Memorial Day Weekend is HEREEEEEEE! Sunnier days HAVE to be ahead right? I’m excited for more time outside reading, and walking the dogs while binging podcasts, how about you? Here’s a few pop culture finds that got me through the month…

Listening

I thought Tiffany Dover is Dead* was really interesting. It was a story that I missed – a nurse faints after getting her COVID vaccine and conspiracy theorists decide she has died. I’m glad that Brandy Zadrozny covered this story and I appreciated that she wraps it up in five episodes.

There was a bonus episode from The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill that you should make sure to catch if you listened to the series. It’s about the music of Mars Hill and one music directors story.

Thanks to a May 17th Primary in Oregon I listened to a lot of OPB Politics Now this past month. For national politics/commentary I am still enjoying Offline and Majority 54.

Meal time has recently included a resurgence of The Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, but mostly The Nightfly by Donald Fagan which was a go to album in my house growing up.

Reading

It’s hard to know what kind of mood you’ll be in on vacation and if you need something light and easy to read or more thriller/gotta catch all the details. So I packed a couple of books to the coast last weekend and then promptly went to the local bookstore and bought the new Emily Henry which I devoured over the weekend. Book Lovers is just as fun and fast paced as Henry’s last two books which I enjoyed. I had picked up Beach Read for a flight at the beginning of the month and really enjoyed it. Both are a perfect weekend escape, which evidently I needed lately.

I started Cover Story when I returned and am enjoying the Anna Delvey-esq storyline. It’s a clever writing style – emails, journals entries and FBI memos all combine to help you figure out who this woman is and what’s going on. Memorial Day Weekend is going to be a perfect weekend to finish this book! And THEN I’ll finally read the new Emily St. John Martel that everyone is raving about and claiming they read in one sitting.

I started listening to Where the Deer and the Antelope Play by Nick Offerman and loved it, but didn’t enjoy it fast enough. So back to the library it went and has just returned this week. I’m excited to finish it in the next couple of weeks. I just finished listening to Hello, Molly! Molly Shannon’s memoir and it’s…good… Absolutely do the audiobook on this, her voices are KEY to the story. I wish it had one more round of edits, it feels like it could be tighter. Make sure you don’t miss the airplane story, it’s a crazy story I heard over 10 years ago on Marc Marons podcast and I always think of that story when I see her. Worth getting the book for that bonkers story alone.

Keep up with my latest reads on Goodreads.

Watching

My husband and I have been doing a rewatch of Ozark that’s taking longer than expected (baseball season takes up a lot of time my friends!) We’re through Season 2 and I am committed to finishing by the end of June!

I am really enjoying the ridiculousness of I Love That For You. Vanessa Bayer is perfectly over the top and out of her element in this series and Molly Shannon and Jennifer Lewis are excellent as a home shopping channel star and CEO. I am hoping to savor the new season of Hacks, it’s off to an amazing start!

I had forgotten that Mr. Mayor was created by Tina Fey, and in the last few episodes it was abundantly clear she is all over this show. If you didn’t watch the show while it was on NBC catch it on Hulu or Peacock, it’s so sweet and funny and has an incredible cast. I’m sad it was cancelled too soon! A totally different comedy that I loved was Minx on HBOMax. This show was so fantastic and funny and man alive I love Jake Johnson. The whole cast is great on this not safe for “sensitive eyes and ears” show.

Last year I watched the Chrissy Teigen produced The Way Down and loved this crazy documentary about a diet cult trying to be a church (or maybe it’s the other way around…) It’s a bonkers story and part two of the series just came out to wrap up the story of the mysterious plane crash and aftermath. If you like a cult like I do, this is for you.

I feel like I’m way behind on my TV right now, probably because there’s so much going on. We’re still loving Top Chef and as always I’m all in on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The season finale of SNL was okay, but I have been getting a feeling lately that they were all tired and need the summer off and some rejuvenation in the writers room. Molly Shannon talks about when a great partner (writer or cast mate) shows up at the show and things start to click. I am hopeful this is the case for the upcoming season.

You can keep up with my TV viewing here.

Alright, what pop culture has kept you going this spring? Anything you’re looking forward to this summer? I am excited for Leah Sottile’s book and Blake Crouch’s new book! I’m also excited to go to New York in a few days and see some live theater just in time for the Tony’s! More on that next month…

Spring has arrived and things are starting to warm up, and then snow, but it definitely maybe is going to be warming up moving forward… My pop culture consumption seems to be as all over the place just like the weather. Here’s what got me through the month…

Reading

My husband and I went on a weekend visit to see our cousins and it was the PERFECT time for Dave Grohl’s memoir The Storyteller to show up from the library on audio! We listened to about a third of the book on our road trip and then I finished it within a few days. I had heard great things and was excited to read/listen to it before we had tickets to Foo Fighters this summer. Now that the show it cancelled it was more bittersweet…

I am now listening to Where the Deer and the Antelope Play by Nick Offerman. It is good so far, his voice is oh so calming and clever – hoping for some good time in the car over the next couple of weeks to power through (but you’ll see my podcast list is growing…)

I have had a couple of books from the library that were non starters, and then I picked up Beach Read which was perfect timing with a sunny weekend…

With a flight this weekend to visit our nephews I am hoping to read The Sea of Tranquility the new Emily St. John Martel, who I LOVE.

Listening

Well, I accidentally wrote Lizzo instead of listening incase you’re curious how frequently About Damn Time is on rotation at my house. There’s still a lot of Foo Fighters on rotation and I’ve thrown in some Doobie Brothers during dinner in the last couple of weeks.

