Hi there,
The news continues to be terrible, between the latest climate disaster and the looming November elections, but there was some good news with the release of the updated COVID boosters in the US. With the summer winding down, lately I’ve been craving entertainment that’s more of a fun escape, so here are some things to make you laugh or distract your brain.
Watch
Mo (Netflix) is based on the life of Mo Amer, a very funny Palestinian-American standup comedian (well, he was born in Kuwait, but you can watch the show to understand his life story). While he has a bit of a hard time adapting some of his standup approach to jokes to a series format, it’s very, very funny, and some episodes also made me cry. I also liked how he brought to life the complex immigration issues most Americans don’t understand, and the lovingly gritty portrait of his hometown of Houston.
Queer Eye Brazil (Netflix) is a remake of the US show set in São Paulo, and it’s a slightly pared down version that I really enjoyed. It’s just as funny and sweet and tear-inducing as the original. It’s a fun soothing treat.
Bad Sisters (Apple TV) is the brainchild of the very funny Irish actress Sharon Horgan, and it’s a dark comedy about a group of sisters and one truly awful brother-in-law. Some of it is definitely cringey, but it’s very funny and moves at a fast pace.
Read
She Who Became the Sun was a fun escapist read about a woman who became a warrior fighting the Mongols in the 1300s in China. It’s really gratifying to follow her journey as she surmounts obstacle after obstacle. The second part of the book focuses a lot on battles, but I still found it enjoyable.
See the full watch + read recommendation list here.
Follow
Adrian Bliss is a British TikToker who makes funny videos about historical and biblical figures, the human body, and animals, among other things, using simple costumes and a green screen.
Do
I’ve been organizing Democracy Day with a group of media friends since the beginning of the year to try to get journalists to report on threats to democracy and publish collectively on the International Day of Democracy. (Here’s a Q&A in which I talk about how it all came to be.) We’ve already managed to get more than 300 organizations to sign up, including Gannett, but we’d still like to get more newsrooms on board. If you know anyone at a newsroom, please encourage them to sign up to participate, since September 15 is fast approaching! Luckily, we got funding to run the project again next year, but we’d still like to get as many organizations as possible signed up this month.
Until next time,
Rachel