If you’re anything like me, you woke up this morning to a calendar pop-up saying that Flag Day is tomorrow, June 14. You probably know as much about Flag Day as I know about JoJo Siwa—I’ve heard of her, I know she has something to do with music, but I assume she’s for other people, so I’ve never looked into it further. But read on if you’re curious about Flag Day—where it came from, who celebrates it, why it exists, and what it all means.
What even is Flag Day?
Celebrated annually on June 14, Flag Day marks the anniversary of the 1777 Continental Congress decree solidifying the design of the American Flag with these inspiring words that all school children know by heart: “Resolved: That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed June 14 to be Flag Day in 1916, and in 1949, Harry Truman made it official by signing the observance into law. A single day wasn’t patriotic enough though; in 1966, Congress declared that Flag Day falls in the middle of Flag Week. Take that, Communists.
Do I get to take a day off for Flag Day?
You don’t get time off for Flag Day (and don’t even think about Flag Week). Honoring the design of our flag is important for all Americans, but it is not important enough for a proper holiday, so the mail still gets delivered, federal offices and banks remain open, and there’s no three-day weekend. I think we can all agree that this is a rip-off.
Where did Flag Day come from?
In 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand, an 18-year-old teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin assigned his students to write an essay about what the American flag means to them. Cigrand quit teaching soon after and left Wisconsin to become a dentist, but he never forgot his patriotic busywork assignment, and spent years lobbying the U.S. government to make the day into a holiday.
In a Flag Day speech in 1917, President Wilson tied the holiday to the necessity of sending American troops to Europe to fight in World War I. This was the first time the American military fought overseas, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think the real reason Flag Day exists is not due to a patriotic Wisconsin teacher’s writing assignment, but because of a campaign to sway public opinion to support America’s involvement in World War I.
How do people celebrate Flag Day?
According to military.com, “Flag Day is celebrated with parades, essay contests, ceremonies, and picnics sponsored by veterans groups, schools, and groups like the National Flag Day foundation.” I find this dubious. I love ceremonies and essay contests, but I have never attended any kind of Flag Day celebration, and neither have any of my thousands of friends, colleagues, and well-wishers.
The do celebrate in Waubeka, Wisconsin, ground-zero for Flag Day. This year, the town will be hosting a parade, a fireworks display, and a musical performance by Eric Barbieri And The Rockin' Krakens.
Who designed the American Flag?
We honor the flag on Flag Day, but we don't honor the graphic designer who invented it. The Continental Congress’ “here’s what our flag is going to be” proclamation doesn’t go into a lot of detail about how the alternating red and white stripes and stars should be arranged, so technically, you could put put ‘em anywhere, but someone came up with the design we all know and tolerate. We just don’t know for sure who it was.
It almost definitely wasn’t Betsy Ross. She did sew flags during the American Revolution, but the story that President Washington presented Ross with a rough sketch that she changed around to make our flag isn’t supported by any evidence beyond stories told in the Ross family, so historians are like, “nah."
The leading suspect for flag designer is Francis Hopkinson, a founding father, poet, playwright, and musician who also had an eye for design. Among other iconic pieces of Americana, he created the Seal of the United States (and by extension the logo of The Ramones).
Hopkinson wrote a letter to the Board of Admiralty in 1780 requesting payment for designing the U.S. flag. He asked for a “quarter cask of the public wine,” but the request was denied, partly because the board said other, unnamed, people also worked on the flag design, and partly because the nation was broke.
Don’t we celebrate the flag on July 4? Isn’t that enough already?
July 4 is for celebrating our nation’s independence and our nation’s general awesomeness. Flag Day is for celebrating the symbol of our nation’s general awesomeness. Don’t worry about mixing it up though; It's a free country so they won’t throw you in jail for it—YET.
Back in April, I examined the rumor from Donald Trump's fraud trial that the ex-president farts a lot in court. Because I am fair and balanced, this week I'll be examining the rumor that current President Joe Biden pooped his pants at the annual D-Day remembrance on June 6 in France.
At the ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing, President Biden delivered a fiery defense of democracy and a searing indictment of extremism and autocracy, using the occasion to link the sacrifices of the past to the challenges we face today.
Yeah, yeah, democracy vs. tyranny, blah blah blah. The important question is "Did Joe Biden poop his pants after the speech?"
Examining the evidence
The source of the D-Day poop theory is a 13-second clip posted by the Republican Party that shows Biden crouching down slightly. It's labeled "Awkward" with the "grimacing" emoji (surprisingly not the poop emoji)
But is there really no way? Is this actually insane?
The counter-evidence
If you fast-forward through the footage of Biden speech, and skip the parts where he honors the few remaining people who fought to end tyranny 80 years ago, then let the clip play for about one second after the RNC's clip ends, you can see that the President is reaching back to find the armrest of his (not-imaginary) chair before he sits.
The President doesn't seem to be voiding his bowels in the clip, but here's the video. The moment in question arrives about four hours and 15 minutes in:
Conclusion: President Joe Biden did not poop himself
While no one can say for sure whether anyone is or is not pooping themselves at any given moment, there is no evidence that Biden pooped himself at the 80th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landing.
It's a shame that whoever writes the RNC's Twitter account didn't have an extra two seconds to look at what happened immediately after the clip they posted. If they had, they would have thought, "Oh, wait, this isn't awkward. It's pretty normal for a guy sitting down, actually. I won't post this tweet because I don't want to mislead anyone." This would have saved people at lot of time and worry over the president's digestive and mental health.
I'm sure the RNC and the many, many cranks who spread this rumor online have been crafting their apology tweets with such care that they haven't had time to take down all the tweets they posted spreading this lie.
Has Joe Biden ever pooped his pants?
OK, so maybe Joe Biden didn't soil himself this time, but what about all the other times? Like last week, or a few years ago? That's a trickier question. While there are unsourced online rumors that Joe Biden once pooped himself while meeting the Pope, there are no credible sources, or even shaky partisan sources, that put forth any evidence that this incident occurred.
