November is such a great season for Pop Culture. Books and albums are coming out in time for the holidays and thanks to Netflix, there are always new and great binge worthy shows to get you through those long holiday weekends! November’s been a great month around here, and with a road trip for Thanksgiving, I caught up on a few podcasts that had been lingering…

Listening

WTF with Marc Maron – I really like WTF when he has someone on that I’m interested in. Billy Crystal was on a few months back and we finally listened on the drive to Eastern Washington. It was a great interview with someone who’s been in show business almost his whole life. I had no idea what a cool musical upbringing he had! The recent Ron Howard interview was also worth listening too. A great guy who has been in show business his whole life.

Fresh Air – Similar to WTF, if there’s someone interesting on, I love Terry Gross’ interview style. She did a great job with Anthony Bourdain (who’s book I really want for Christmas, hint, hint). I always enjoy Stephen Colbert and I can’t wait to read Anna Kendrick’s* new book.

Hannibal Buress: Handsome Rambler – I really like Hannibal Buress, my brother and I went to see him in Portland last month. If you’re a fan of his comedy, or enjoy him on Broad City, then the podcast is worth checking out!

Reading

I have been in pre and post election fatigue so a lot of what I’m reading lately is rants on the state of the country and our future president. And I had a stack of magazines that was out of control (pro tip – Real Simple has fantastic crockpot recipes), so while I picked up a few more books this month, nothing has been read.

I did however clean up the comic books a bit and am caught up on Clean Room, which continues to be a favorite if you like crazy cult stuff. Which we all know I do.

Watching

Holy crap those final 4 words! I tried to watch all of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life on Friday when it came out but with crappy wifi at the in-laws (this isn’t news to them so I don’t feel bad about the shaming) I only made it through Winter and binged Spring/Summer/Fall upon our return on Saturday night. It was PERFECT. It was just what I wanted and exactly the warm fuzzy feeling I needed to launch the holiday season. But wow those final 4 words – that was NOT what I expected!

I also watched The Crown on Netflix this month. I’m a big fan of the Royal family and loved The King’s Speech a few years back. It’s a story I knew nothing about till I watched the movie, so I was eager to watch this show on Queen Elizabeth II. It’s a little slow, but great history and John Lithgow was fabulous as Churchill.

Parts Unknown has been extra great this season (although my husband hated Buenos Aries), and I’m still in love with Jane the Virgin. I’ve decided Crazy Ex Girlfriend is best binged, so will hold on to that. I have the whole season of the Walking Dead on my DVR still and am trying to decide if I watch it, drop it or skip the first episode and continue from there. Thoughts?

SNL had a fantastic month of hosts. Benedict Cumberbatch and the Koehler toilet sketch was awesome. I never got into Dave Chapelle but he certainly was the host we needed the week of the election. And Kristin Wiig was great at being Kristin Wiig. My favorite sketch from these 3 was actually cut for time, and the perfect amount of holiday weird…

*My family actually reads this blog post each month, so I have a better chance of these gifts showing up by writing about them than adding to my Amazon Wish List!

October may mean pumpkin spice crap for you, but to me, October means fall TV in all it’s glory and an abundance of great pop culture to be consumed. And it meant one final EPIC image from my photo shoot with Britney Gardner this summer. I’m not sure another photo better encapsulates my favorite things like this shot!

Reading

Hey – I read a book! Sure some of you read a book a week, but I consume my pop culture in a variety of ways, and this month a book made the cut. I was excited when I learned that Maria Semple had a new book coming out this fall. Today Will be Different did NOT disappoint! She is a really fun writer and her books are a quick and easy read, which is what I needed this month. The entire book takes place in a day, and includes a flashback or two, and is very fun. The book also takes place in Seattle and does a better job at getting the geography right than her last book that I also loved, Where’d You Go Bernadette?

I caught up on some comics including Outcast and Han Solo, but really need to get to the comic shop so I can power through Clean Room, my new favorite comic! I like to read about the TV show I watch, so I’m spending more time than usual on The Ringer and HitFix lately getting insight into what’s going on on Westworld and trying to decide if I want to watch this season of The Walking Dead.

Listening

As per the usual, I’m listening to a lot of Keepin’ it 1600 and The Watch. A friend introduced me yesterday to Politically Re-Active with W. Kamau Bell & Hari Kondabolu, it’s AWESOME. I listened to the interview with SE Cupp and it’s fantastic if you like politics, which I do!

I went to see Hannibal Buress last week with my brother and the same week he started a new podcast, Hannibal Buress: Handsome Rambler. It has a way to go still but I’m sticking with it for one of my favorite comedians.

On a road trip earlier this month to Seattle I caught up on Ask Me Another – which is a GREAT road trip podcast to keep you awake. I also listened to a few episodes of The Nerdist, Sarah Jessica Parker and Neil deGrasse Tyson were both really great! And the WTF with Katie Couric was interesting and made me want to check out her podcast.

Watching

Let’s be honest, there’s too much TV to watch. I am still loving This is Us, The Good Place and Pitch. My new obsession though is Westworld! It’s really fantastic and I’m loving the world they’re building and figuring out what’s in store…Dolores is a great character and I think it’s impressive how far Lyle the Intern has come.

