culture porn 9/16
our weekly playlist
screenshot me:
i’m glad my mom died (jennette mccurdy)
danggggg this is a memoir all right. mccurdy’s story, which i listened to on audible, narrated by mccurdy herself, was so well written. honest and brutal, she chronicles her experiences in acting, pushed into the industry by an abusive mom, as well as eating disorders her mom encouraged. a bestseller already, her story is striking a chord with many.
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the patient (fx)
steve carell (THE MORNING SHOW) does another dark turn in this slow-moving but always suspenseful tale of a therapist kidnapped to cure his patient, played by domhnall gleeson (EX MACHINA). will make you appreciate your shrink.
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left for dead (beck weathers)
if you caught my top 5 climbing films post from last week, you know i'm addicted to outdoor adventure content. on a recent trip to Colorado, fueled with hiking and motorcycle rides, i finally read beck weathers' account of the 1996 tragedy on Mount Everest and his return from the brink. i then spent hours in a rabbit hole, re-watching most of the 2015 film EVEREST (which was not easy to film), revisiting INTO THIN AIR, and reminded myself why i'm pleased that i went to Everest Base Camp and no further.
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tell me lies (hulu)
TELL ME LIES star grace van patten went to grade school with my son paolo, so i had to check out this YA thriller. with lots of sex scenes charting a toxic relationship that unspools over 8 years, it's based on the 2018 book and exec-produced by emma roberts.
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the sherman show (apple podcasts)
for those like me who are learning finance through osmosis, this podcast expands my aperture. i was especially interested in jeffrey sherman + sam lau's september 1 interview with allen sukholitsky of the investment platform MASTERWORKS, who spoke about art as an asset class.
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mo (netflix)
as a fan of RAMY (HULU) and hailing from houston, i loved getting to know the POV of mo amer, who co-created this series with ramy youssef himself. dark and funny, heartwarming and real, you'll slip into his life as a undocumented palestinian immigrant just trying to get by as a "refugee free agent."
insights & inspo
there’s just too much stuff
i've always felt like there's not enough time in the day. in fact, i've never felt bored with nothing to do. and how can i? there's content coming from all corners. more than we can track, consume, meaningfully reflect on, and obsess over. and i used to get upset by this -- try to watch at least one episode of everything. now i'm more detached. see that cool show? no? ok, odds are most other people didn't either. it's also CULTIQUE's raison d'être. we spend our days curating and prioritizing in a world of never ending cultural chaos. we try to make it all a little less overwhelming. richard rushfield nails the sign of the times in his editorial on our state of entertainment excess. perhaps step one is to stop calling it "content."
more insights here
are we in a “vibecession”?
in february, allison p. davis @thecut wrote one of the most-shared pieces this year. "A Vibe Shift Is Coming. Will Any of Us Survive It?" got the attention of culture-watchers, signaling that anyone who didn't sense it was already behind. during the pandemic, the word VIBE pretty much captured the mood of the moment: unable to pin down “truth” as an absolute, in a world of certain uncertainty, people turned inward – to monitor their "big feelings." now that the economy is also in an era of complete confusion, there's a catchy new name for it: a “vibecession.” are you feeling it too?
more here
#AdventuresWithSarahAndShep
over labor day, i was able to do some alpine hiking with a Colorado-based friend, @brittongoeswest. we went deep into Rocky Mountain National Park and hiked up to Sky Pond. later that evening, inspired by THE SHINING, we took a ghost tour at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. the following day, after a night at a quaint local inn & tavern, we hiked in Roosevelt National Forest. my knee did well, and i slowly adjusted to the altitude!
more of sarah’s adventure here
#LOokforward🌅 with linda ong
the west side of LA welcomes a new hot spot: DEAR JANE's, the seaside sister restaurant to culver city's swanky go-to, DEAR JOHN'S. owners hans rockenwagner and patti rockenwagner, along with their partner (and michelin-starred melisse restaurant chef) josiah citrin, held a 70's themed preview at the new marina del rey location. obligatory name-dropping includes: jamie lee curtis (manning the reception desk), sharon stone, jodie foster & alexandra hedison, jennifer grey, PUCK’s matt belloni, and LA TIMES exec editor kevin merida. excited for you to check it out!
kudos to quanna chasinghorse, the first native american model to grace ALLURE mag's cover. the 20-year old activist is raising the profile of indigenous people, along with shows like RESERVATION DOGS (FX), DARK WINDS (AMC+) and YELLOWSTONE (PARAMOUNT+). after years of anticipating this shift, i'm glad to see their representation is finally going mainstream.
for linda’s full debrief, head here