As far as publicly available information goes, Biden's shorts seem clean. Unlike the last president, Joe Biden's physician publicly releases his health summary regularly. The most recent one, dated February 28, indicates that Joe Biden suffers from sleep apnea, takes medication to lower his cholesterol, occasionally suffers from acid reflux, and suffers from seasonal allergies. No indication of anything that would cause spontaneous pants-pooping.
A doctor's note can't prove Biden doesn't poop his pants though. The whole "impossible to prove a negative" thing gets in the way. Plus: Dude's been alive a long time, and shit happens, so it's a possibility. But if President Joe Biden has pooped his pants, he's in good company. America's heroic astronauts routinely poop in their pants. So do marathon runners, and rock stars who don't want to be drafted.
And what about babies? They poop their pants all the time, and everyone loves babies. Joe Biden (I assume) was once a baby, so he surely pooped his pants like every day, and they didn't even have disposable diapers back in 1858.
In conclusion: Democracy is fragile and beautiful, and we probably don't deserve the tiny scraps of it we have left.
This week we're talking generational conflict! Gen Z and Millennials are fighting over Eminem (kind of), a YouTuber has been elected to the European parliament, and the game industry keeps remaking games for dads. The only thing we can all agree on is that Generation Alpha consumes disturbing memes.
Beyond Skibidi Toilet: the nonsense memes of Generation Alpha
Generation Alpha—kids between one and 10—are too young to have a fully formed generational identity, but the growing popularity of Gen A memes gives a clue what they’re about, and it’s all nonsense. Where older generations (like 16-year-olds) might gravitate toward art meant to express something, Gen A seems enamored with consuming, spreading, and creating meaninglessness.
The most well-known example of Gen A gibberish is Skibidi Toilet, a YouTube cartoon series with hundreds of millions of Gen A views. Skibidi resists attempts at explanation. But Skibidi is ancient—over a year old—and newer memes are even more inscrutable.
There’s E-E-EI, a short video of a piece of meat singing “Vacation" by Dirty Heads with the lyrics translated to “"E e ei, Imon vagayxon, Evrizingou dei, Cus ailov mawackupaxien.” Although the original video has been taken down from TikTok, responses and remixes crowd Gen-A spaces. They are empty of meaning, but over 11,000 videos using the song have been posted on TikTok alone, including videos like this one that feels like an avant-garde experimental film, except it’s been viewed 1.7 million times, which has never happened to an actual avant-garde film.
The current king of nonsense is TikToker Razi, who has nearly eight million followers on an account that is just videos of gibberish covers of popular songs. Their Gegagedigedagedago video (a cover of “Cotton Eye Joe”) has over 30 million plays alone, and resulted in a supposed three billion listens to the original track, and many, many videos, like this chicken nugget from RoBlox singing the song.
My initial thought about these memes was, “what’s the big deal? Everyone likes funny noises,” but I spent several hours actually watching Gen Alpha gibberish videos today, and it felt like witnessing the collective unconscious of humanity glitching out. Brain rot is too mild a term: It's what you’d see on your monitor right before a terminal error state is reached and the entire mainframe is hard-rebooted. I'm not usually in the "what about the children?" camp, but the thought of a five-year-old spending hours every day consuming this is beyond depressing. I hope I just feel this way because I'm old and I don't get it.
Is Gen Z cancelling Eminem?
Rapper/NFT-aficionado Eminem has released a new video in which his past self travels through time and confronts the world in 2024. In the video, Eminem finds the present world lacking.
The song is the latest salvo in a long-running imaginary war between Gen Z and millennials over the rapper. Many millennials seem to feel that Gen Z is trying to cancel Em for his controversial takes. I asked my teenage son about this and he said, "No one is trying to cancel Eminem; we just think he's corny."
He's right. Even a Gen Xer like me can see that Eminem is corny as hell. I can only think of one thing cornier than Eminem: millennials talking about how Gen Z is canceling Eminem.
What do "glizzy" and “fax, no printer” mean?
The ever-changing jargon of young people has spat out these two interesting new slang words:
Glizzy: Glizzy means hot dog. The word was originally slang for “gun” or “Glock,” but it seems to have shifted in meaning. The theory is that the extended magazine for a Glock looks like a hot dog, hence glizzy = hot dog. (Beats “weiner,” anyway.)
Fax, no printer: This is a colorful way of saying, “I am telling the truth.” Because “facts” and “fax” are pronounced the same, you might say “fax, no printer” instead of “facts, no cap.”
YouTuber elected to European Parliament
Fidias Panayiotou has 2.6 million followers on his YouTube channel where he posts videos of things like spending 10 days buried alive. The 24-year-old’s latest stunt was running for the European Union’s parliament as an independent from Cyprus. He says he wasn’t actually trying to win the election and doesn’t know how parliament even works, but Panayiotou received almost 20% of the vote, enough to win the office.
“This maybe means the world has reached a moment at which a new chapter in the book of democracy begins,” Panayiotou said.
Whether that’s true or not, Panayiotou isn’t the first joke candidate to win a seat on the EU parliament. That honor goes to Di Partie (“The Party”), a satirical political party founded by the editors of German humor magazine Titanic. Die Partie, whose slogans include ""Education starts with 'E'" and "A unicorn for everyone,” won its first parliament seat in 2014, and picked up a second seat this year.
What is a “hot rodent boyfriend?”
Dudes who wonder what women are really looking for might be surprised by the new type of guy women say they want. The trend is "hot rodent" men—guys who resemble mice, rats, voles, and/or chinchillas, both physically and spiritually. Often mentioned pop culture examples include Timothée Chalamet, Jeremy Allen White, Barry Keoghan, and Matty Healy. The two original rodent men, though, are actors Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, the stars of Challengers. As the below post from X/Twitter user Francesca Fedele points out, they do look like cute little mice.
