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May Pop Culture Round Up

05.30.2025 by Elizabeth // 1 Comment

The weather is finally starting to show some more consistent signs of summer around the Pacific Northwest and after a PERFECT weekend at the coast with the pups for Memorial Day weekend we are back at it for the summer! Here’s a few things I enjoyed in May…

Reading

The new Emily Henry book arrived while I was on vacation and I devoured it one warm weekend. Great Big Beautiful Life is maybe my new favorite of hers. I really enjoyed the flashbacks from the story she was learning. If you enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo this is for you. Also that is NOT a spoiler, when I saw that comparison I was mad, but it’s simply in the “main character goes to write a sweeping celebrity memoir” category. Also SUPER excited for Taylor Jenkins Reid’s new book coming in June!

I have read all four of Marissa Pessl’s books and Darkly was (as always) fantastic! I knew that this was a book I needed to read on vacation where I didn’t have distractions and could just binge through it. I was correct. Pessl’s written two adult novels (Special Topics in Calamity Physics is an all time favorite) and now two YA novels. It’s creepy and a great mystery/puzzle. I highly recommend it for your creepy(ish) summer beach read.

Listening

I continue to be obsessed with Good Hang, and the Philly Justice episode is everything I was hoping for. I don’t watch podcasts because that defeats the purpose, but I did listen to the podcast on our trip back from the beach and and my husband and I then watched the trailer when we got home and it did NOT disappoint. If you’re 1/3 of the Parks & Rec fan that I am you need to be listening to this podcast in general, but specifically this episode.

My brother told me about the newest Christianity Today (stay with me…) series – Devil in the Deep Blue Sea. I listened to the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast from the same person a couple years ago and loved it. This one is about the satanic panic of the 80’s and 90’s. If you grew up going to an evangelical church like I did, this is the podcast for you…

Watching

May is the season of finales. From season finales (Hacks!) to series finales (The Handmaids Tale! Righteous Gemstones!) it was a big month to wrap things up.

The series finale of The Handmaids Tale finally happened. I am glad this “dystopian fiction” show has wrapped up. When I saw that as a descriptor for the episode on Hulu I had to laugh as it is no longer dystopian nor fiction… It wrapped up well and set the stage for The Testaments which is coming in 2026. I probably need more time to process this finale, I am currently fine with it but didn’t love it. I sort of expected it to be similar to the book which is her recounting her experiences in Gilead to a governing council. It was not that, although I think she did that a few seasons ago? Anyway, it wrapped up well and June is safe. I hope Hannah is too.

I binged through the final season of The Righteous Gemstones which I have loved but this final season felt off and the last two episodes were… not my favorite? Baby Billy for life. May also brought us a second season of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives that I didn’t need but absolutely binged just so I could read this power ranking (nailed it).

My family wouldn’t shut up about Chef’s Table: Legends with Jamie Oliver, Jose Andres, Thomas Keller, and Alice Waters. Four episodes, one about each chef, and they were all fantastic. If you like to eat at all, these all tell great stories about four incredibly accomplished chefs. Although…I came away with no need to go to French Laundry. Will be curious what you think.

I have created a long list of shows to binge this summer. I keep forgetting I have access to Disney+ so will see if I can get caught up on a few shows there in the coming months. I still need to watch Moana 2! Maybe when my niece visits in a couple weeks…

What have you enjoyed this spring? What are you excited to read/watch/listen to this summer?

Categories // Pop Culture

April Pop Culture Round Up

04.30.2025 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

I just got back from 10 days in Spain and it was incredible. Between Barcelona and San Sebastian and then back to Barcelona, it was an incredible trip to a gorgeous country – I can’t wait to go back and explore more! This month my pop culture is light since I was busy walking and eating and walking and eating and eating and…

Reading

I finished The Three Lives of Cate Kay at the end of March and it didn’t make last months round up. It was a really good story told well. I like multiple narrators and jumping around in time to tell a story. Once again Reese’s bookclub was right…

I love the journalist Leah Sottile and her new book Blazing Eye Sees All was fascinating! I had watched the Love Has Won documentary last year so was familiar with Mother God, but this book goes so deep into the history of new age studies and the women who lead them. If you like a cult, like I like a cult, you already know who Leah is then 😉

I started listening to the Lorne Michaels Bio Lorne and the narrator makes some interesting vocal decisions (which I’m glad that I’d been warned about by Whitney Matheson’s blog). Still, it’s a LONG audiobook and while I made a good dent on the trip, I’ll have to wait to finish until it returns to my library account. I didn’t read a single book while in Spain. I packed two and didn’t touch them. I tend not to read on international flights – I don’t know why, but it never really jumps at me. While I was gone the new Emily Henry book was delivered so I’ll get that devoured in the next week or two…

Listening

Everything is terrible and every podcast will tell you that on a daily basis if you let them. What’s saving me from all of that? Amy Poehler’s new podcast, Good Hang. It fills the Parks and Rec void in my life and the Kathryn Hahn episode was so fantastic…her talking about who would play her dog in a movie is amazing. I also really enjoyed the Jack Black episode on the painfully bumpy train ride from San Sebastian to Barcelona. They are so funny together and have a such a great friendship.