Podcast wise, I am loving Tiffany Dover is Dead*. I have been following Brandy Zadrozny for a while now on Twitter and appreciate her writing on misinformation and social media. This podcast is a story I missed along the way. Just listen. It’s great.

I’m still really enjoying Offline with Jon Favreau. I am curious if there will be an “emergency pod” to discuss the latest online news this week…Sway had Jimmy Kimmel on last week and it was a great interview talking about misinformation, pop culture, politics, and sexism.

The May primaries are happening in Oregon on May 17th! I am thankful that  OPB Politics Now has been doing some good interviews on candidates for Governor. I wish there were more options for local/county wide races.

Watching

We’ve decided to do a binge of Ozark with the final few episodes coming out this weekend. We’re almost through S1, so that’ll be a May project between baseball games and elections…

I am LOVING Minx and had hoped to finish it this week but local campaign work and baseball games have taken over my schedule for a few more weeks.

Abbott Elementary had a perfect first season. That show is so funny and smart and clever. Find it and watch it. And then if you haven’t yet, binge The Wonder Years, the reboot is so smart and sweet and there is a fantastic easter egg late in the season that will make you glad you’ve been watching all along.

We finished The Dropout and really liked it. I then binged The Home Edit because organizing is good for my mental health. Not good for my mental health? That first episode of Severance. I’m not sure I’ll be returning to the show any time soon. Good twists but a little too dark for me…

We were socked at how much we loved (and quickly devoured) Bel-Air on Peacock. It was such a crazy good modernization and dramatic interpretation of the comedy series. Starting it the week after the Oscars was weird timing.

What pop culture got you through this crazy weather month as we head into longer evenings and warmer days?

March Madness is in full swing and I couldn’t be happier! Between this and daylight saving time (hooray for this news) it’s hard not to be in a good mood by the end of March. The seasonal transition has made it weird for my reading habits, but my pop culture isn’t lacking, I promise.

Reading

Like I mentioned, not a ton of reading lately, but a sunny weekend helped! Over the past couple of weeks I listened to Vanderbilt by Anderson Cooper and loved it! I wasn’t expecting to like it that much but was sort of interested in Cooper’s take on his family (his mom is Gloria Vanderbilt). As I listened to it I started thinking – if you like Bridgerton you may want to try this…It also makes me want to watch HBO’s The Gilded Age next. I also finally finished The Secret to Superhuman Strength a graphic novel from Alison Bechdel. It was good, but the way it was formatted made it easy to put down, which I evidently did since I started reading it in August… whoops!

I finally read The Atlantic’s great article on friendships that I’ve seen pop up over the past month on social media. It was really great and made me think about a lot of relationships. Check it out here. For a complete 180 (okay maybe 90?) this piece about cancelling The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix was really interesting to me (a member of a very specific age demographic here).

Besides books, I also read a ridiculous amount of newsletters each day/week/month. My favorite right now is Culture Study from Anne Helen Petersen. The topics are all over the place but in a fascinating way, and her most recent piece on childcare/eldercare will sit with me for a very long time. Culture Study lead me to Meg Conley and homeculture which is really fantastic as well. The Audacity from Roxanne Gay always has a great wrap up of things she’s reading and tweets that make me laugh and cringe. I recently discovered that the amazing Samantha Irby (read her books they’re all great!) has a newsletter that is so ridiculous you just have to subscribe. It’s not books, but it is pop culture happiness delivered to your inbox!

Watching

Folks, we went to LIVE THEATER this month and it was glorious! My friend Cassie was in a two person world premier play – Svetlana! Svetlana! and it was wonderful! I felt safe in the theater (all masked and vax cards checked) and it was funny and smart and I had no idea the life or story of Stalin’s daughter who escaped to America, but I did immediately find a book from the library to learn more! While the world premier was just two days long, I was excited to learn that the show will be featured in a local theater in the near future.

Besides March Madness and trash talking with my brothers, I caught up on Abbott Elementary which you need to be watching, it’s so great! I loved this season of All Creatures Great and Small, which continues to be just a sweet and nice show that we all need these days. The After Party was hilarious and clever and I’m excited it’ll be back for Season 2!

I loved Inventing Anna and I am really enjoying (probably not the right word…) The Dropout although I wish they would just release all the episodes at once. Top Chef has returned and I couldn’t be happier to have my favorite foodie show back! If you didn’t watch the first season of Upload you should since the second season just start and continues to be clever and enjoyable.

My husband and I watched Race: Bubba Wallace on Netflix last week. It was fascinating. Wallace is the only black driver in NASCAR and the series (just 6 episodes) talks a lot about the Black Lives Matter protests and race discussions that Wallace has pushed and encouraged within NASCAR. You do not need to be a NASCAR fan to watch (because I am not!) I promise!

We are one episode into Severance on Apple+ and we’ll take it day by day, but…woah. I’m going to need to talk about it when we’re finished.

Listening

Besides Anderson Cooper’s book, I have been appreciating What a Day for keeping up on all the current events. I finished listening to The Trojan Horse Affair which I didn’t like as much as I wanted to. I am however loving Offline with Jon Favreau, each week he talks to someone about the relationship with social media and constantly being “on.” His interview with Taylor Lorenz was fascinating to me.

Alright, that’s what got me to spring this year, how about you? What pop culture are you consuming right now? Besides the final season of Ozark what else are you excited for in April?