It’s time for another round of things on my recent radar that I think are worth sharing!

📺 Film, TV, and Adaptations

Bring back critiques

"If this is what it takes to get a rom-com greenlit these days, maybe we should just let them die. Death with dignity is surely a better fate for the genre than fascist capitulation." We are living in some kind of time when Marya E. Gates’ take-down film critique of One Night Only — a romance set in a world where extra-marital sex is legal one night a year — was a fun moment on social media. My other favorite thing surrounding this film are the headlines it is producing like One Night Only sends itself to horny jail.

Love this

"Following in the footsteps of Phoebe Snow, Aretha Franklin and Boys II Men, Brandy will sing the theme song for A Different World." I will absolutely be watching when the series drops September 24th.

Roxane Gay gets Lifetime adaptation

In 2017 Roxane Gay published a powerful and fantastic memoir about sexual violence, self-worth, and bodies deemed unacceptable. Lifetime has adapted Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body which will premiere September 5th at 8/7c.

Finally

Coyote vs. Acme will hit theaters August 28th and the reviews are great: Nearly Shelved Looney Tunes Film Starring Will Forte and John Cena Is One of the Best Live-Action/Animated Hybrids Ever.

If you like an underappreciated TV show

Time put together a list of The 50 Most Underappreciated Shows of the 21st Century and I cannot recommend enough Minx, Sort Of, We Are Lady Parts, and With Love. Might actually go rewatch some shows now.

📚 Books

Read comic books for free

“Comicbooks.com has opened an online reading room stocked with more than 20,000 digitized and restored golden-age comics, with several hundred more issues added every day.” via Open Culture, Read 20,000+ Golden Age Comic Books Free Online: Superheroes, Westerns, Romance, Horror, and More

Cancel culture where?

“In 2021, Image Comics declared it was no longer working with writer Warren Ellis due to very serious sexual misconduct allegations made against him. In a public statement, the publisher said it would only reconsider it if the writer made "amends to the satisfaction of all involved." Now, five years later, it's working with Ellis on new material. It's unclear if Ellis has made amends to the extent Image Comics has said they would require, or if something else changed behind the scenes.” via Popverse, What changed? Image Comics is working with Warren Ellis again after publicly cutting ties in 2021 due to sexual misconduct allegations

What books shaped Barack Obama?

On September 24th you can hear Barack Obama chat with guests (still unannounced) on his new 6-episode podcast, A Great Book with Barack Obama. In case you want to read along, the books are The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré.

🎨 Happy Little Trees

I want to lick the floor

“Surface brand Forbo Flooring's Marmoleum Cocoa flooring makes use of unwanted cocoa shells – an oft-wasted by-product of the cocoa industry.” via Dezeen, Marmoleum Cocoa flooring by Forbo Flooring

Art will never die

A Movie Theater Didn’t Get Sent ‘Spider-Man’ Posters, So an Employee Drew His Own

Upcoming books/ recently acquired galleys I’m excited to read

Both and Neither: A Memoir and History of Gender by Alex Marzano-Lesnevich (February 2027)

Portrait of a Haunting by Madison Tyler Nelson (October 2026)

While They All Watched by Sulari Gentill (March 2027)

Serious Music by Percival Everett (March 2027)

I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell by Mackenzie Reed (September 2026)