What We’re Obsessed With Right Now

Imagine if Twin Peaks were set inside the early 90s adventure video game Myst, or if every episode of Parks and Recreation took place on the fourth floor of city hall and was directed by Werner Herzog’s character Keg Jeggings, the eccentric who sold his haunted house to April Ludgate and Andy Dwyer. If Apple TV+ gave this legend from the viral “Babadook at a normal dinner party” a multi-million dollar budget to make the next horror comedy hit television series…because that, in fact, is the lore of the brilliant Kate Dippold, the showrunner who is behind this instant classic.

And because it’s the start of summer and I’m already maximizing my entertainment intake, I’m including a second—

Chris Fleming's HBO comedy special, Live at the Palace aired back in February, and has been on weekly rotation in our apartment since. An hour of stand-up with hot takes on Trader Joe's, Cast Iron Cowboys, Hatsational, an anachronistic hat shoppe in Saratoga Springs, and an ingenious impression of NPR's Terry Gross attempting to interview Adam Driver. Original, high-energy, fun, funny, and at times, feral.

Fleming also makes a guest appearance as Todd the mushroom dealer in Widow’s Bay, in what is a perfect crossover of character.

I came 20 years too late to this gem of a television show. It could be because I'm such a diehard for The Affair (also starring Dominic West) and just couldn't picture shitty Noah Solloway as a misunderstood cop (also: a show about cops??). Turns out I've been continuously impressed with how deftly socioeconomic pressures have been approached from truly all sides in this David Simon classic. It's the sort of slow-building narrative we don't see much of anymore, the characters and the city of Baltimore all the more deeply felt for it.

Currently obsessed with: Harmony Tividad’s song “Best Dressed,” off her upcoming album Lifetime, out June 26th. For me it’s the lyrics: “Put off decades wishing life would just start / And now the dream is falling apart / You don’t even know who you are / They don’t even know who you are.” And the video is beautiful.

True stories of adventure and survival, beautifully told as if sitting around a campfire. Come for the gut-wrenching suspense; stay for the refreshing, grounded exploration of how we care for each other and the world around us, under even the grimmest circumstances.