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June Pop Culture Round Up

06.30.2023 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

We’ve been pretty lucky this June – the temperatures have settled into a very comfortable “sit outside and read” for a couple of weeks, and then a bit of June-uary returned to remind us that we DO need the rain around here, even in the summer. Good dog walks mean good listening time for me, the very end of May meant the end of a few TV series that we’ll talk about this month as well…

June 2023 pop culture

Reading

I am ahead of schedule on my reading challenge this year which is making me very happy. I’ve only hit it twice in the 9 years I’ve been tracking with a Goodreads goal…

I listened to two great audiobooks this month which helped. Chasten Buttigieg’s memoir I Have Something to Tell You was wonderful. I was hoping he’d be a good storyteller and he is! His stories about growing up in the midwest and his relationship with Mayor Pete are really great and make me like Chasten even more (even if he pronounces GIF wrong…) I had seen a bunch of comedians I like promote Jena Friedman’s Not Funny and oh my gosh it was SO funny! On multiple dog walks I found myself laughing louder than I should have. Friedman is a comedian and has written on a few late night shows over the years. If you’re a comedy fan, and like some behind the scenes insight, this was great.

I finally got Romantic Comedy from the library which I had on my list for a while and heard great things about. It was very fun. It takes place behind the scenes of an SNL type late night show, and they do more details than I needed as someone who watched all of 30 Rock but that’s my only complaint. I was surprised the book takes place during the pandemic but it works well in the story as a plot device.

We’re heading out of town for our 20th anniversary and I have a few books packed to take with, we’ll see what I get through between vacation and the 4th of July holiday…

Listening

There’s a new Foo Fighters album that is really wonderful, and a new Jonas Brothers album (The Album) that is a BOP at 32 minutes. While I write this today I am listening to Odelay, my favorite Beck album that holds up years later.

I really appreciated Offline‘s Social Media Challenge over the past month. Jon Favreau and Max Fisher did different challenges to reduce their social media intake each week and it helped remind me of how many times in a day I pick up my phone instead of interacting, or finishing a chapter of a book….

Rachel Maddow has a new podcast Deja News and it is really good if you like her storytelling style (which, no big surprise – I do!) There’s also a new season of Slow Burn about Clarence Thomas and it turns out he’s been a bad dude for a very long time. There’s only four episodes and they’re all out. If you are my age-ish and lived through the hearings but don’t really remember it, this was helpful to learn just how long we’ve known he’s a bad dude (and reminder that women who come forward are usually harassed for it.) We’re still in a writers strike, but the Late Night with Seth Meyers Podcast has had some great episodes lately trying to fill that gap.

Watching

I talked about the Succession finale in last months round up but that Ted Lasso finale will stick with me for a while. It wasn’t a great final season, but I think they did a great job of wrapping up the story lines and giving many of our characters a happy ending, or at least the ending they deserve (Willis…)

The latest season of Top Chef wrapped up this month and I am so sad that Padma is leaving the show. I didn’t want the winner to win, but wasn’t surprised. I really didn’t like the flash forward storytelling device in the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, was it just me? I am so sad that Never Have I Ever ended, but that final season was so sweet and funny and wonderful. I think this will be on my regular rewatch rotation.

The Shiny Happy People documentary was upsetting and not surprising and exactly what’d I’d expect people (men) in fundamentalist cults to do. If you watched 19 Kids and Counting you need to watch this. And if you didn’t, you may also need to watch this…

I am loving this season of The Other Two and the new season of The Righteous Gemstones arrived just in time for the summer comedy I needed. My “to watch” list is long – White House Plumbers, The Mandalorian, the new season of Perry Mason, what shows are on your “crap I still need to watch that” list?

The summer is young and the book stack is TALL. I’m excited for a few road trips and warm afternoons to sit outside and read or walk a dog with a podcast or audiobook in my ears. I’m also ridiculously excited for the Barbie movie to come out! What pop culture are you enjoying this summer? What are you excited for to still come out this summer?

Categories // Pop Culture

May Pop Culture Round Up

05.31.2023 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

We went from winter straight in to summer here in the Northwest. For those of us (including me) who enjoy reading outside more than inside, the jump was welcomed for the most part (I mean, a week or two of spring wouldn’t have been the worst thing…) The pups are also enjoying more time outside (big surprise.) Here’s a few things I’ve been enjoying indoors, outdoors and while on dog walks and driving around town…

May pop culture round up

Reading

The best book I’ve read so far this year is Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. It was a beautiful and wonderful book. From childhood friends to famous video game designers this story is not what I expected and I will be thinking about it and talking about it for a while.

