Thankfully here in Hillsboro the sun finally arrived in May. For me that means sitting on the patio at the end of the day and reading more. Add in two road trips this month and my podcasts are almost all caught up! My DVR is still backed up, but hey, it’s supposed to be cooler this week right? Here’s a few of my favorite things I consumed in May…

Reading

No books this month, but I did get caught up on some comics finally!

Evidently “strong female characters” is my type of comic lately. I finished Clean Room which is a creepy cult/sci-fi-ish series from Gail Simone, a fabulous comic book writer here in Portland. I caught up on The Mighty Captain Marvel which is a great new series. I’m glad to see that Lazarus is going to take a break for the next year it looks like. The mini-series will be interesting to check out (they’ll focus each of the 6 issues on background characters). The comics were coming a bit sporadically in the past year and I wondered what the plan was. A break to regroup sounds good. And I still really enjoy Ms Marvel, as she’s becoming an unofficial symbol at Women’s March events around the country. And Mockingbird wrapped up well, I wish Chelsea Cain would keep it going, but she said 8 and done. Boo…

Listening

A couple of weeks ago I heard about The Daily, a behind the scenes interview with reporters of breaking stories at The New York Times. There’s a new episode bright and early each morning and they’re only about 20 minutes. It’s a great way to learn more about whatever the day’s breaking news is. I still continue to enjoy Pod Save America and even Lovett or Leave It. In other political podcast entertainment, I checked out the most recent Thinking Cap which featured my political crush Jason Kander.

Since I still haven’t watched Fargo, I’m behind a bit on The Watch but have caught up on a few recent ones that have been great. And from forever ago I listened to Reza Aslan on WTF and Dax Shepard on The Nerdist. I fell asleep in the car listening to Crimetown this weekend, which probably isn’t a great sign.

Watching

I am NOT ready for the end of The Leftovers this coming weekend. The show has always been fantastic, and a favorite of mine, but good grief this season has been so weird. And so great. And introduced me to weird 70’s pop culture history I probably didn’t need to know about. I’m not ready for the show to finish up this week, but I trust Damon Lindelof to end it the way he wants and has always had planned.

The Americans took an interesting turn in the past couple of episodes and I’m excited to see how they wrap up this season and set up for the final season. And if they decide to do a spinoff in Moscow, I would gladly read the subtitles each week.

The Handmaids Tale was a book I really liked when I read it a few years back. I was excited for the show to start and assumed it would just be a mini series. But when I learned a couple of weeks ago that it’s been renewed for another season (and then learned that Elisabeth Moss has signed on for 5-7 years) I was bummed. However, they’ve done some good world building in the past couple of episodes (That Mrs Waterford back story was really interesting…) and I am curious to see what they do and where they take it. And who knew that Rory Gilmore could actually act?

As with many good dog owners, we are really enjoying Downward Dog, it’s very cute and clever, and the voice of the pup is so funny! Jane the Virgin just wrapped its season and as always, I love that show. It’s the feel good soapiness I need to offset all the dark stuff I watch (see show 1-3 above).

That’s it for my May Pop Culture consumption. Now that we’ve hit sunshine and road trip season, what are your latest pop culture obsessions?

It’s amazing what two trips and a week’s vacation can do for my pop culture consumption! I hope your April has been great – spring is arriving and the tulips have bloomed!

Reading

As promised, I finally got some reading done while on vacation. Hooray! I’m way behind on my comics, so a heads up for what’s in store for May…

Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? – As a fellow Friend of the Pod I was excited to check out this book by former White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Alyssa Mastromonaco. This book was WAY funnier than expected and incredibly thoughtful. It’s a book I wish had been around when I graduated from college. I strongly encourage it if you’re interested in politics, behind the scenes of the White House, or being a woman in an incredibly male dominated industry. I can’t wait to read more from the author! (PS: It would be a great graduation gift…) AND – just saw this exciting news about the book!

The Underground Railroad – This book had been on my list for a while, and it just happened to win the Pulitzer Prize the day before I started reading it. Clearly I have excellent taste. I’m not sure “enjoyed” is the right way to review a book about the underground railroad. However, it was captivating and well written and interesting and thanks to vacation, I read it in just 3 days, which may have helped. There’s a lot of characters and a fantastic story about one young woman’s escape from slavery. You need to read this book before the TV show.

Truly Madly Guilty – I loved Big Little Lies as a book (and TV show), and The Husband’s Secret from Liane Moriarty. So I was pumped for her newest book to come out. And it’s super boring and goes no where and has lame characters I couldn’t give a crap about. Previous books by the author have had a good twist in them that have made me audibly gasp. But this book not only had no twist, it had a super boring story about lame people with mundane issues. Skip this and re-read Big Little Lies instead.