The Hamilton special on PBS was the best way to see the show for 99.9% of Americans. The history of Hamilton the man and the musical were both very interesting, and the music was obviously great!

Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend are both back! I think I’ll keep up on Jane almost weekly, but I may stock up a few Crazy Ex episodes, it’s a show better binged.

Masters of Sex has turned around this season and I’m glad I’ve kept with it. I watched the first two episodes of Luke Cage and want to finish that up in the next couple of weeks, it’s really great and the music is fantastic! I watched the first episode of the new season of Black Mirror and it was too long and not a strong start, but I keep hearing the rest of the season is good so will keep with it, since it’s such a great show! You’re the Worst is still fantastic, and I think I’m going to stop watching The Walking Dead unless someone tells me that season premiere wasn’t needlessly violent.

Okay, that’s it for me this month (not really, but that’s a good summary of what I remember!) What were you loving in pop culture this month?

September is always a great month for pop culture. The Emmy’s bring a new season of TV shows, including some great new shows this year! And Banned Book Week is a great excuse to check out some fantastic books. Here’s my pop culture obsessions this month!

Listening

I’ve been listening to too much Jason Derulo lately, and a few podcasts. The debates on Monday night had me on high Keepin It 1600 watch, and with the new TV season, I’ve listened to a lot of great The Watch podcast episodes. But, The Nerdist had two great interviews, first with John Stamos who doesn’t do many long form interviews. I didn’t realize what a big Disneyland fan he is. That was fun to learn, Uncle Jesse’s a pretty cool guy still. Max Brooks was also on and had a great interview. He’s a fascinating guy, and not just because of who his parents are!

Watching

My BFF came to visit and instead of doing anything productive on a rainy Saturday, we binge watched Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and it did NOT disappoint. There’s at least two original musical numbers in each episode, and they are not always kid-friendly. The show got rave reviews when it premiered last year but the title was a turn off for me. I’m so glad I gave it a second chance, just like Jane the Virgin, don’t judge a TV show by it’s title.

I also FINALLY finished Season 2 of  Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt! Tina Fey wins as a drunk therapist, and I loved the gentrification storyline, and Titus growing up. The cliffhanger leaves me excited for where Season 3 will take us! I hope it includes more Tina Fey!

Early September was all about catching up on TV show’s I was neglecting. In about a week I finally caught up and watched all of Orphan Black Season 4. I think this is a series that’s best binged. So much happens each episode and there’s so many characters (HOORAY for Tatiana Maslaney’s Emmy win, absolutely deserved!) I recommend the binge model for this show!

And Mr Robot ended Season 2 with some great cliffhangers, and I was very happy for that final scene and the return of Joey Baddass.

As a huge TV fan I’m in heaven and overwhelm with the fall premiers. I yelled and cried at the TV when I watched the pilot of This is Us, it’s the best pilot I think I’ve ever seen (well, after LOST). Parks & Rec is my favorite comedy ever so I had high hopes for The Good Place – Ted Danson and (my favorite) Kristen Bell? Yeah, it’s pretty fantastic and I’m very happy with it! This season of Masters of Sex is so far just okay, I find myself checking my twitter and Instagram while watching…The Brooklyn Nine-Nine and New Girl premiers made me happy that those characters are back in our lives. Modern Family and Black-ish were also happy returns to my DVR last week! And I really enjoyed the pilot of Pitch which I wasn’t expecting to. The creator of Pitch also created This is Us – and if you’ve watched them both you know he is clearly working through some daddy issues.

The Parts Unknown premier in Hanoi with President Obama was really fantastic. I wish they’d spent more time on that part of the day, but still, very cool to see POTUS have a beer with Anthony Bourdain.

My dad had recommended The Fundamentals of Caring on Netflix and I watched it last weekend. It’s a very sweet story – and it has my favorite, Paul Rudd in it. If you’re looking for a feel good indy, this is the one for you!

Reading

As I mentioned last month, I read Before the Fall by Noah Hawley. It started out a little slower than I expected but it was a quick and very fun read. For a mystery/thriller with a what happened and who did it story line it did a great job of keeping the suspense going.

I had a few comic book friends recommend Clean Room by Nina Simone, a local Portland comic book writer. I picked up the first trade paper (which included the first 6 issues) and it was so fantastic I went to my comic shop to add it to my box and picked up the back issues I needed. It’s about a Scientology-esque “church” (you know I love a good cult!) and a reporter trying to learn more. I’m enjoying it…

Steve Duin is a columnist for The Oregonian that my dad has read my entire life. I follow him on twitter and occasionally read his column, which is always fantastic. He wrote a graphic novel a few years ago, and is a big fan of the medium. So I caught an article of his earlier this month on banned graphic novels, and picked up This One Summer at Powell’s the next weekend. I figured it was a perfect read for a sunny Sunday on the patio to kick off Banned Book Week. It’s a sweet story, nothing amazing, but a good coming of age story about two girls spending their summer at a lake and what’s happening in the town.

So those are my pop culture finds for September, what are you reading/watching/listening to lately?