Credit: Francesca Fedele/X
From that post, the entire genre of rodent men gradually took form. Rodent men are, generally speaking, more svelte than muscular, with angular faces, and a certain not-conventionally-attractive attractiveness. Personality-wise, rodent men lean toward sensitivity, wittiness, and intelligence instead of brawn. Unlike loyal-but-dumb Golden Retriever boyfriends, hot rodents boys are good at finding the cheese no matter where it is in the maze.
These are games for people's dads. The first Doom came out 30 years ago, and the Call of Duty franchise is old enough to be a fan of Eminem. So I went looking for the kinds of games kids are excited about. It turns out, they like games about chickens.
YouTube channel SMii7Y posted a Let’s Play video of a game called Eggstraction, “the game where you play as a chicken and try to steal golden eggs from a farmer,” and over a million people viewed it on its first half-day online. Sure, more people clicked on the COD trailer, but playing the chicken game seems like it would be about 1,000 times more fun than the X-TREME guns and guts borefest of another damn Call of Duty game.
I hate to admit it, but I’m an impulse buyer, with closets full of little electronic gadgets to prove it. Shopping events like Amazon Prime Day are bad for me. Even though I know Amazon is using all kinds of manipulation techniques to get me to buy things I don’t need, it still works—I made an Amazon impulse purchase while researching an article about how you shouldn’t impulse buy on Amazon. But this year, I’m going to resist my worst impulses by setting my own prices, and only choosing things I already wanted to buy before Amazon’s big day.
How to “set your own prices” on Amazon
Obviously you can’t make Amazon lower its prices at your whim, but you can set up an alert system to let you know if anything you want to buy dips in price enough for it to make sense for you to purchase it. It’s easy to do, too. Below is a step-by-step guide to setting your own personal maximum price for any item sold by Amazon:
Identify the items you’d like to purchase and throw them into your Amazon wishlist. Make sure your wishlist is set to “public.”
Click “import wishlist.” (You’ll have to copy and paste the URL from your Amazon wishlist.)
Once you’ve done that, CamelCamelCamel lets you add specific maximum prices (or percentage drops) for everything in your wishlist. Enter the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for each item in your list, and then you can tell it to send you an email when any item’s price drops to your set spending limit.
Ignore all the Prime Big Deal Days hype and wait for the email alert letting you know that your chosen items have become cheap enough for you to buy.
Spend the day feeling smug and agree with yourself that you actually are the smartest person alive. Don’t even look at Amazon’s website. Seriously. Well, maybe just for a second. This time you’ll have the will power to avoid buying another chocolate fountain or a self-stirring mug with “SELF STIRRING MUG” written on the side, right?
More ideas for imposing limits on your spending
If you want to take tech-based shopping guardrails beyond the basic "time to buy" alert system described above, here are some ideas.
Block ads: If you're the type of person who responds to online ads, you can block a ton of them with a simple tool or app. Here's our overview of the best ad-blocking software.
Track your expenses: Whether you do it with pencil and paper or use an app, seeing how much you're spending can be a powerful motivation to be more thrifty.
Save up for something: Saving up for something in the future—a vacation, an electric surfboard, whatever—can make it easier to resist spending now.
Hit your internal pause button: If you can make a habit of waiting a day or two between thinking "I want those sunglasses" and entering your credit card numbers, you may decide your old sunglasses are just fine.
Consider professional help: It's normal and common to sometimes have a little difficulty controlling spending, but researchers say about 6% of Americans suffer from compulsive buying disorder which may be part of a larger psychological problem. So if your spending is driving you deep into debt, you're suffering real-world consequences based on your buying habits, or you just feel like shopping might be a problem for you, talk to a professional.
Amazon’s Prime Day (days, really) has been a capitalist tradition since 2015. This year, the mega-retailer will be offering discounts on thousands of products of all kinds to Amazon Prime members for two days, probably in the middle of July.
In spite of the many online guides about how to take advantage of Prime Day savings, there’s only one piece of advice you actually need if you want to save money: Don’t buy anything you weren’t planning to buy already, and if you do find a bargain on something you wanted anyway, make sure it’s actually a bargain.
Only buy things on Prime Day that you were planning to buy already
Leaving aside the thornier issue of whether you should buy anything from Amazon on any day, you should only buy what you are already planning to on Prime Day because Amazon wants you to do the opposite. The entire sales promotion is designed to encourage you to purchase things you don’t want or need, and to get you to sign up for an Amazon Prime membership.
The summer months are, traditionally, the worst time of the year for online retailers. Customer engagement and sales are low, and people are more likely to be outside doing summertime things instead of impulse buying on their laptops. Amazon’s summer sale is an attempt to drive those numbers upwards by creating a “ticking clock” and a fake sense of scarcity—that’s why “lightning deals” have limited time windows and limited supplies. They’re taking advantage of people’s fear of missing out on bargains that often aren’t bargains at all.
Amazon Prime Day bargains can be misleading
Credit: Stephen Johnson/Keepa
In the chart above (made with Keepa, an extension that compares Amazon prices over time) you can see the volatility of the price of Amazon’s 4th Gen Echo Dot during the few months before the last Prime Day in 2022. While the “Lightning Deal” price of $19.99 is low, Amazon can only say it’s “60% off” because the non-sale price was raised to $49.99 from the $27.99 price they were charging in the middle of June. So it’s really more like 28% off—not a bad deal, but not the “I must buy this even though I don’t want it” size bargain it seems like.
If you happen to be looking for 4th Gen Echo Dot in 2024, the base price is still $49.99, and it hasn't gone on sale since November.
If you are going into this Amazon summer sale with open eyes and a steely heart, determined to resist attempts to make foolish purchases, below are steps you should take to maximize your chance of success and keep yourself from impulse-buying.
