and enjoy every minute of it? YES I did! This would be a great holiday watch with family of all ages…

The Pitt – Like the rest of the world, we jumped on the bandwagon and loved the first season. I didn’t realize I needed Noah Wyle to be a doctor at every stage of my life (and his), but I guess I do. And we’re all luckier for it. Also the healthcare system in our country is an abomination, but you knew that.

Platonic – Seth Rogan is super annoying, and so I started and stopped (and started) again with The Studio when it came out. But then I remembered that Rose Byrne is a comedic genius and we don’t appreciate her enough, so I gave Platonic a shot and I binged the first season in two days. You will too. But maybe not in front of your kids or grandparents.

Death by Lightning – When I saw that Nick Offerman was going to be in a historical drama about the death of President Garfield I thought it might be interesting and I’d get around to it at some point. It started getting great buzz when it came out so we tried it out, and it was great! I wish there were more historical dramas like this – fast paced and easily digestible – to teach me about more presidents (we tried the Ken Burns doc and made it a half hour, not quite my speed…)

Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music – 2025 started off as the year of the SNL 50th anniversary. With so many specials and events dedicated to the history of the show, this Questlove produced documentary about the music of SNL is far and away the best thing to come out of the celebration. I will turn on that opening montage and immediately transferred to a very happy place.

It was a wild year and a lot of sad, scary, and hard things happened for many of our friends, families, and neighbors. These were a few things that helped me escape, find respite, and recharge to continue the work. What pop culture helped you get through 2025? What are you excited for in 2026?

I always look forward to November as a bonus pop culture consumption month, and although I didn’t read much this month, I did watch a lot of holiday movies over the long weekend and consumed some great pop culture to help you get through the end of the year…

Reading

I have one book left to make my goal for the year of reading 40 books. I’ll make that goal this month, somehow… November wasn’t a great reading month for me – quantity wise, but it was great QUALITY wise. A few people online recommended Awake by Jen Hatmaker, which I hadn’t really though I’d be interested in. I was wrong, it’s incredible. Hatmaker is a well known Christian author and pastor’s wife who discovers he’s having an affair, so she gets divorced and continues raising her kids on her own (all through the pandemic). The story is fascinating and if you grew up evangelical (like me), this is one you’ll want to read. I did the audiobook and she was great.

I have had The Compound on my list for a while, and it finally came up at the library (along with 7 other books I wanted to space out over time but here we are…) and it was GREAT! Beautiful people sequestered in a compound and are being filmed for a popular reality series. If you enjoy reality TV (or honestly, if you hate it too) this was a great read.

Listening

I had been waiting for the second season of Hush to build up so I could binge the series, and it was excellent! Leah Sottile and the OPB team did it again. This time it’s an unsolved murder of a girl in Columbia County (within an hour from where I live). If you like true crime, and appreciate good journalism, this story really tells both stories, and why not having local news media is a problem in our country. I loved it (I love everything Leah does!)

I’m almost done with The Preventionist from Serial Productions and it’s really wild, as Serial podcasts tend to be. Ina Garten on Amy Poehler’s pod was my favorite interview this month for sure!

I am also really looking forward to Rachel Maddow’s new pod – Burn Order about what lead to Japanese internment camps during WWII. Okay, “looking forward to” is probably the wrong phrase, but I know I’m going to learn a lot and it’s a story I think we need to hear right now.

Watching

There’s a lot going on in the world, and here in Hillsboro right now, so my TV watching tends towards the light and frivolous. I am always grateful for the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and shows like Loot and Palm Royale. However, we watched Death by Lightening and it was FANTASTIC! It’s only four episodes about the death of President Garfield. The cast is incredible, and the story is one that I didn’t know. I wish there were more easily digestible history lessons like this, we started The American Revolution and I do not have the mental capacity for that series yet..

I watched The Roses on my flight home from Thanksgiving and it was hilarious and exactly what I needed on a plane ride, although my seat mate (husband) wishes I’d watched it at home with how much (and loudly) I laughed. Over the holiday with family I watched a few Christmas movies and A Very Jonas Christmas was exactly the over the top ridiculous holiday movie we needed to kick off the season!

I hope you were able to eat leftover pie for breakfast and binge TV shows, or podcasts, or hide in a closet and read over the holiday weekend. What pop culture are you excited for as we wrap up 2025?