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February Pop Culture Round Up

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February sure flew right by didn’t it? It started out freezing and with some snow around here, which is always fun (unless you’re planning to fly to Arizona to see your niece!) We made it (and balanced grapefruits from the garden) and had a great time thawing out in the desert. Now to Billings to see the nephews and hopefully not freeze. BUT the travel and weather have made for some good pop culture consumption this month…

Reading

I finally picked up God of the Woods by Liz Moore and it was just as fantastic as everyone says it is. Trust me on this one, yes it’s about a kid who disappears from a summer camp in 1975 but the mystery and perspectives and timeline jumping made for an incredible read.

I also really enjoyed The Pairing for a fun rom-com while traveling around Europe. It got me excited for San Sebastian when we go to Spain this spring! I am currently listening to Connie Chung’s memoir and enjoying it more than I thought – she tells a great story about stealing a Blues Brothers poster and wow Dan Rather was not awesome…

Listening

The month started strong with the Grammy’s where I finally discovered Doechii and I’m mad it took me this long! SNL50: The Homecoming Concert on Peacock was fantastic and the musical performances during SN50 were also pretty great. I still think about the Ladies and Gentleman doc. I know this is the “listening” not watching section but if you’re at all a music fan, this was a great month for music thanks to SNL.

I’m heavy into news podcasts lately, nothing new but just trying to keep on top of the chaos. I should probably find another pop culture podcast or a good cult or scam podcast… recommendations welcome!

Watching

Not to repeat myself but SNL50 gave us a great weekend of music and comedy. I probably should rewatch the Homecoming concert since I was also hanging out with my niece and visiting with family.

I had recommended the Scamanda podcast a couple years ago when it came out, and Hulu/ABC did a 4 part documentary that concludes with some additional info after the podcast dropped. It’s a crazy story and to watch videos of her lying to people is wild. I thought I wanted more of this genre so watched Apple Cider Vinegar on Netflix and did NOT enjoy it. There’s charismatic sociopaths and then there’s narcissists, Belle Gibson is unredeemable.

I finally watched Wicked (part 1?) while on vacation and it was great, I now get why Ariana Grande is getting so much buzz, she did a GREAT job of being in on the joke of her narcissist character. I have loved Cynthia Erivo since I discovered her a few years ago in The Outsider on HBO and knew she was going to be huge some day and I would watch everything she’s in for the rest of time. She’s a perfect Elphaba and also deserves all the awards.

I decided to watch Emilia Perez and the musical stuff didn’t work for me. Zoe Saldana is fantastic, and the rest of the movie happened…For a complete 180 I watched You’re Cordially Invited and it was a very cute comedy with Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon – a perfect low key movie night.

White Lotus is BACK and that surprise return in the first episode was a gift I can’t wait to watch unfold this season. Parker Posey is perfect, and Carrie Coon bursting into tears in her room had me burst out laughing. I can’t wait for where this season goes.

I have a couple of upcoming flights which means some good reading time. Now to figure out what books make the cut and we’ll see what movies are on demand on Alaska this month, wish me luck…

January Pop Culture Round Up

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Well folks, we’ve made it to the end of January. In Oregon we have been incredibly lucky to have a gorgeous sunny winter which is helping EVERYONE’s mood a bit. I started the month being sworn in to office and ended the month with a weekend getaway with friends, where games were played and long walks were enjoyed. Here’s a few things that kept me sane along the way this month…

Reading

I finished the year sneaking a couple more books into my goal but nothing that was worth writing home about. I started the year listening to Kelly Bishop’s memoir The Third Gilmore Girl. I highly recommend this as an audiobook so you can hear Emily Gilmore again. I was in the midst of a GG rewatch while I listened to it which was super fun. Bishop’s life was crazy and the way she tells stories like it’s no big deal is fascinating.

I really enjoyed the sweet rom-com The Book Swap, it got me back into a good reading mood. My husband and I have booked a trip to Spain for his sabbatical so I am on the lookout for fun books that take place/travel through Spain (please comment with your suggestions!) I just started The Pairing and I think it’ll be a great fit for this hunt.

Listening

My brothers and dad have great musical taste and I am in a music rut. I mean the answer is always Steely Dan or The Beatles, but I know I can diversify. Earlier this month I created a 2025 family playlist in Apple Music where we can all contribute our favorite music of late. If you have a group of friends of family members with good musical taste, I highly recommend this. Although my youngest brother listens to WAAAY too much country for my taste (which is zero country please).

