Keep Calm and Stream On

Since the shelter-at-home decree, there’s been chirping on the internet that rather than laze around in his jammies, stuff his cake hole with junk food, do puzzles, and drink endless cups of tea, William Shakespeare took advantage of being quarantined — the Black Death was a recurring event for Elizabethan-age humans — and wrote King Lear and Macbeth. Unlike the Bard, none of the sequestered Indy staff has (as of yet) begun crafting a tome for the ages. We have, however, been reading, viewing, and listening in abundance. Read on for a peek into our personal-media-ingesting habits.

Joe Woodard, Arts Writer
Reading: Old New Yorkers (especially short stories); a dog-eared copy of Bill Faulkner’s Mosquitos I found somewhere TV: Re-watching Curb Your Enthusiasm (and wondering if we fans are a bit sadistic) Film: Re-watching/re-loving Fellini’s masterful La Dolce Vita and being jealous of all of Marcello’s city and people gallivanting.
Music: Listening to Jeff Parker’s drippingly cool, vibe-jazzy Suite for Max Brown, and realizing that Big Thief’s “Not” is my favorite song. 

Amber White, Digital Assistant
Reading: I’m mostly reading board books like Everywhere Babies, Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, and P Is for Potty! Life is so fun when you’re trapped with a 2-year-old. I downloaded Untamed by Glennon Doyle in hopes of reading it, but most of my free time is spent pretending the floor is lava or that I have been frozen by Elsa, so I can’t make any promises.
TV: Peppa Pig is the show of choice in my house, so now the whole family speaks in English accents. I have also started Love Is Blind on Netflix, which I find fascinating and a little sad. 

Daniel Dreifuss, Photographer
TV: Letterkenny and What We Do in the Shadows on Hulu are both hilarious shows. Also, The Extreme Weather Files on Amazon Prime (only the last 30 minutes of episode five; it’s about the mudslide/Thomas Fire).

Brandi Rivera, Publisher
TV: If you haven’t downloaded Disney+, now is the time! Star Wars: The Clone Wars season seven, plus The Mandalorian. And Cars 1-3 (my 2-year-old’s favorites). 

Michelle Drown, Senior Editor
TV: Great Greek Myths (Amazon Prime): Great animation, family trees, and historic paintings, illustrations, and statues of the gods keep viewing interesting. And the fascinating stories are actual classics. Two seasons. Merlin (Netflix): An enchanting series about the legendary sorcerer’s early life as a manservant to Prince Arthur and the mischief he gets up to in Camelot. Perfect escapist fare. Five seasons.
Books: The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson. The latest from this best-selling author is a historical page-turner that details Winston Churchill’s early days as Prime Minister as he and his family, his colleagues, and the people of London prepare for — and live through — the Blitz. Larson also gives insight into the Reich’s assault strategies and how poor information and low expectations of the British RAF made it impossible for the Luftwaffe to attain aerial superiority. 

Stefanie McGinnis, Account Executive
TV: The early release of Frozen 2 on Disney+ has been a lifesaver for keeping 2-year-old Olivia occupied!

Jackson Friedman, Associate Editor
TV: I’m a few episodes into HBO’s McMillions documentary miniseries about the McDonald’s Monopoly game scam. It’s pretty great so far.

Tessa Reeg, Copy Editor
Podcasts: Red Handed, Your Own Backyard, and My Favorite Murder for my true-crime fix.
Music: After Hours by The Weeknd, Aurora by Breaking Benjamin, and the singles Red has been releasing from their upcoming album Declaration.
Books: I’ve been rereading the Nearly Gone duology by Elle Cosimano, but I’m very tempted to reread Harry Potter for the comfort factor.
Video Game: Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a wonderful distraction. The world might be scary right now, but at least I’m not lost in the Peruvian jungle!

Tyler Hayden, Senior Editor
Books: The Overstory by Richard Powers and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Audiobooks: Pet Sematary by Stephen King and Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
TV: Mindhunter on Netflix
Video Game: Call of Duty on Xbox

Brian Tanguay, writer
Books: Buck by MK Asante, a raw, gritty, brutally honest memoir about the author’s early life in Philadelphia. I’m about halfway through 2666 by Roberto Bolaño, a massive, complex novel on a par with the best work by Thomas Pynchon and Cormac McCarthy.
TV: The Plot Against America on HBO, an adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2004 novel of the same name. 

Scott Kaufman, Distribution
Films: Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, Zombie Strippers, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, and last but not least, Nude Nuns with Big Guns.

Camille Cimini-Fruin, Senior Advertising Executive
TV: Just finished all three seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens; and Ozark’s third season. At some point, we may revisit Breaking Bad.
Film: The Last Black Man in San Francisco

George Yatchisin, writer
TV: Schitt’s Creek. Horrible people end up redeemable; a fumbling family figures out how to love each other; there are so many great lines; and my god, Catherine O’Hara.

Tobi Feldman, Accounting Administrator
Films: Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Only the Animals, Okja, Shoplifters, Parasite
Books: I’m planning to read White Teeth by Zadie Smith, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith, If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, and The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Matt Kettmann, Senior Editor
TV: Ugly Delicious (Netflix), David Chang’s irreverently honest series about global food traditions; The Chef Show (Netflix) actor/director Jon Favreau and Kogi taco chef Roy Choi’s cooking and food travel series. Also, the Bon Appétit TV channel — blindfolded pros dissecting a dish and then remake it; learning 50 ways to cook an egg; amateurs making margaritas; and touring the woods in search of porcinis.
Books: Never Go Full Pai by Jeffrey Eng, which focuses on backpacking Southeast Asia; and All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, which drives into the heart of American politics, set nearly a century ago in Louisiana. 
Podcast: Gastropod: Every episode of Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley’s “podcast about food with a side of history and science” is utterly fascinating.