Use an Amazon Prime free trial
You won’t be able to take advantage of any Prime Day offers without signing up for a membership to Amazon Prime. The service costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year, but they offer a 30-day free trial for first time users, so you can sign up, get your Instant Pot, and then cancel it for nothing. (Just set an alarm so you don’t forget.)
Amazon offers a six-month Amazon Prime trial period for students, and it’s half price, $7.49 a month, after that. If you’re on EBT or Medicaid, Prime costs $6.99 through Amazon Access and offers all the benefits of a traditional Prime membership and a one-month free trial for new users.
Use Amazon’s wishlist to your advantage
You can use Amazon’s wish list feature as a way of maintaining buyer discipline—just go to Amazon’s list page, create a new list called “Things I was going to buy anyway,” and add the items you hope will go on sale. Tell yourself you’ll only buy these items, no matter how big the discount is on LED lightbulbs.
Take advantage of Amazon’s promotional offers
During Prime Days past, Amazon offered a variety of promotions to get free credits to buy Amazon products. Customers could earn credits by choosing slower shipping, attending certain movies, using different Amazon services, and jumping through other hoops. Research and take advantage of these deals to shave even more off Amazon Prime Day prices. These can sometimes be a pain, but if you want to shave off a few bucks, it might be worth it to you.
Amazon hasn't announced any special promotions for Summer Prime Day 2024, but when they do, we'll let you know.
Set your own prices
Retail comparison tools can be used to make sure your Amazon bargain is actually a bargain. For example, CamelCamelCamel provides price histories of every item on Amazon and will send you an email when your selected products fall to a specific price. You can import your “Things I was going to buy anyway” wishlist into CamelCamelCamel, then set the maximum price you’ll pay for your goods. That’ll give you the freedom to ignore Amazon entirely during Prime Day unless you get the “buy” signal in your inbox.
Compare against other retailers
Even if the thing you were planning to buy already shows up as a sale item on Amazon at a price you like, don’t rush to click “buy.” It still might not be the best deal possible. Because of the popularity of Prime Day, other retailers (Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and more) have been offering their own sales promotions to compete with Amazon Prime Day, so check the prices at those retailers before pulling the trigger.
You might want to wait until the fall
If you can handle waiting, you might get a better deal in a few months. As much as Prime Day is hyped, the biggest retail savings and markdowns are almost always during the Christmas shopping season. Black Friday savings are, overall, likely to be bigger than Prime Day savings, unless you’re buying things like school supplies and outdoor furniture that usually aren’t put on sale in November.
Amazon is excellent at capitalism. The ubiquitous online retailer uses every psychological trick imaginable (and some we probably can’t imagine) to maximize its profits, and one of the most powerful tools in the company’s arsenal is controlling the price of products during sales like its Prime Day promotions. The next one is expected in mid-July.
A lot goes into how Amazon determines its prices, of course—inflation, supply and demand, and so on—but “making you think you’re getting an amazing deal” is an obvious motivation during promotions like Prime Day. To be fair, this is nothing new, and the tactic is used by most/all retail sellers, but, judging by their success, Amazon seems particularly good at it.
Consumers hoping to buy things that are worth the price they pay for them have a powerful, easy-to-use weapon that would have been nearly impossible to use before the internet: the ability to easily check the history of the price of a product.
How to check price history on Amazon
Credit: Stephen Johnson/Keepa
In the chart above (made with Keepa, a Chrome extension that compares Amazon prices over time) you can see the volatility of the price of an Amazon Fire TV Stick over the last year. While Amazon says the list price of the item is $39.99, as you can see, it's "on sale" as often as it's not, which stretches the common understanding of what a "list price" and a "sale" are.
Amazon offers the item for a lower price so often, you'd be foolish to buy it for the list price, but the Prime Day price of $24.99 isn't the best deal either. It's not lower than the price on most other "sale" days. The best time to buy a Fire Stick TV is around Christmas: You could have picked one up for $19.99 for almost the entire month of November.
Credit: Keepa
The same broad principle applies to non-Amazon-made products, usually, although the prices of third-party products tend to be less volatile than Amazon products. Consider the Bissell, 2747A PowerFresh Vac & Steam All-in-One Vacuum. It was listed for the Prime Day price of $129.99 in 2023. That’s 30% off the stated "list price" of $185.39. A great deal, until you look a little closer.
If you had purchased this vac back in April, it would have cost you $153.39, so you’d really only save a little over 15% by buying had you bought it on Prime Day, not the advertised 30%. Anyone unlucky enough to have purchased this vacuum between May 1 and May 3, or May 10 through May 13, 2024 paid $289.99, a full $136.60 more than the lowest price.
How to check a product’s price history before you buy a product on Amazon
Because Prime Day deals aren’t posted until their specific time window, you can’t tell in advance how much of a discount you’ll get on a specific product. But if you’re buying something on Prime Day, you can check the price history instantly before you purchase something.
I’m sure Amazon would rather keep the history of its prices secret, but since they’re public, people have made sites, apps, and extensions that collect pricing history and allow you to comparison shop over time. I use the Keepa extension for Chrome because I like how it puts the price history of items right on every Amazon page you browse, but that’s not the only simple-to-use, free Amazon-specific price history tracking option. Others like Camelcamelcamel and Earny do basically the same thing with slightly different bells and whistles—I use CamelCamelCamel to get alerts when an item I’m tracking drops to a price I find acceptable. If you don’t already, you should use one of these tools before believing the hype of Amazon’s advertised discounts.
On April 1, the World Health Organization was informed of the first case of an avian influenza (H5N1) transmission from a mammal to a human—a Texas cattle worker caught bird flu from a cow infected with the disease. His symptoms were mild, a case of pink eye, but any virus “jumping species,” particularly to humans, is alarming.
Health authorities began monitoring people who come in contact with cattle and poultry regularly, and the CDC advised anyone at risk to use protective equipment and report any illnesses. The virus was discovered in milk too, but pasteurization kills it, and of course health authorities very strongly advise against drinking unpasteurized milk. So guess what more and more people are doing.