What’s next? Comics. The second trade paper of Mockingbird came out while I was gone last week, so I picked that up at my comic book store this week. What a fantastic series…

Listening

I started and finished S-Town this month. It was such a great story. The twists and turns of Woodstock (AKA Shit-town), Alabama and it’s residents was a lovely and fascinating story about small town America and one man with many demons. It’s nothing like the first season of Serial, but if you like Serial, you need to try this…

Besides my usual line up of Pod Save America and The Watch (catch the Damon Lindelof episode about The Leftovers), I didn’t listen to much else this month for podcasts. What podcasts are you enjoying lately?

Watching

Big Little Lies – I read the book a few years ago, so while I knew who died and one other mystery, I forgot the other two main mysteries of the show. Even if I’d remembered them all, this show was so well done and so gorgeous that I didn’t mind knowing what happened. I’ve never been a huge Nicole Kidman fan, she’s fine but I don’t seek her out. Holy crap, was she incredible and will win all the awards…

Homeland – my husband and I got way behind on this season, so vacation seemed like a good time to binge and catch up. I think Homeland is a series better binged. So much happens in each season and so many story lines that having a couple days to binge makes it easier to catch everything.

The Leftovers – This series amazing. You need to be watching it. The first season is so dark, but this season is awesome and I’m excited for what Australia has in store. Plus, Wu Tang Trampoline is the best scene of television in 2017.

I’m really enjoying this season of The Americans and although it seems like it’s trying to slow burn to the series finale next year, the stresses on Paige this season have been interesting to watch. I also watch Billions, and Pastor Tim is a hedge fund guy on Billions which is super weird to watch at the same time.

I’m so glad that iZombie is back! We also caught the Netflix Abstract series episode about Tinker Hatfield, the Nike shoe designer/genius. If you like Nike, Oregon or shoes, you need to watch this episode at least!

Fargo is on the DVR to get caught up with – I’m hearing great things and can’t wait to catch up this weekend. And, I am super excited for The Handmaids Tale – I loved the book and am a bit terrified that the show may be too close to real life, but Elizabeth Moss is awesome, it’ll be great!

What pop culture have you consumed this month? What’s on your short list?

I have to say, as much I am TOTALLY OVER this ridiculous amount of rain, it was a good excuse to stay inside. Which was nice because my favorite show is back, my new favorite show arrived and I discovered the greatest podcast I didn’t know I needed…how was your March?

Watching

Holy crap Legion is so minding bending-ly crazy and fantastic and weird and visually stunning. WOW. Aubrey Plaza deserves all the awards. So does creator Nathan Hawley. And hooray for the return of Jean Smart (she was great in Fargo Season 2 if you missed it…). Wow. Still processing that finale but it what a fantastic season of television.

The Americans can do no wrong. I’m really enjoying the Paige storyline this season and watching her learn more about joining the family business.

Feud – I didn’t know much about Joan Crawford and Bette Davis and Feud is making me regret waiting so long to learn. It’s 1960’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Billions sure seems to be hitting a little too close to home lately. One too many times this season did I learn something that came in handy while watching the news a day or two later.

The Age of Spin: Dave Chapelle Live – was a fantastic comedy special. I never watched Chapelle Show when it was on, and I really just discovered how amazing Dave is when he hosted SNL right after the election. This special was really great and makes me glad that I’ve finally found him.

I LOVE Big Little Lies on HBO. I read the book a few years back so I know who dies and why, but I didn’t remember a few of the other plot lines so am exited to be reminded of how they wrap up! PS: Liane Moriarty’s books are great if you’re looking for a good beach read…

Reading

I didn’t read a book this month, but I do have 4 books packed for my vacation in a week and hoping to get through them all. I did however get caught up on a few comics and discover a new one…

I finally read Bitch Planet by local author (and world famous comic book writer) Kelly Sue DeConnick. I know as a woman I was supposed to love this, but for some reason it didn’t grab me. I’m glad I finally read it though. Maybe I’ll try it again in a few years.

I went to the comic shop and was surprised at how much was in my box! I got caught up on The Walking Dead (can’t wait for the show to do a time jump so I can come back to it…) and I was pleasantly surprised to see a new issue of Sex Criminals in my comic box after a way too long hiatus. I appreciated the excellent story telling of why it was on hiatus to recap. And, I swear, the comic isn’t what it sounds like…

Listening

If you haven’t discovered Missing Richard Simmons, stop reading this and go download it. I didn’t realize that Richard Simmons disappeared three years ago, but for the past month I’ve been enthralled with what happened.

Every Podcast on Crooked Media has been at the top of my podcast consumption list lately.

Andy Greenwald’s interview with Noah Hawley on The Watch made me VERY excited for the return of Fargo in a few weeks. Somewhere in a Watch Podcast lately they also referenced that Steven Soderbergh keeps a media blog of every single piece of media he consumes for the year. I love this idea but it overwhelms me a bit to think about. I may however try it for a month at some point in the not so distant future, you’ve been warned…