Watching

I really liked this season of White Lotus, sure the people are insufferable, that’s the point of the show. Parker Posey AND Walt Goggins AND Carrie Coon? I will always say yes to any of them in a show, a trifecta was quite the bonus!

We’re plugging along on Top Chef and The Amazing Race this season. It’s always fun to see where people travel on The Amazing Race and this season they ended up in Kyoto at a palace my husband visited when he was there last year for work, so that was fun (for him, I was home taking care of the dogs…)

I did a rewatch of Hacks for the new season and the show is so incredibly smart and funny and I hate when they fight but they do it so well. I caught up on the train rides and really loving this season and the story line. I also have been watching this final season of The Handmaids Tale. It’s as dark as ever and feels all too real this days, we’ll see how this one ends up. Also, can we talk about how Jonah from Veep absolutely would be the horrible character he is this season?

My binge on the flight was Étoile, I love anything Amy Sherman Palladino does, I wanted this to be more snark like Bunheads but it was a good show to binge on the flight home. I also finally watched Bottoms on the way to Spain and it was HILARIOUS. I’d heard great things and just needed 90 minutes with no distractions. It’s as funny as everyone said it would be, and Marshawn Lynch nails it.

The sun is shining and that means hopefully more time in my backyard reading and playing with Norm and Cliff are in my future…What are you excited for coming up in Pop Culture?

Categories // Pop Culture

March Pop Culture Round Up

03.31.2025 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

March flew right by – I started in Montana catching up with my nephews – playing outside, doing a lot of Legos, puzzles, and teaching the boys how to play Clue. Then a week later I was on a flight to DC for the first time in over 10 years. It was great to be back in the Capitol in my city council capacity and to explore the city that has so much history. Between the flights, some warmer weather, and the beginning of spring, there’s been a lot to keep me going this month – here’s a few of my favorites…

Reading

I listened to Connie Chungs memoir Connie and really enjoyed it. I remember growing up with her on TV and it was fascinating to hear about the vanity and fragility of her fellow anchors, the barriers she broke, the challenges she faced, and some fascinating news and politics she lived through. It was especially interesting given our current political climate.

I picked up a fun rom-com that takes place with the same family from a book I read last year. The Partner Plot was a cute and quick read about high school sweethearts who reconnect 10 years later and the challenges of being settled in your career. A good weekend read.

Listening

Amy Poehler has a new podcast! It’s called Good Hang and so far it’s been GREAT! Tina Fey was obviously a perfect first guest, but I really liked the interview with Martin Short who has always sort of annoyed me. I’m excited to see who’s on upcoming episodes.

I’m still loving Doechii and my family’s playlist when I don’t want to have to think about what to listen to. Now that the sun is out again (hopefully more soon!) I’ll be outside more listening to books, podcasts, and music…

Watching

Running Point is the show we all needed this late winter. Kate Hudson being funny, sports, a family business, and rich people behaving badly. I really enjoyed it and will do a rewatch at some point soon since the last few episodes were watched on the plane (where my seat mate and friend laughed at me for how hard I was laughing a few times).

I remembered last year when the Karen Read trial was happening in Boston and read a few things about it. The new MAX documentary The Trial of Karen Read is crazy in how little work was done to hunt down evidence and believe unreliable witnesses – a great true crime fix. Devil in the Family, the Ruby Franke doc on Hulu was WILD. I had followed this story as it happened (we know how I feel about the behind the scenes of reality tv Mormons), but holy crap she goes off the rails. It’s devastating to watch, I am so glad she and Jodi are in jail. Monsters.

This season of White Lotus is bonkers. Parker Posey is perfect (of course) and Walt Goggins catching up with his bestie Sam Rockwell was a scene you can’t unhear… I’m loving Thailand and can’t wait to see who dies and who stays…

A lot of TV is starting or mid-season right now but I’m excited for the return of The Righteous Gemstones, the new season of The Amazing Race, Top Chef Canada (perfect timing…) and I started The Residence which is very fun.

What pop culture is helping you ease into spring?

Categories // Pop Culture

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