In the wake of the discovery of milk infected with bird flu, sales of unpasteurized, “raw” milked spiked, rising between 21% and 65% compared to last years sales at the same time, according to NielsenIQ. Here’s how Mark McAfee, owner of Raw Farm USA in Fresno, California, explained it to the Associated Press, “Anything that the FDA tells our customers to do, they do the opposite.” Which is just great.
Some raw milk advocates argue that raw milk is perfectly safe, but some are consuming potentially diseased milk because it might make them sick. No one has contracted the disease from drinking milk, but that’s not stopping people from trying: McAfee told the LA Times (dude gets around) that “his phone has been ringing off the hook with ‘customers asking for H5N1 milk because they want immunity from it.’”
Wait, people are trying to get bird flu?
It’s hard to follow the logic here, but trying to catch bird flu to keep from catching bird flu in the future suggests they want to expose themselves to a milder form of a disease in order to build up an immunity to it. Like a vaccine, except uncontrolled, untested, and potentially harmful.
Matthew Motta, who studies health misinformation at Boston University, explained the phenomenon like this: “It’s not that people are stupid or ignorant or that they don’t know what the science is… they’re motivated to reject it on the basis of partisanship, their political ideology, their religion, their cultural values.”
I don’t know, Matthew Motta who studies health misinformation at Boston University, rejecting pasteurization based on partisanship seems pretty foolish to me.
Let’s talk about pasteurization, yeah?
I like pasteurization because I never have to think about it. Milk is pasteurized by heating it to 161 F for 15 seconds. This kills the vast majority of bacteria, yeast, molds, and viruses present. We’ve been pasteurizing milk since the late 19th century, and it works really well: in the 1920s, milk-borne pathogens accounted for about a quarter of illnesses in the United States. They’re nearly unheard of in 2024. Here’s a guy in a tie explaining it on TikTok.
Some people, however, believe that the virtues of raw milk outweigh the benefits of pasteurization, and that’s it’s actually safer than pasteurized milk. According to advocacy organization The Raw Milk Institute, raw milk is more nutritious, helps with lactose intolerance, asthma, eczema, allergies, and more. The Raw Milk Institute’s evidence consists of “numerous first-hand reports,” as opposed to scientific research, because there is no reliable evidence that supports any of the raw milk advocates’ claims. Here are some people in t-shirts explaining it on TikTok.
Raw milk and the law
Whether you can legally sell raw milk varies from state to state. Over here in freedom loving California, it’s perfectly legal to buy and sell raw milk. The totalitarian socialists in Alabama, though, have outlawed it for human consumption.
In the last month, the state governments of Iowa, Louisiana, and Delaware have either passed or are trying to pass laws to legalize the sale of raw milk for human consumption. Lawmakers cite the potential benefits to dairy farmers and the concept of “food freedom,” letting people eat and drink whatever they want.
Well, why can’t people drink whatever milk they want?
I like freedom, and I would normally encourage raw milk fans, people from the "wellness community," doomsday preppers, anti-FDA activists, this guy, really anyone I don’t approve of, to drink as much raw milk as they like. Go nuts. Feed it to your children. Give yourself bovine tuberculosis. Enhance your gut biome with a raw milk enema. See if I care.
But the recent appearance of bird flu in milk changes the equation. While there are no reported cases of anyone contracting bird flu through drinking milk, and no reported cases of human-to-human transfer either, both are possible, and every transmission of a virus into a new host (human, animal, or whatever) increases the chances that it will mutate into something worse. Something more contagious, that spreads from person to person.
The positive side of cow-based transmission of bird flu
Given the COVID-era hysteria over masks, I’m not hopeful that members of the raw milk community will weigh the competing values of freedom and responsibility and decide to inconvenience themselves even slightly because it could help another person not die. But it is encouraging that so many governmental agencies have responded so quickly to the threat. Civic order has not completely collapsed: the Agriculture Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (and that’s just the federal agencies) have all mobilized seemingly quickly with reasonable precautions like testing cattle and people who work around them, providing PPE, and establishing guidelines on transportation of infected cattle. All of this lessens the chances that anyone will have to repeatedly explain why it’s actually bad to drink infected milk to people who respond by saying "I have rights."
There are a lot of quality shows and movies coming to streaming service Max in June. I've picked out the best (or at least the most interesting) and compiled the list below.
Max's biggest new release this month, hands down, is season 2 of epic fantasy series House of the Dragon. But don't sleep on the smaller releases. Surreal comedy Fantasmas is as fantastical as House of the Dragons, and documentary series Ren Faire has just as many swords and costumes.
House of the Dragon, season 2
A lot of people are very excited for the second season of House of the Dragonon Max. The first season was a banger, with critics giving it 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and things are going to get dragon-breath hot in season 2 with Westeros on the brink of a civil war, and King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra locked in battle to sit on The Iron Throne.
Starts streaming June 16.
Ren Faire
Three-part docuseries Ren Faire would make a great double feature with House of the Dragon. Ren Faire features a real-life fight for supremacy. "King" George Coulam, founder of the Texas Renaissance Festival, the first ren faire—and the largest, most lucrative one in the world—is preparing to retire, and his underlings are scheming to be named his heir apparent and end up with the multimillion dollar business and the crown. Ren Faire presents its colorful characters' weird quirks and lifestyles in funny ways but it doesn't mock anyone.
Starts streaming June 2.
Fantasmas
If you like fantasy, but dragons and swords aren't your thing, you might enjoy Fantasmas, a surrealist comedy series created by, directed by, written by and starring Julio Torres, the dude who starred in criminally under-watched Los Espookys. In Fantasmas, Torres is searching for a missing earring, but that's just a framework to decorate with the magical, surreal, haunting, and hilarious imagery, situations, and characters that come from Torres' head.
Starts streaming June 7.
Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play
Jeremy O. Harris' Slave Play was one of the most celebrated, provocative, and fearless plays ever staged on Broadway. In this documentary, Harris takes us behind the scenes of the groundbreaking production, showing us the actors workshops, run-throughs, and rehearsals that brought it to life. But Harris goes deeper and uses the documentary to comment on his own part of Slave Play's creation.
Starts streaming June 20.
One South: Portrait of a Psych Unit
Max's two-part original documentary takes viewers insideZucker Hillside Hospital in Queens, a psychiatric hospital for young adults in acute crisis. One South presents a portrait of patients suffering from depression, anxiety, psychosis, as well as the dedicated mental health professionals dedicated to helping them get well.
Starts streaming June 25.
Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders, Season 1
I love true crime docs, so I'm psyched for a whole season of social media centered mayhem and murder that Deadly Influence is bringing. Influencer cultures mixture of parasocial relationships and terminally online weirdos often result in exceptionally weird crimes, and this series dives into the trashy dungheap to dig up stories. I'm here for it.
Starts streaming June 3.
Last month's picks
Turtles all the Way Down
Based on the young adult novel by John Green (The Fault in our Stars), Turtles all the Way Down is a great choice if you're looking for a deeper than usual coming-of-age movie. High-schooler Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced) suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, so the normal moments and milestones of her teenage life are informed by her mental illness—i.e. a first kiss is about both an expression of young love and her paralyzing fear of a potential bacterial infection. Green's novel has earned 4.5 stars from readers on Goodreads, and early reviews of the film are positive, so this is definitely worth a stream.
Starts streaming May 2.
Hacks, Season 3
The first and second seasons of HBO original show-biz comedy series Hacks earned rare 100% fresh ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, and the new season aims to continue that perfect record. Picking up a year after Deborah (Jean Smart) and Ava (Hannah Einbinder) went their separate ways, season three finds Deborah enjoying a career resurgence (thanks to Ava's writing), while Ava is working on a Daily Show-like nightly comedy program. Fate, as you'd probably guess, soon brings the odd couple back together.
Starts streaming May 2
Stop Making Sense
Stop Making Sense is the best concert movie ever been made, and I will fight you if you disagree (it's also great to watch when you're high). To celebrate the 40th anniversary of its release, A24 has restored and remastered Jonathan Demme's masterpiece to preserve a pristine, streamable 4k vision of the Talking Heads at the height of their power for posterity (or for at least as long as it remains in Max's rotation). The years have done nothing to diminish the pure joy of watching a new wave band jamming out with funk legends like Parliament keyboardist Bernie Worrell and Brothers Johnson guitarist Alex Weir on banger after banger.
Starts streaming May 3
Stax: Soulsville USA
If you've finished watching Stop Making Sense a dozen times, check out Stax: Soulsville USA, a four-part HBO original music documentary series about the legendary Memphis record label that brought us Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, The Staple Singers, and many more iconic artists.
Starts streaming May 20
The Iron Claw
Even though The Iron Claw was nearly universally lauded by critics, it wasn't nominated for a single Oscar. Rip-off! Maybe a movie about professional wrestling is too lowbrow for "The Academy," but their loss. Yes, The Iron Clawis about wrestling, but it's also about mourning, loss, and the resilience of family. Plus, The Iron Claw features fantastic performances from Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White (The Bear), and Harris Dickinson as the real-life Von Erich brothers, a wrestling dynasty beset by so much tragedy they come to believe they've been cursed. After watching this flick, it's hard to argue with them.
Starts streaming May 10
Pretty Little Liars: Summer School
The first season of the Pretty Little Liars reboot is a rare thing: A horror TV show that's actually good—so good, it was dubbed "one of the best horror TV shows of the past two decades" by the horror-freaks over at Bloody Disgusting. Season two, subtitled "Summer School," finds high schoolers Tabby, Noa, Imogen, Faran, and Mouse in class for the summer. The season of romance and fun they imagined is interrupted by a terrifying new villain: Bloody Rose, a mysterious knife-wielding murderer who gets off on testing their limits. Choose this if you like genre-bending horror.
Starts streaming May 9
Stupid Pet Tricks, Season 1
Sometimes, you just need to look at some cute animals. Sarah Silverman hosts this comedy-variety program featuring performing cats, dogs, camels, hamsters, foxes and all manner of other smart animals doing stupid things. David Letterman originated the gag as a segment on his show back in the 1980s, and lends a hand here as the executive producer of this piece of pleasantly brainless feel-good television.
Starts streaming May 8
MoviePass, Moviecrash
On paper, a documentary about a dead movie-ticket subscription service might not sound interesting, but MoviePass's meteoric rise and plunge back to earth is a fascinating study in bad business ideas, hubris, and corporate double-dealing. MoviePass, Moviecrash is told by the men who started the company and later had to watch from the sidelines as new executives piloted the aircraft straight into the ground.
Starts streaming May 29
The Lighthouse (2019)
If you like dark, claustrophobic cinema and you haven't seen director Robert Eggers The Lighthouse, you're making a mistake. Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe star as isolated lighthouse keepers who slowly drive one another insane (with horniness?). Shot in black-and-white and crammed with disturbing and surreal imagery, The Lighthouse isn't quite like any other movie, but it is quite a movie.
Hulu's schedule this month is packed to the gills with new shows and movies; let me tell you about the best ones. The biggest news on Hulu's June schedule is the return of The Bear, the series that everyone with good taste seems to enjoy. Hulu is also hosting the first seven Saw movies, that everyone with good-bad taste seems to enjoy. For something truly new, Becoming Karl Lagerfield is a series about a real, but unbelievable fashion icon, where Queenie is about a fictional but totally believable Gen Z Londoner. If documentaries are more your speed, you can dig into Jonestown, the brat pack, and the early days of break dancing.
The Bear, season 3
Hulu’s critically acclaimed, audience-favorite series The Bear is returning for a third nerve-jangling, poignant season. Now that they’ve opened The Bear, their ideal high-end restaurant, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and the rest of crew must navigate the treacherous, cutthroat Chicago culinary scene. Expect things to get stressful.
