Culture & Entertainment Recommendations
TV & Movies
📺 Paradise: This is a gripping TV series set in a near-future America that’s undergone a dramatic shift (I’m trying not to spoil the story!). Sterling K. Brown, as a CIA agent protecting the US President, leads an excellent cast, including James Marsden as the US President. There’s a dystopian premise, a group of powerful billionaires, and a murder mystery at its center, and I countdown each week until a new episode arrives.
📺 Apple Cider Vinegar: this Netflix series is based on the true story of Belle Gibson, an Australian wellness influencer who built a successful business before it was discovered that she had lied about being a brain cancer survivor. The show explores the potential for danger when influencers peddle “natural” remedies for life-threatening illnesses, the power of social media, and what led a bright, ambitious young woman to build a life based on lies. Production values are slick, and watching Belle’s rise and fall makes for addictive viewing. If you enjoy true crime that’s hard to believe and shows like Inventing Anna and The Dropout, this show is for you.
📺 The Recruit: I am slightly in love with Owen Hendricks, the titular “recruit” of this spy/legal/action series. A healthy suspension of disbelief is required to follow Owen, who is a law school grad working at the CIA, as he is plunged into international espionage and high-stakes drama. In addition to Owen’s ridiculously good hair and uncanny ability to cheat death, I really enjoy the subplots involving his group of twenty-something friends, all of whom work in government agencies and are navigating relationships and careers.
📺 Prime Target: the main attraction (for me, at least) of this quite silly “thriller” set in Cambridge, England, is Leo Woodall, who plays a mathematics genius whose life is in peril due to the brilliance of his research(!!). While this is by no means a great show, Woodall is brooding and handsome (and apparently really smart), and it’s filmed beautifully with enough action and intrigue to keep me watching.
📺 The Night Agent: Season Two of Netflix’s action-packed crime show features a secret FBI Unit (that may or may not be based on real life) which investigates crime and corruption at the highest levels of the US government. I have some serious questions about the funding for this unit: it literally seems to be a 2-3 person operation with a shoestring budget, which seems highly unlikely, but it’s a fun, binge-able watch, especially when you’re in the mood to turn your brain off and go along for a wild, world-saving, ride.
Books & Articles
📖 The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy: I devoured the audio version of this book about three unbelievable stories of “medical child abuse” in which a seemingly devoted mother subjects her child to life-threatening surgeries and treatments for no reason. The book is read by the author, Andrea Dunlop, who became fascinated by this dangerous and under-reported mental illness, which manifests mostly in women when a similar case upended her own family.
📖 We Came Here to Forget: A Novel: The Mother Next Door led me to this novel by Andrea Dunlop, which, in part, tells the fictionalized story of the Munchausen by Proxy case in her own family. The story follows Katie Cleary, a former Olympic skier, who’s fled to Buenos Aires to escape the devastating drama in her family and the end of a long-running romance. It’s a complex story of sisterhood, family, ambition, and loss, and I couldn’t put it down.
🗞️ How I Learned That the Problem in My Marriage Was Me: This is an intensely personal account of the author’s experience in couples therapy with Terry Real, a renowned marriage therapist known for tough love and straight talk. I was gripped by the author’s honesty in describing his emotions and behavior and the life-changing lessons and insights he learned from Real.
🗞️ What if the Attention Crisis Is All a Distraction? This New Yorker piece makes the case that human beings are not losing our ability to focus amidst the constant barrage of content from apps and screens but that our attention is being directed toward trivial, divisive, and unproductive things. As the author points out, “What is doomscrolling if not avid reading?” One example: the attention paid to “Garish graphics, loud voices, quick topic changes, and titillating stories…” distracts from more pressing (but less easily digestible) concerns, like climate change.
🗞️ How My Trip to Quit Sugar Became a Journey Into Hell: I found this piece about the author’s sugar addiction (she has an auto-order for bulk candy from Amazon) horrifying, fascinating, and, ahem, like its topic, addictive. We follow Wilson as she travels to a European “health” spa to detox from sugar while debating whether she really wants to change. The Comments section is filled with many perspectives on Wilsons choices and is worth perusing…
📨 Division of Labor No. 13: A Stay-at-Home Mom and Political Advisor Raising 2 Small Kids in Germany: The Purse: This is a day-in-the-life rundown of how a married couple living in Germany divides their time while working and raising children. The details about childcare support in Europe are fascinating, as is the mother’s observation that, “There’s just so much unnecessary stuff we’re encouraged to buy for our kids! But kids really don’t need that much. Instead of thinking, “What do I need for my baby?” we should ask, “Who do I need for my baby?” No baby needs an electric nail file, but every parent and child needs a strong social network.”
Playlists & Podcasts
🎧 The Psychology Of Success with Guy Raz: 10% Happier with Dan Harris: I am a huge fan of How I Built This, Guy Raz’s podcast about entrepreneurs, and loved hearing Guy interviewed about what he’s learned about success, happiness, strategy, relationships, and luck through the thousands of interviews he’s conducted, and building his own business.
🎶 Bucks Fizz Radio: if you, like me, adore upbeat cheesy anthems from the 70s and 80s, this is your jam! From Billy Ocean to Kylie Minogue, with a sprinkling of ABBA for good measure, I dare you not to sing along!
🎶 Roxy Music Radio: This mix of 70s and 80s pop and British New Wave feels just right as a palate cleanser if you, like me, spent all of December listening exclusively to holiday tunes.
More Recommendations Here!
❤️ January 2025 ❤️ December 2024 ❤️ November 2024
