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…