Whelp, I used a blanket for the first time in months this weekend, so that must mean fall is around the corner and the summer that seemed like it lasted two weeks is almost over. That's OK for me since it doesn't change my routines too much (until winter and my Seasonal Affective Disorder rears its ugly head), but I'll miss direct sunlight and a few other things for sure. Still, I'm at heart hugely in love with fall, pumpkin spice everything and trying to scare my cat and all the spooky things I can summon, so these next few months are always my favorite of the year. As we get closer to the end of the year I also start trying to find new and interesting media to check out that might make up my end of the year list. Here are a few new things I've enjoyed before diving deep into the fall flavors.
Pod Save Us All
Lately I've been trying to be mindful of my own happiness and trying to pay attention to whether I'm actually feeling joyful or whether I'm just ignoring my own problems. A podcast that has genuinely helped me be more in tune with my own heart is "The Happiness Lab" with Dr. Laurie Santos. Based on an actual course she teaches at Yale, the podcast covers a huge amount of area when it comes to our own happiness, fear, hatred and limitations. The episode focused on how to cure boredom and how to find joy in our own mortality changed my brain in only positive ways.
For my fellow cinephiles, I'm sure you've heard of A24, the production company/distributor that has pretty consistently released some of the most interesting and original work of the last few years. Some of their movies like "Everything Everywhere All At Once," "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On," "Moonlight" and "Past Lives" have actually subtly and irrevocably shifted the state of independent and art film. The A24 Podcast is such a dessert for fans of not just A24, but art films in general, steadily putting out episodes featuring some of the best actors and filmmakers working today. Hearing Kelly Reichardt wax poetic about Portland, Oregon, or listening to Ari Aster and Robert Eggars talk about their influences is absolutely priceless.
Crossing Streams
My mom made me watch a reality show this weekend and now I'm hooked. I thought I would feel shame but, while waiting for the season three finale to air, I went back and watched the entirely of the first two seasons and possibly did some light snooping about the lives of the contestants after they were on the show. I'm pretty sure that's the opposite of shame. All of that is to say I'm really into "Claim to Fame" while simultaneously knowing that it's a terrible show. Hosted by Kevin and Frankie Jonas, the show puts a dozen people all related to someone famous in a house together where they have to guess who the celebrity relative is. That shouldn't be compelling, but it is in a sort of train wreck kinda way. Watching Tom Hanks' niece crying and screaming about not having enough camera time while getting eliminated and packing her shit is easily one of the funniest things I've seen on a TV in a long time.
The show that I really want to recommend this month is "Evil," the newest series from Robert and Michelle King ( the couple that made "The Good Wife" and "The Good Fight"). From the filmmaking to the acting and the writing, "Evil" managed to surprise me, shock me and move me every single week. The show follows a priest, a scientist and a forensic psychologist tasked by the Catholic Church to investigate miracles, demons and everything supernatural in-between. The show was cancelled by Paramount+ before the fourth season aired, so the series has a natural ending, but there really needs to be more and if enough people watch it (the first two seasons are also on Netflix), then another network might keep making episodes. "Evil" is one of the funniest shows on television while also managing to be creepy, life-affirming and deeply empathetic, and we deserve more of it. If "NCIS" can last for 15 years, can we just get a few more seasons of "Evil?" Look, if you watch the series and like it (you totally will), tell your friends to watch it, too. If it gets brought back, then I'll totally owe you one. We got this.
