How Do You Get Attention For The Show That Has Everything?

Plus: The Emmys, 'Dear Evan Hansen,' and What Is Making Us Happy!

View this email online by Linda Holmes Welcome! It was the week when we learned that Chris Pratt isn't done playing cartoon characters yet. It was the week when Survivor came back to show off whether it's learned anything. And it was the week when the people who make television and film production run considered stopping. Let's get to it.  Opening Argument: How Do You Get Attention For The Show That Has Everything? Writing about this season of The Morning Show has really tuned me in to a phenomenon in television that, as a critic, is really vexing. When that show was announced, there was a certain wow to it: Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell ... that seemed like a big deal.  But in terms of ... I don't know, the feel of things, it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't a big deal the way Ted Lasso, which seemed to have a lot fewer obvious hooks, was. And as tempting as it is to say that's just because Ted Lasso is good, there have been countless examples of shows that are very good that don't get attention, and countless examples of shows that are bad that become very popular.  Streaming services proliferating the way they have, and the material they offer proliferating the way it does, it's so hard to get attention for anything. For example: I deeply deeply admire and was riveted to the series Maid, which comes to Netflix on October 1, but I have no idea whether anyone is going to pay attention to it. (Based on Stephanie Land's book of the same name, it's about a young single mom who leaves her boyfriend and tries to survive the grind of being poor.) We hope to cover it on the show, by the way, but it doesn't come with a big-name showrunner. And the lead actress, Margaret Qualley, is certainly someone a lot of people admire, but is she a star? On the other hand, what do you make of Dopesick, the upcoming Hulu series about the opioid epidemic that features Michael Keaton, Kaitlyn Dever, Rosario Dawson, Michael Stuhlbarg, Peter Sarsgaard ... that's a lot of big names. Does that mean it's going to be a big deal?  Well, maybe ask Nine Perfect Strangers, which has most of the DNA of the extremely buzzed-about Big Little Lies and similar star power: Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Regina Hall ... and yet, while certainly the show has its enthusiastic fans and viewership is now a black box into which it's hard to gain any insight, you certainly don't hear chatter about it the way you did about Big Little Lies. Apple TV+ It used to be that you could roughly expect that if something had a big enough set of names attached to it, it would get a certain ... I don't know, default level of response? That wasn't a good thing, by any means, but it brought a certain order to the navigation of TV. Now, you can have Chris Evans -- Captain America! -- in the Apple TV+ series Defending Jacob, and people say ... "Oh, yeah, I think I heard something about that."  When I started writing about TV, people still asked movie stars why on earth they would decide to do television. That is long in the past. It's harder to think of movie stars who don't do television at this point. The blooming of the limited series means television isn't a long commitment that blocks you from doing other things, while the changes in critical and cultural cachet means it won't diminish your star power.  But now, there are all these complicated factors that go into what makes people pay attention to new shows -- and, to be clear, that's a good thing. The new series Midnight Mass on Netflix is notable not as much because of its cast, which includes Zach Gilford (that's QB1 to you) and Hamish Linklater. It's notable because its creator, Mike Flanagan, made The Haunting Of Hill House and The Haunting Of Bly Manor, to which it's sort of a loose follow-up. This isn't just a matter of star showrunners and star creators; it's a kind of semi-franchise that has earned the respect of enough people that when they hear "Mike Flanagan, Netflix, horror," that's the same implicit endorsement it once would have been to hear "Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon."  Again, none of this is bad; it's just ... disorienting. There's an enormous graveyard of projects that seemed like they might have been Very Important and weren't; there's a similar collection on the flip side of things that didn't seem all that likely to get attention and did. I wish it were as simple as quality, but it's not. It's just a different set of drivers -- including, by the way, algorithms that let streaming services push and promote in new ways -- that set up the initial attention grab. Newsletter continues after sponsor message We Recommend: Dan Fienberg at The Hollywood Reporter wrote a sharp and entertaining review of that new Netflix series Midnight Mass, which does a fine job of capturing the show’s fundamental … wackiness. You still have time to catch up with HBO’s Succession before it returns on October 17. I’ll just say: It’s my favorite drama series.  There’s a new season of The Great British Baking Show on Netflix! It’s time again to try to correctly make cream puffs! What We Did This Week! John Rogers/Amazon Studios On Monday morning, very very early, Glen and Aisha and I recapped Sunday night's Emmys. I also wrote about the ceremony and a few takeaways from it.  On Tuesday, Greta Johnsen and I recommended some fiction audiobooks you might enjoy. On Wednesday, Glen and Mark Blankenship talked about the Amazon production of Everybody's Talking About Jamie.  On Thursday, Aisha welcomed Christina Lee along with Tre'vell Anderson and Jarrett Hill to talk about the Lil Nas X album Montero.  And on Friday, Glen and I wrestled with Dear Evan Hansen, alongside Cate Young.  Glen wrote about the show Star Wars: Visions. I recapped an emotional episode of Ted Lasso. And I recapped a very weird episode of The Morning Show that represents a big pivot in the show's central area of concern. What's Making Us Happy!! Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: What's making Glen happy: Alexander Chee’s essay “The Afterlives of E.M. Forster” in The New Republic What's making Cate happy: The L Word What's making Linda happy: The Night the Lights Went Out by Drew Magary Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: pchh@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Pop Culture Happy Hour emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy

