Good fences make good neighbors and when that fence is getting replaced, you head to the coast with your dog so you can STAY good neighbors. Welcome to August folks, it’s filled with wildfire smoke, baseball, and warm afternoons to sit outside with a good book. Here’s what’s gotten me through the month!

Reading

I finally got off the holds list for Kin the new book by Tayari Jones and it is as amazing as everyone is telling you it is. I love stories that change the narrator throughout so this was right up my alley, and it was an incredible story of friendship and love.

My audiobook was finally returned so I could finish Advice No One Asked For by Jenny Hagel, who I adore from Late Night with Seth Meyers. It was such a fun book to listen to – and would be a great road trip book since it’s essays that are easy to listen to and will make you laugh along the way.

I also really enjoyed Dolly All the Time but as I said in my Instagram story after I finished it – trigger warning for eldest daughters on this one. It was a great summer rom com which I always enjoy. I was able to breeze through The Shampoo Effect between the coast getaway and a nice weekend. It was a great end of summertime read about a group of friends in Massachusetts navigating life in their mid 30s.

Listening

I really want to like Pop Culture Happy Hour, but I can’t get into it. I tried listening to it the other day when I needed something easy and it continues to not be the right fit for me. I think it’s because they take the criticism part of critic a little too seriously. It’s Ted Lasso – it’s fun, we’re going to love it, stop trying to say it’s anything other than what we need right now!

I did enjoy discovering The Book Review podcast from the NYT and have listened to their 50 best thrillers of the 21st century conversation, along with some best book lists, and of course I listened to their conversation about Kin after I finished reading it! I also listened to The Track Star Podcast episode with Questlove which talks about his documentary on Earth, Wind & Fire who I am going to see next month. Leave it to my brother to send me that one!

Seth Meyers is on an extended hiatus (get it together NBC) and so his podcast has some best of interviews including Tina Fey and John Mulaney that are great. I’m also loving his plans to do A Closer Look Out of Office throughout the hiatus to keep us going. Amy Poehler had a GREAT month of podcasts from Rosie to Keke to her live show with D’Arcy Carden who I adore!

On my road trip I was able to catch up on some podcasts, and was able to listen to the final episode of Adults in the Room which was disturbing but a great final episode. I also listened to the most recent Runaway Country episode about Data Centers which are a hot topic in my life these days.

Watching

Colin From Accounts is exactly the sweet anti-rom com Australian show I needed this summer. It’s 2 seasons so far with a third and final season coming out in September – which I didn’t know when I started and am thrilled about! I promise you, it’ll make you laugh, you’ll enjoy the accents, and as a dog parent you will feel for them regularly.

Ted Lasso is back and I am so happy to be back in Richmond with a new team to coach! We just finished a rewatch that led right up to the season premier and it was well worth the rewatch. We’re at that end of summer pre-Emmy slump where new shows are coming in a few weeks but what will get us through these last few weeks of summer? I’m enjoying Ride or Die, not quite as much as others are but it’s still fun and at some point I guess I should finish Elle.

What about you? What pop culture are you enjoying this summer?

April has flown right by! Hops baseball season began at the beginning of the month in our brand new stadium (it’s amazing, come join us for a game!) and the weather is starting to get warm enough that Cliff and I can spend more time outside running around the yard, reading, and enjoying some free vitamin D for a change. Here’s a few things that got me through the month…

Reading

I picked up Lake Effect at the library at the beginning of the month and really enjoyed it. It’s about a neighborhood of families in the 70’s and how their lives are all intertwined. It was a good spring read. Like everyone else I finally read The Correspondent and it is as great as everyone said it was! I love a good curmudgeon and this one does not disappoint!

I just finished The Heir Apparent which showed up on my library holds list last week, and it was the perfect weekend read while traveling. I may have stayed up too late last night finishing this book, it was that good!

I also listened to Strangers a memoir from Belle Burden about her 20+ year marriage that dissolves at the beginning of the pandemic. I watch a LOT of “rich people behaving badly” tv (and books for that matter), so this memoir wasn’t as shocking to me as it seems to be to the rest of the book world. If you like to read about rich New Yorkers problems, you would enjoy this one.

