Sarah Condon
Dracula. This version (BBC/Netflix) takes a wildly beautiful twist where Professor Abraham Van Helsing is replaced by Sister Agatha Van Helsing. It is totally engaging and utterly rapturous. In other words, this is Fleabag season 3.
Miss Americana. Hear me when I say: I’ve always been a little suspicious of Taylor Swift. Hear me when I also say: As is per usual, the people I am most leery of are the people God has made most fabulously. Meanwhile, I am the one missing out. This documentary addresses so much in 90 minutes. Kanye, the short-lived life of women in entertainment, and how Taylor is finally beginning to let go of what other people think. It’s worth watching just to witness her writing songs.
Kevin Hart: Don’t F**k This Up. If I could do whatever I wanted, I would lead a Lenten series with clips from Hart, Swift, and the Dolly Parton’s America podcast. Kevin Hart has seen redemption and failure on repeat. He’s worked so hard for what he has and then double-time to make sure he does not lose it. But honestly, that part feels less like an inspiration and more like a lesson on the fickleness of fame.
Bryan Jarrell
This Jungian Life: Last August, we profiled the writings of Jungian analyst Lisa Marchiano. I followed that rabbit hole down a ways and am still listening to This Jungian Life six months later, a podcast Marchiano cohosts. When analyzing a weekly topic though the lens of analytical psychology, they draw from fairytales that reflect a universal cultural subconscious, and the last 20 minutes are reserved for dream interpretations. Archetypes, complexes, and alchemical reactions abound. Jung was a big influence in the founding of AA, and if I ever have time, I’d love to work through the great Venn diagram of Jung and Law/Gospel theology; sometimes an episode of TJL is Law/Gospel gold.
The Repair Shop: A quiet show for those who enjoy low-stakes British reality TV, or for those lulling their newborns to sleep at night. A number of skilled artisans run a specialty repair shop that focuses on furniture, painting, and antique restoration. It’s remarkable to see family heirlooms restored to working order. The best part is the reveal — watching the elderly and grieving weep with joy as lovely memories return. Also: why aren’t Americans “chuffed”? What a great word!
The Dry Bar Comedy Channel: Not to be confused with quick service hair salon chain “Drybar,” the Dry Bar Comedy Channel is a collection of stand-up from a non-alcoholic comedy club in Provo, UT. I suspect Latter Day Saints are involved. And yet the comedy on this channel is clean, generally family-friendly, and, most importantly, really dadgum funny. Lots of 45-minute sets available for the price of a few advertisements.
The BoJack Horseman Season Six, Part II: Everyone’s favorite talking horse since Mr. Ed finishes his six-season run in a super max prison. BoJack Horseman is a flawed person with a demented upbringing and a terrible past of using and mistreating his friends and industry peers. He is also the protagonist of the show, and he’s wrestling with the consequence of both his upbringing and the actions they inspired. Do you root for him, as the protagonist, to have a happy ending, or are you satisfied that his ending isn’t melancholy-free? Or maybe the ending isn’t harsh enough for the wrongs he’s committed? The show is truly a tour de force in how to love a sinner.
Kendall Gunter
Poetry Unbound is an eight-minute frisson. Each episode gives me chills, like a little ecstasy. Pádraig Ó Tuama, a contemplative Irish poet, reads a poem, traces its exquisite echoes in his own ordinary experience, then reads it again, letting you hear it differently. It’s lectio divina for contemporary verse, with a transcendent soundtrack.
Can we take a moment to praise LibriVox? Sure, the narrators aren’t always perfect, but the majority are extraordinary. And even if they weren’t, they volunteered so much time to relieve my weary eyes from staring at a page or screen, so I’m not complaining. Woo! I’ve been listening to Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, a sexy epic poem with knights, witches, and loads of teachable moments from 1590. Hats off to all the readers, but especially to the guy who trills every r and affects a Renaissance accent to really give it that authentic flair. One more round for LibriVox!
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Darn it Sarah! If you make me start liking Taylor Swift, I’m gonna be super frustrated! Gotta admit though, she was amazing on SNL this past Fall. So I’m already down that path. I want to keep her in my “Bieber pop star circular file” …. but I know she’s a lot more than that…… looking forward to watching this. I can’t believe I’m saying that.