Fall Into A Fresh Perspective

Plus, tips for embracing rest and hitting the daily reset button

View this email online Ana Galvañ for NPR Friends, Fall has officially arrived, and with it, our dreams of fall sports, pumpkin spice, sweater weather and gathering together for warm food and warm hugs. Also likely on the forecast? Lots of feelings.  On the upside, experts are cautiously optimistic that the Delta variant has nearly reached its peak, with models showing COVID cases declining steadily now through spring. That’s not quite cause for celebration, but we’ll laud this almost-good news (along with all of the community-wide efforts out there) all the same.  On the flip side of the coin, burnout seems to be running rampant these days. And it makes sense — it’s not just leaves that have been changing this season! School nurses are overwhelmed as they try to keep COVID out of classrooms, health care workers keep having to find new ways to stay afloat, students facing Zoom fatigue have stopped asking for help and are resorting to cheating, and all over the country, we’re just feeling beat. With so much going on in the world, taking time to snuggle up on the couch for a streaming binge or clock out for a movie date might feel like a guilty pleasure. Maybe thoughts of cozy clothes and warm cider mid-conference call are weighing heavy on your conscience. Or maybe your body is screaming for that afternoon nap, but that voice in your head calling you lazy is just too loud. Lucky for all of us, laziness does not exist. At least, not according to social psychologist and author Devon Price.  Newsletter continues after sponsor message “Laziness is usually a warning sign from our bodies and our minds that something is not working and we really need to break,” says Price, “The human body is so incredible at signaling when it needs something. But we have all learned to ignore those signals as much as possible because they're a threat to our productivity and our focus at work.” The “laziness lie,” says Price, tells us that there’s always something more we could and should be doing — be it at home, at work or in our relationships — and that our worth is based on our productivity. It’s time to unlearn that. Instead of seeing laziness as a deficit or something that needs to be fixed, we should listen to the call that it’s time for a change.  And while it’s not realistic for everyone to skip out for a PSL and a walk around the block as needed, Price says it is possible to set ourselves up for success and make room for rest whenever possible.  Always a victim of the 3 p.m. slump? Don’t beat yourself up. Instead, plan your workday around your rhythm as best you can, and if possible, make a little room for joy when you know you’ll need it most. Your body and maybe even your coworkers will thank you. Listen to the episode here Rest easy, friends. It’s good for you! — Andee Tagle, Life Kit producer Thanks for sticking with us! Watch this space for next week's episodes on:    📚 Raising A Reader | Suicide Prevention | ⛱️ FAFSA Application Tips Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: LifeKit@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Daily News, Code Switch, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Life Kit emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy

the longest constitution in the world

And making it less racist...

View this email in your browser WELLNESS CHECK This edition leans... Hey Below the Fold fam, We know we sent a long, negative story yesterday. So with our promise of keeping News Wellness always in mind, we're sharing a short, positive story today! And it's full of interesting facts about the length of U.S. state constitutions... TODAY'S STORY Alabama takes first step towards removing their constitution's racist language Sun Sep 19 Alabama has the longest state constitution in America — by 10x. It all started in 1901 when the entire constitution was rewritten with explicit goals to establish White supremacy in the state. In doing so, a rule was written requiring an amendment to the constitution every time a law in the state — even one specific to only one county — is changed. For example, a constitutional amendment would need to be written for something as simple as prohibiting the overgrowth of weeds in a county. The resulting Alabama constitution is three times longer than the world's next longest (in India) at approximately 389,000 words. And now, a new policy effort hopes to not only make this document easier to navigate, but also remove explicitly racist language such as: Section 256, which states that children are to be segregated in the school system, although already outlawed by the landmark Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education. Section 259, which includes requirements that disenfranchise Black voters, such as literacy tests and poll taxes. Section 32, which essentially says slavery is permissible as punishment for a crime. This section has served as a loop-hole for free prison labor, mostly of Black and Brown individuals. Similar language exists in the 13th Amendment of the U.S. constitution, also with calls for removal. While many say these changes will unlikely change how the state already operates, politicians hope the symbolic move encourages the establishment of more businesses in the state and economic growth. But getting to this point hasn't been easy with two failed attempts already. Alabama voters will make a final decision on the revised draft next Fall. If successful, Alabama would be on trend with other states removing racist symbols and language from founding documents, such as in Utah, Nebraska, and Rhode Island last year. 🎬 Take Action   Equal Justice Initiative has a petition moving to totally abolish slavery in the U.S. by amending the 13th Amendment. Post Tweet Share   RESOURCE CENTER New York Times: (Where we found this story) 5 days old | 11 minutes long The Life of Law: 1901 changes to constitution 7 years old | 18 minutes long Alabama Daily News: Committee discusses slavery language 3 weeks old | 6 minutes long Public Integrity: States removing racist language 1 year old | 11 minutes long Ballotpedia: State constitution lengths 3 minutes long Washington Monthly War on 13th Amendment 5 months old | 22 minutes long   ICYMI (AGAIN) Yesterday: Environmental defenders are being killed at alarming rates Wednesday: The good, bad, and ugly of tech monitoring drivers Tuesday: TikTok's new automated technology ASCII-ING ABOUT THE NEWS (\ \'\ \'\ __________ / '| ()_________) \ '/ \ ~~~~~~~~ \ \ \ ~~~~~~ \ ==). \__________\ (__) ()__________) Preamble? More like Pre-ramble, am I right?! Art Credit: Below the Fold Copyright © 2021 Below the Fold, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: Below the Fold 2261 Market St # 4135 San Francisco, CA 94114-1612 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.