A client and fellow pop culture enthusiast recommended Hysterical last month and I binged right through this podcast about a group of girls in upstate New York who all come down with a mysterious illness. The story was wild and although I remember hearing about it when it happened a few years ago, I never heard the resolution. It was a great listen. Also, if you haven’t listened to The Good Whale yet get on that ASAP.

I am still figuring out my news podcast dosage for the year. It is currently What a Day and then NYT The Headlines to start my morning. If I need more information on the topic of the day I’ll listen to The Daily and depending on my tolerance level I’ll listen to the newest episode of Pod Save America. PSA is also doing a new Sunday show and Favs interviewed Rachel Maddow for the first episode. It was great to hear them talk about how they are going to cover this administration. I am also keeping an eye on new episodes of Think Out Loud for local news – especially now as an elected official to hear what other cities are doing to work on issues we all share. And to decompress, I am enjoying The Sam Sanders Show and The Wirecutter Show.

Watching

I watched the 3 hour Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music and it blew my mind. I thought I’d start it and finish over the course of the week but no, we stayed up later than planned to finish this incredible documentary. It already wins the best documentary I’ll watch this year. And the amount of friends and family I texted while watching it to recommend was more than I expected. The 50th anniversary of SNL is next month and I am SUPER excited. The 4 part documentary on Peacock is great, not to be confused with the amazing SNL music doc! AND I still need to watch Saturday Night which is now on Netflix so will probably happen this weekend.

We don’t watch a lot of movies around here as you’ve probably noticed. But we did watch Conclave and holy crap it was fantastic. I will try to get in another Oscar nom or two (Real Pains is on Hulu so that’ll probably happen, and maybe Emilia Perez) but we will see. My niece is very excited to watch Wicked when I go visit in a few weeks, so I’ll finally watch that too…

I have been deep in a Gilmore Girls binge for the last few months and finally finished it. Are those women their own worst enemies? Yes. Do I care? Not really. Season 7 was terrible and I wish I’d just stopped after 6 when the creator left.

Over the holidays I watched the second season of Bad Sisters and it was great, not as great as the first season but still smart and funny and better binged. Pop Culture Jeopardy has been a fun weekly show that makes me feel so smart and so clueless all within a category or two. With the upcoming Spain trip Jose Andres & Family in Spain was a great recent watch, and we’ve been re-watching a few select Anthony Bourdain episodes which are great/occasionally don’t age well/make me miss Tony…

Alright – what pop culture is coming up that you’re excited for in February?

My Top 12 Pop Culture Finds of 2024

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For the past few years I have done a top 10 list of my favorite books, TV shows, and things I listened to. 2024 was a very different year for me and I consumed less pop culture, thanks to the campaign, politics, the writers strike, and life. So this year, I am wrapping up 2024 with my top 5 favorite books, top 5 favorite TV shows, my favorite podcast, and a bucket list concert experience.

My Favorite Podcast

Why yes I am still thinking about The Good Whale from NYT and Serial podcasts. It was an incredible story told well. I binged it, but for those listening week by week I am hearing great gasps at episode five, which now includes a music video!

My Top 5 Favorite Books

  1. The Husbands – Quirky and smart and romantic and fun.
  2. If You Can’t Stand the Heat – the author is hilarious and thoughtful and so is this book.
  3. The Divorcees – I still think about this historical fiction book and reference it more than I expected to.
  4. Greta & Valdin – Schitt’s Creek New Zealand edition. I loved it.
  5. From Here to the Great Unknown – Lisa Marie Presley’s memoir was a perfect audiobook option with recordings from Presley herself, Julia Roberts reading the memoir, and stories from Presley’s daughter Riley Keough read herself. The story was one I didn’t know past a few headlines and it was devastating and excellent.

My Top 5(ish) Favorite Shows

This was a year of distracting TV for me, shows that weren’t stressful and I could sit back and enjoy. In no particular order…

  1. Man on the Inside – Ted Danson is a delight and this show was exactly what I hoped for, I’m so excited it’s getting another season!
  2. Nobody Wants This – yes we did, might be time for a rewatch over the holidays, it’s that great.
  3. Somebody, Somewhere – I loved every episode of this series and all the time we were able to spend in Manhattan, KS with these incredible characters.
  4. Shrinking/Hacks/The Diplomat/Acapulco – These shows aren’t similar but they did all return this year and had great seasons that I have loved/am loving.
  5. Mr and Mrs Smith – I don’t know how they’ll top the first season but I do love the anthological nature of the series setup, and it was fantastic.

The Foo Fighters Concert

When you finally get to a bucket list show and it is even more fun than you expected – I can’t believe it took us so long to go to a Foo Fighters concert, I won’t miss them again!