With just over a week until the election, my pop culture habits are more important than ever to keep me sane and provide an escape from the chaos of politics. The change in weather also means a change in how and where I consume my pop culture, as you’ll see from the one book I made it through this month…

Reading

We took a (much needed and maybe not great timing) trip down to Palm Springs earlier this month for a fun get away with friends. I didn’t get as much reading done as I had hoped but I LOVED More Than You’ll Ever Know. It goes back and forth between a journalist and the woman she’s writing about who had two husbands (at the same time) and one husband killed the other. It’s a great story and I loved the back and forth narration and the mystery of it. I head out of town for a girls weekend after the election and look forward to getting back on track with my reading for the year. 

Listening

I haven’t been able to focus on an audiobook since early  September, but I have been blazing through podcasts. The latest episode of into it “The Abortion Episode” is FANTASTIC and the pitch for a Parks & Rec style show set in an abortion clinic is something I need to have happen ASAP. Trust me, listen to this.

I am obsessed with Ultra from Rachel Maddow. It’s a crazy story I didn’t know, and based on how well it parallels current politics I’m surprised it hasn’t come up sooner. Burn Wild has been another fantastic series from Leah Sotille, and listening to the story set in Oregon has been fascinating to me. I’m also glad The Daily has had some fantastic reporting and explainer episodes lately.

Watching

I really enjoyed SheHulk: Attorney at Law especially because Tatiana Maslany is such an awesome actress (see Orphan Black). The fourth wall breaking in the finale was insane. “This can’t possibly be where this season was going” and KEVIN, were perfect.

Reboot on Hulu was a great show with a clever premise with an awesome cast. Bad Sisters was a great series and I loved the finale. I don’t think they need another season but I would watch these sisters do just about anything together. 

My husband is a HUGE This Old House fan so of course we watched The House that Norm Built, the retirement celebration episode! I have seen the Ask This Old House episode where they install a garbage disposal so many times, I am certain I could do it. I thought we (finally) broke ours last month and was disappointed when my husband fixed it and I didn’t get my chance. It’ll happen.

A few weeks ago I read a story in the New York Times about Empress Elisabeth of Austria and the new show on Netflix about her. The Empress is a slow burn story about this woman but I am really liking it and can’t wait for more seasons as she becomes more of a recluse…

That’s what’s getting me through this month, I’m looking forward to catching up post election season and into the holidays! What got you through the past month?

The heat kept up in September around Oregon – and while I enjoy the extra time outside, the days are getting a bit shorter and I can feel that spider infested fall air on its way… This month, a few things kept me going between work, dog walks and campaign activities.

Reading

I listened to Invisible Storm by Jason Kander and I thought it was fantastic. Why would I care about a soldier with PTSD? I’ve followed Kander’s career since he went viral a few years back and his podcast is on regular rotation. Listening to his story was inspiring. Whether you have served or have family or friends who have served in the military this was such an interesting and thoughtful story. I especially appreciated that his wife is a part of the book sharing her side of the stories.

I read The Family Upstairs when it came out and remembered it being a good British mystery. So when I heard the story continues in The Family Remains I was excited to pick this up for a great end of summer read. I am glad that you can read this as a stand alone book – I needed a LOT of reminders as to what happened in the first book. Lisa Jewell is a prolific writer and I need to go read more of her, you know, when all those stacks die down…

A couple of people I like recommended Small Things Like These and they were correct. It was a beautiful short story (novella? it’s 115 pages…) that takes place in Ireland in the 1980’s. It’s a part of history I wasn’t aware of and (as usual) furious it lasted as long as it did.

Listening

After I finished Invisible Storm I haven’t been in an audiobook mood – too many good podcasts! Somewhere I read about Will Be Wild which is a great series that came out last spring about January 6th and the people involved in it. Fascinating listen, a good compliment to the January 6th Hearings if that’s your thing. Like the rest of the podcast world I listened to the Serial update after the release of Adnan Syed. Wow, I am so happy for him and his family. I appreciated the explanation of WHY this finally happened. My favorite journalist (we all have one right?) Leah Sotille has a new podcast out about the Earth Liberation Front (yup). Burn Wild is a fascinating story and includes a lot of ELF efforts (that’s not the right word is it?) throughout the Pacific Northwest that I wasn’t paying attention to.

