Hello, Genius! It's Your Weekly Recs
Town Hall Hangovers, Elle Fanning, Mike Maimone, Q, Santa Monica Pizza, and More ...
Dear Wags,
So much distressing news! How can we resist a Take? We’re not thrilled to see Someone Perfectly Awful back on CNN, bulldozing a New England town hall and erecting another grotesquerie. If our cultural discourse often feels like The Burning Bed (Google it), what's it going to take to finally end the cycle of abuse?
We cannot fix our problems by backing ourselves into tighter corners. For one thing, it makes everybody so pinched. At Wag Central, we try to be bigger, to widen the circle, to stretch. Quite often, we pull some muscles and fall on our faces, but it’s worth it.
We’ll spare you another expectoration of outrage. Instead, go out into the fresh air, where you may cross paths with random and inconvenient human beings. You could find yourself having an interesting discussion and learning something new. Remember that? It won’t fix everything, but it does provide fresh insight. And now, here are this week’s goodies.
Yours Ever,
Russian Duet
The Great (Hulu). Genius Tony McNamera delivers a third season of Rosy-Cheeked Elle Fanning as the Empress of all the Russias, still trying to lift feudal society out of the murk. Meanwhile, her errant husband Peter (Nicholas Hoult) whores and (shoots) boars. If the news from this recalcitrant nook isn’t encouraging, comedy is balm, or vodka.—Ilya Oblomov
Doc
Still (AppleTV+). Wag Supremo Michael J. Fox gets awfully tired of being cast as a selfless hero. He’s as flawed as anybody else, and funny, too. His experience with Parkinson’s disease is defined by courage, but also cowardice, mistakes, and actual tumbles. What an ordinary, magical, human story. — Brantley Foster
Dig In, Already
Silo (AppleTV). Wag Hugh Howey self-published his way to fame writing dystopian novels. Canuck Graham Yost teamed with Rebecca Ferguson to bring those dark fantasies to television. The result is a meticulously rendered subterranean word, populated by scheming survivors of the apocalypse. David Oyelowo, Rashida Jones, and Common join us in the deep down. — Arne Saknussemm
CultureWag loves nothing more than to tap a creative genius for three gifts from the muses. Who better to ask than Wag Mike Maimone, singer-songwriter and Hollywood’s kindest heart? A veteran of the Chicago rock scene, Mike has collaborated with Stevie Wonder and been compared to Tom Waits. His new release, Mookie’s Big Gay Mixtape, is a delight. And now, a few of his inspirations:
1. Song Exploder. As a singer-songwriter and producer, this podcast hit my radar very early on. Host Hrishikesh Hirway dives deep into the process of writing and producing one song with an artist. It's a sure bet if you want insight into creative thought processes, or you can just enjoy it like it’s a cooking show for music.
2. 9 Life Lessons from Tim Minchin.
After returning to this video several times over the years, I finally just wrote down the main points and have them by my desk to consult when I hit the time of day for panicking about whether my life has been a waste and if I'll ever do anything that matters. Run-on sentence intended!
3. Howard Bragman. The time I got to have with my husband was brief, but it was the most incredible year of my life. I knew immediately that I had found my special someone. But I am still learning just how special he is.
He started his own PR firm in 1989 with a vision of advocating for LGBTQ+ individuals and AIDS awareness, alongside the corporate and mainstream clients that would keep the bills paid. His mentors told him that that was foolish, because at that point it was a liability to be associated with such causes. But he proved them wrong, building at that time the world's largest entertainment PR firm while also championing LQBTQ+ rights. Countless celebrities and non-celebrities revered him as their fearless guide, whether being outed in the tabloids or quietly finding their authentic selves. He was a lighthouse— towering, steadfast in a crisis, shining a light for those who couldn't find their way.
I was not aware of the depth of his impact. To me, he was a gorgeous man with a huge heart, easy to love, and he completely understood me as a person and in my career.
When we met, I had decided to focus on writing for other artists, and let my own music take a back seat. He would not stand for that, saying that my unique voice needed to be heard. He helped me to amplify my quirkiness, to have confidence expressing my sexuality, and have faith that I will slowly but surely find the people who appreciate my art.
He completely changed my life, and I'm feeling unmoored in his absence. My saving grace is a newfound determination to create, with an additional mission of carrying on his legacy, sharing his story, and to keeping his light shining.
What do a handful of everyday objects tell us about a people? In Ten Thousand Things, Wag Shin Yu Pai, award-winning poet and museologist, uncovers the richness of the Asian American experience in a trove of quirky things— a bicycle, a time capsule, even a trout. — Waverly Jong
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