Starts streaming June 27.
Becoming Karl Lagerfeld
Before he became a fashion legend and fashion icon, Karl Lagerfeld was just some guy named Karl; this Hulu original bio-series Becoming Karl Lagerfeld explores this remarkable transformation. The series follows Lagerfeld, played by Daniel Brühl, as he navigates the 1970s Parisian high fashion scene. He encounters fierce rival Yves Saint Laurent (played by Arnaud Valois), forms a business partnership with Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz), and develops a more personal relationship with bon vivant Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin). If you’re fascinated by fashion or the jet-set lifestyle, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld is a must-watch.
Starts streaming June 7.
Saw (1-7)
Saw movies are like comfort food to horror fans. From its humble beginnings with James Wan’s low-budget, indie horror movie Saw in 2004, the gritty franchise has grown into a horror mainstay with 10 feature films, a (bad) AAA video game, and more merchandise than you could collect in 10 lifetimes. Some are better than others, but all the Saw movies are variations on the theme of a madman putting people into devious traps so we can watch them die, escape, and/or enact revenge on their tormentor. Hulu is streaming the first seven movies in the series to celebrate the start of summer, a fact that will delight horror fans, even if horrifies everyone else.
Starts streaming June 1.
Queenie
Queenie Jenkins, the hero of Hulu original comedy series Queenie, is a British Jamaican woman in the U.K. who is suffering from a quarter-life crisis, a bad breakup, and the general horror and annoyance of urban life in 2024 all at once. With the vibrant yet challenging landscape of South London as a backdrop, Queenie struggles to navigate her dual cultural identity and find her place in the world. If you enjoy witty, contemporary character studies that tackle themes of race and identity, Queenie is a must-watch.
Starts streaming June 7.
Breakin' On The One
This documentary tells the story of how the Black and brown kids from New York’s poorest neighborhoods spawn a worldwide musical and cultural revolution through dance, music, and fashion. On August 15, 1981, New York breakdance crews the Rocksteady Crew and the Dynamic Rockers appeared at the Out-of-Doors Festival to settle their differences through a breaking battle. Ripples from the showdown reverberated all over the world, and Breaking on The One explores that epic breakin’ battle and the significance of breakdancing and hip-hop through archival footage and interviews with the dancers, DJs, MCs and B-boys and girls who were there. If you’re into hip-hop, or fascinated with how cultural revolutions begin, check out Breakin’ on the One.
Starts streaming June 24.
Candis Cayne's Secret Garden, season one
Trans icon Candis Cayne hosts a gardening show like none other. In her “literally groundbreaking” comedy/DIY/gardening show, Cayne and her friends will teach you how to transform your home and garden into a magical place. Billed as a whimsical and visually stunning experience that combines the real-life gardening expertise of Candis Cayne with a playful and imaginative world, each episode of Secret Garden presents a different DIY project designed to inspire your imagination and motivate you to make your backyard and home magical.
Starts streaming June 9.
Brats
To teenagers in the 1980s, no one was cooler, sexier, or more famous than The Brat Pack, that cadre of young actors that starred in every teen movie and seemed to rule Hollywood. Directed by original brat-packer Andrew McCarthy, Brats gives us a view from inside the fame fishbowl through interviews with brat packer Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Emilio Esteves, Ally Sheedy and more. (Spoiler: being in the Brat Pack wasn’t as much fun as you probably imagined.)
Starts streaming June 13.
Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown
This National Geographic docuseries examines the history, impact, and people behind Jim Jone’s terrifying People’s Temple cult. Told through never-before-scene footage and interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses, Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown explores the group’s rise and eventual mass murder/suicide in Guyana, shedding light on the causes of the grisly day that shook the world.
Starts streaming June 17.
Last month's picks
Welcome to Wrexham, Season 3
Season 3 of Welcome to Wrexhamwas originally announced for April, but better late than never. The new season begins with the ragtag Welsh football team owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney having ascended to League Two, the fourth-highest tier of English soccer. But the squad’s new position brings bigger obstacles. Wrexham's season is currently in play in real life, so whether the club continues its Cinderella story or crashes and burns in the face of a higher level of play remains to be seen.
Starts streaming May 3
The Contestant
Back in the late 1990s, Japan took reality TV to its limit with A Life in Prizes, a show in which unknown comedian Nasubi was imprisoned and naked in a bare room and tasked with staying there until he’d won a million yen through mail-order contests. Unbeknownst to Nasubi, his journey into near madness was being broadcast weekly and he’d become the most famous man in Japan. The Contestant tells the full story of this strange experiment through footage from A Life in Prizes and interviews with its director, producers, star, and others who were there.
Starts streaming May 2
The Kardashians, season 5
The members of the Kardashian-Jenner family continue documenting their glamorous, beige-tinted, opulent lives in the fifth season of The Kardashians. According to Hulu, the Kardashians will “punch it into overdrive” for season five, adding, “From the big screen to baby bliss, the family continues to defy expectations in all their endeavors.” That’s not a lot to go on, but a highlight of the season is likely to be the story of Kourtney Kardashian-Barker's first child with Travis Barker. It is reality TV, so you don’t know what will happen—maybe they’ll all be abducted by aliens or something.
Starts streaming May 23.
Prom Dates
In this Hulu original coming-of-age comedy, Julia Lester and Antonia Gentry play best friends Jess and Hannah. They've always wanted to have a perfect prom night, but just a day before the big night, everything goes haywire, and they break up with their dates. With only 24 hours until prom, Jess and Hannah will have to get creative to make their perfect night happen. With its classic teen movie set-up and no-holds-barred portrayal of the awkwardness of adolescence, Prom Datesis one to watch for teens, and anyone who has been a teen in the past.