Listening

Adults in the Room was a fantastic podcast, and incredibly hard to listen to. It’s insane how our parents just trusted teachers and school administration in the 90’s. I then zipped right through The Idiot from Serial Podcasts and it was wild. The reporter is right, his cousin is an idiot every step of the way. Just listen.

I am now half way through The Secret World of Roald Dahl and it’s fascinating! I remember hearing at some point that he was more like the bullies in his books than the children, but YOWZA, his story is bonkers and I still can’t figure out if I feel sad for him or if he’s an ass.

Watching

I know what you’re thinking – now that Shrinking is done for the season what will I watch? The answer is easy: Rooster. First off, that was an amazing season of Shrinking, and I am curious where the next season start. Rooster is by the same creator (Bill Lawrence who also did Ted Lasso) and it’s about Steve Carell as a visiting author at a college that his daughter also teaches at. It’s so funny and smart and sweet. Someone on Threads the other day mentioned that Alice (on Shrinking) needs to go to the college on Rooster so we can have the cross over series we all need. They are correct.

Hacks is back for it’s final season and I am so happy to have these insane characters back in my life. I am also loving the new season of Your Friends and Neighbors, and James Marsden was an EXCELLENT choice to bring to the neighborhood drama this season. I have started The Testaments and loving it so far, even though it’s always hard to be back in Gilead.

This season of Top Chef is really great and fascinating to watch Kristin Kish host with such humanity for the contestants. There was a great story in the New York Times this weekend about the show and its humanity. Gift link here for you. Finally, if you aren’t watching SNL UK, this is your sign to do so. This past weekend had Nicola Coughlan and Foo Fighters and it was so funny, even if Jimmy Fallon showed up.

What pop culture have you been enjoying lately? what are you looking forward to as we head into the warmer months and a holiday weekend?

Well, March was a real crap sandwich over here. Lots of sadness and snuggles, not much ability to focus, and what little capacity I’ve had has been mostly focused on clients and local political work. I’m grateful the sun is coming out and warming things up so I can spend more time with Cliff in the yard running arond and enjoying the fresh air. Here’s a couple things that helped distract me this month.

Reading

I really couldn’t focus much, but on my flight to DC earlier this month I was able to listen to Lisa Rinna’s new memoir – You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It. I really wasn’t sure I’d like it but I do love RHOBH and behind the scenes gossip, and this one had some of that. What was actually great was the talk about her marriage and career and her ability to hustle to make ends meet when life took unexpected turns. Bonus – she’s an Oregonian which is always a good sign!

Late last month I picked up I’ll Have What He’s Having and had a hard time focusing on it. Luckily this past weekend was warm enough to sit outside and enjoy a change of scenery. I was able to zip through the rest of this very sweet and funny book! The book also has “A Guide to Pairing Muppet Movies and Wines.” I had no idea I needed this in my life, but it happened and I am a happier person for it! I’ll read more from this author.

Listening

Similar vibes with my podcast listening this month, I couldn’t get into it much, even the daily news podcasts have been a slog. I am really liking Adults in the Room which is based on Seattle on a story I completely missed in the last 90’s (college will do that). If you’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest or grew up in the 80/90’s with questionable restrictions around student/teacher relationships – this is a podcast to check out.

I started The Idiot, from Serial productions over the weekend and wow this guy is a piece of work! The interviews are fascinating and his incompetence at a botched murder to hire plot is bonkers.

Besides that I’m listening to the new Harry Styles album, more Gorillaz thanks to their SNL appearance, and as always: Yacht Rock.

Watching

Thankfully we’re in that winter sappy romances you don’t really have to pay close attention to, but also no judgement if you do, along with some reality TV to keep things going.

What I’m really loving is all the drama with the cancellation of The Bachelorette, a show I have successfully never watched, WHILE finishing up the latest season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives which is all about the bachelorette preparing for the show. This story really says a lot about how we treat reality TV stars who are clearly in a mental health crisis and need support not spotlights. Lisa Rinna’s book had some good thoughts on this.

Shows I am loving and can’t wait to watch each week include… Shrinking, The Pitt, and Rooster. Rooster is off to a great start – I am glad it’s arrived since Shrinking wraps up way too soon for me. I’m also loving the new season of Top Chef and SNL UK is off to a great start this season!

Okay, a few bright spots in a rough month. I hope you had better pop culture inspiration than I did, hoping to get back into the swing of things in April!