My second favorite book of the year was next up on my stack – Lessons in Chemistry. I knew I would love this book, and knowing that Brie Larson will play Elizabeth Zott in an Apple TV series makes me VERY happy. This was a funny and smart read, as I told a friend – don’t judge this book by it’s cover, this is NOT the chick-lit you think it is. I promise.

I am loving Samantha Irby’s new book Quietly Hostile, which I thought was called Quiet Hostility (both work TBH…) It is hilarious and fantastic and I love her writing.

Watching

A lot of shows are starting, deep in their seasons or finally wrapping up their series. I’ll probably write more about Ted Lasso’s final season next month since it just came out today. I have been doing a rewatch of season 3 leading up to the finale and I will say that’s worth doing…

I did however watch the Succession finale on my flight home this holiday weekend and it did a great job of wrapping up the show while leaving everyone as miserable as they deserve to be. What a horrible group of people. Also, why was that funeral episode so exhausting? I watched it TWICE and could barely stay awake either time. Maybe I shouldn’t watch it on Sunday nights or maybe it wasn’t great?

I really enjoyed The Power, it was a great book a few years ago and the series did it justice. It’s so smart and terrifying and in the moment. If you’re missing (that might be the wrong word…) The Handmaids Tale, check this out. We also really enjoyed the second season of BelAir on Peacock. It’s a smart modern dramatic take on The Fresh Prince and it really works…

We finally wrapped up watching Searching for Mexico with Eva Longoria. It’s not as good as Stanley Tucci’s Italy version, BUT there are SO MANY TACOS. Just a fair warning, you will want tacos when you watch this.

I waited to binge Schmigadoon‘s second season and I’m glad I did – it was so much fun, but a much better binge. The Sweeny Todd/Annie mashup was something I could never have imagined I needed in my life. And yes, I did cry at that finale.

Categories // Pop Culture

April Pop Culture Round Up

04.28.2023 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

It’s happening – we’re finally getting some warm vitamin D and dry weather here in Oregon! HOOORAY!

What a wet and cold April it has been! Great for binging TV and listening to podcasts and audiobooks while on cold and wet dog walks, but I am ready to sit outside all afternoon and read while throwing the ball for Norm & Cliff. Here’s what got me through April (besides the return of baseball!), can’t wait to hear what you found helpful this month!

Reading

I finally finished The Authenticity Project which I started back in January on vacation. It was such a sweet and kind book, but the writing style it made it easy to pick up and put down. I finally finished reading this book on a rainy weekend, and it was delightful.

If I could have Amber Ruffin read every book to me with her commentary I would love that. I was excited when The World Record Book of Racist Stories showed up on my audiobook feed. It was again devastating and hilarious, I highly recommend reading You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism first if you haven’t yet.

I am almost finished with Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and it is incredible. My friend Bronwyn recently wrote about it in her newsletter and I knew it was finally time, and she was (as always) correct! (FYI she and I have very similar pop culture taste if you are looking for more recs – subscribe!)

Listening

A recent episode of Think Out Loud about elk (yes the animal) on the Oregon coast was fascinating, and terrifying if you have a summer vacation planned there with your dogs…

Offline with Jon Favreau has had some great interviews lately, especially “How the Internet is Radicalizing Young Men.”

Between Into It and Vibe Check I feel like I understand the pending Writers Guild strike better, and a lot of other news. The Guide to Spoiler Culture episode of Into It should be required listening if you complain about people spoiling shows on social media.

Watching

If you’ve read this blog for a while then you know that The Americans is one of my all time favorite shows. when I saw that Keri Russell was returning for a new political TV show, I couldn’t wait and devoured it in 4 days. The Diplomat had everything I wanted in a Keri Russell politics show (except enough episodes – I needed way more than 8!) If you miss The West Wing this show was created by a former WW writer and has an incredible cast and a captivating story. Let me know when you’ve finished, so much to discuss!

Food AND travel shows are always a hit around here. We’re enjoying this season of Top Chef and all the international chefs and inspiration they bring. We’re also enjoying Eva Longoria’s Searching for Mexico on CNN. A favorite Top Chef alum, Kristin Kish, had a great 4 episode series on Disney+, Restaurants at the End of the World. Now I want to go to an island off Norway inhabited with polar bears and walrus!

I loved the book The Power and the series on Amazon is equally fantastic. I can’t figure out what I think about Beef still, I’ve watched two episodes, it is SO DARK I need a minute between each episode. Are you watching it? What do you think?

What pop culture has got you through the rainy cold winter/spring this year?

Categories // Pop Culture

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