Watching

I’m not going to lie, I am exhausted at the end of the day lately and so mindless, easy TV is at the top of my list. She-Hulk Attorney at Law is such a fun show and exactly the kind of entertainment I need right now. I’ve been catching up on Selena+Chef on HBO Max which is a very fun cooking show. Not all chefs are good instructors and this show is fun to watch them handle that. When I can muster energy it all goes to Bad Sisters on Apple+. It is FANTASTIC. If you watched Catastrophe with Sharon Horgan a few years ago, this is for you. The shows are NOTHING like each other but Horgan created both and her dark humor is all over it.

Reboot on Hulu is hilarious and exactly what I needed this fall while waiting for new episodes of Abbot Elementary. I am also still catching up on Reservation Dogs, which is again amazing. I will slowly make my way through the latest season of The Handmaids Tale, very, very, slowly.

I got my COVID booster AND my flu shot on the same day (might as well get it done!) and spent the next day on the couch. I finally watched Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers which was a very funny and clever movie. It was perfect for this fan of the  cartoon growing up. I then binged (seriously, didn’t leave the couch all afternoon/evening, we ordered Chinese food and I was in bed before 10) Uncoupling the Neil Patrick Harris show on Netflix. It was a good binge when you don’t have the energy to focus on all the details.

You know I’ve been obsessed with the Lori Vallow/Chad Daybell story, from the book to podcasts, so of course the new Netflix series (only 3 episodes, come on!) Sins of Our Mother was a great way to learn the story, and they interviewed her oldest son which was a fascinating dimension to all the media I’ve consumed on this story. Read the book but this might be the push you need to want to learn more.

While July was all about finishing Ozark over here, August has been all about baseball. Four of the five weeks in August had the Hops playing at home which was AWESOME, and reduced my pop culture consumption a tad. I also am now running a state senate campaign (I mentioned in my newsletter last week) but luckily had a quiet weekend that was cool enough to sit outside a lot and read a book. Here’s what kept me sane in my air conditioned home the rest of the month…

Reading

Holy crap, When the Moon Turns to Blood by Leah Sottile was even better than I was expecting it to be. Cults, doomsday preppers and Mormons. This book had EVERYTHING, and it’s a true story. All of the history that got Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell to where they are now is even more bonkers than I could have imagined.

In lighter summer reading, I finally read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and really enjoyed it! I had heard good things about the author and wanted to read something of hers, I’ll read more for sure. I also enjoyed The Lifestyle which I learned about last month from a Late Night Lit podcast interview with the author. It was a fun summer read, perfect for that end of summer vacation.

I also listened to Stanley Tucci’s memoir Taste. I think I actually would have preferred to read this book instead of listen, which was surprising to me. Over the weekend I read Blake Crouch’s newest book Upgrade. Since it’s so new I’ll hold on my review but I am super curious what other people thought.

Listening

Obviously Renaissance is on a constant rotation over here and Harry’s House continues to be excellent background music. As far as podcasts though, I finally found a new one that I think fellow pop culture fans will enjoy. Into It is a new podcast from Vulture and I am really loving it. There is a “culturegeist” segment at the end of each episode where a few editors recommend their latest pop culture finds, and that has lead me on a few rabbit holes already!

OPB Politics Now has a great summer series called Growing Oregon that I have LOVED, if you live here, give it a listen. A recent email from Anne Helen Petersen recommended Switched on Pop and a great episode about Harry Styles and the Sledgehammer Horns, just trust me on this one.

Watching

I LOVED Loot, it was such a wonderful and kind show (ala Ted Lasso.) There’s no surprise –  Maya Rudolph is fantastic. Watch it. We enjoyed the second season of Only Murders in the Building and I am grateful they were meta about the pace this season. Lots of excellent twists and a fantastic cameo in the end!

If you missed Julia on HBOMax – go find it. There’s actually two Julia shows on HBOMax, but this is the TV series (with Bebe Neuwirth and David Hyde Pierce!) and it is LOVELY. Her editor, her husband, her friends, it falls into that “nice” category, and a great show to add to the list for an adult family holiday show to avoid talking politics.

As I mentioned, it’s been a lot of baseball and outside time this summer, so less TV has been consumed. My in-laws also visited for a few days so we did a re-watch (new to them) of Ted Lasso season 2 and I am so sad we only get one more season of this amazing show.

With one week of no baseball in town, we obviously binged A League of Their Own and it was fabulous. Watch it, find it on Prime (we all forget we have Prime don’t we?) and enjoy every moment of it. I am half way through the latest season of Never Have I Ever, which again is hilarious and wonderful and I should probably be better at savoring the season.

Reservation Dogs, She Hulk and House of the Dragon are on my up next list, I promise…

What’s been keeping you sane this summer?