Starts streaming May 2
Black Twitter: A People’s History
Based on a Wired article by Jason Parham, Black Twitter: A People’s History is a three-part documentary series that details the people and memes that made Black Twitter such an influential and powerful force. Through interviews with W. Kamau Bell, Kid Fury, Jemele Hill, Roxane Gay, Raquel Willis, and many more, Black Twitter: A People’s History examines how Black people on social media shaped our politics and culture throughout Barack Obama’s election, the pandemic, Black Lives Matter, and beyond.
Starts streaming May 9.
Shardlake
Set in the 16th century, Shardlakeis a moody mystery series that kicks off with Oliver Cromwell assigning young lawyer Matthew Shardlake (played by Arthur Hughes) to investigate a murder at a monastery in the remote town of Scarnsea. With Cromwell hoping to shut down the monasteries, the monks greet Shardlake with suspicion and hostility. To make matters worse, Shardlake isn't sure of the loyalties of his new assistant. Based on mystery novels by C. J. Sansom, Shardlake aims to present a historically accurate version of the Tudor world as a backdrop for its proto-Sherlock Holmes protagonist.
Starts streaming May 1
All of the Die Hard movies
In May, action fans will be able to follow a quarter century of NYPD detective John McClane’s edge-of-your seat adventures when Hulu drops all five Die Hard movies, from the 1988 original to 2013’s A Good Day to Die Hard. Don’t act like you have something better to do than plan a marathon. It’s what Bruce Willis would want.
Starts streaming May 3
The Killing Kind
The Killing Kind began its life at Paramount+ where audience responded favorably, but the series was pulled from the service. Paramount's loss is Hulu's gain. This rollercoaster ride of a series tells the story of defense attorney Ingrid Lewis (Emma Appleton) who successfully defends John Webster (Colin Morgan) from stalking charges. When Webster shows up in her life a year later, he's either trying to keep her safe or hiding a murderous secret.
Starts streaming May 14
Royal Rules of Ohio
Hulu’s Freeform platform is home to this reality show that documents the adventures of a family of African royals in Ohio. Sisters Brenda, Thelma, and Nana Agyekum are the daughters of royal descendants of two of the most wealthy and powerful Ghanaian kingdoms, so life in Columbus, Ohio is going to take some getting used to, especially if they’re going to stay true to the rules of royalty.
Young people are all over the map this week. On the negative side: a lot of kids are giving themselves brain rot. Others are falling for age-old internet "follow train" schemes. On the positive side, some kids are making great music, and even little babies are helping their families get free trips to expensive resorts by being adorable.
What is “brain rot?”
Use of the phrase "brain rot" (or "brainrot") is taking off among young people. Here's what it means: "brain rot" is a derogatory slang term that describes the dumbing down that supposedly comes from spending too much time online. It's subtly different from a phrase like "chronically online" because it describes spending time online in a specific way: consuming so many memes and catchphrases that you become unable to communicate with others. It's often used as a shorthand way of saying "You are so far inside your own bubble that you don't realize how weird you're being."
Simple enough, right? But on a meta level, "brain rot" also described creating and posting intentionally meaningless memes that evoke the feeling people get from not understanding brain-rotted content. Or maybe it's to trick people into thinking there is a meaning they don't understand. For example, this meme with a picture of Donald Trump labeled "N*ggas call me 'The Sandwich'" accompanied by a clip of Bryan Cranston in a barbershop quartet dancing on Saturday Night Live set to a plaintive guitar soundtrack. It's a little like some contemporary art from the 1990s: It has an identifiable form that is traditionally used to comment on the human condition in some way, and it has elements that seem like they could be "saying something," but it's been purposefully created to mean nothing—any interpretation that extends beyond the thing itself comes from you, not the art/meme. (At least, I think that's what's happening here.)
If that isn't enough brain rot for you, you can dig into the comment section on the Trump/Cranston meme. It's packed with thousands of non sequitur internet-only slang comments like "Sigma!" "I munted to this," and "Honey I mogged the kids." The commenters (I think?) seem to be mocking people with brain rot, but to know enough about all this crap to bother commenting indicates an even deeper level of brain rot. It's like one of those jokes where hardly anyone understands the punchline, and if you do, the joke is on you.
TikTokers' doomed campaign to pay off each others' debts with clicks
A movement is growing on TikTok where creators are trying to help each other pay debts through clicks, likes, and comments. TikTok's content reward program requires accounts to have at least 10,000 followers and supposedly pays about $1 per 10,000 views, so TikTokers are trying to meet the requirements by posting videos with the phrase "We Are Paying Off Each Other's Debts" and a description of how much money they need and why. There are nearly 16 million posts using this one "pay each other's debts" hashtag alone. Sadly, none of these people are likely to have their debts paid.
Trying to get enough people to look at your content so it turns into money isn't new on the Internet. It's kind of what everyone has always done. But "follow me and I'll follow you" or "follow train" schemes have been tried on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and any other platform that gives out money based on engagement, and have never been successful.
While it sounds like a good idea, TikTok (I assume) doesn't want to be overrun with videos of people begging for follows; it's not compelling content like this video of strawberries covered in chocolate, and followers that are following you so you follow them aren't going to engage with your content in a way that TikTok likes. TikTok's algorithm will adjust. The word "follow" or "please follow" isn't used in these videos because that will already de-weight your content, and tweaking the algorithm to quarantine videos that say "we are paying each other's debts" or similar phrase has probably already happened. In classic pyramid-scheme style, the only people who might see a payoff are the accounts that did it first. Like this video where TikToker Isaiah Snyder says he could save his childhood home if he gets 400 million views. He's got 10,000,000 views already—a $10,000 payday. Latecomers are doomed, though, and will learn the bitter lesson that there are no get-rich-quick schemes; there are only get-not-rich-slowly schemes.
Irish middle school children release the song of the summer
You know who doesn't have to beg for follows and views? Members of the Kabin Crew and Lisdoonvarna Crew. This gaggle of Irish artists between the ages of 9 and 14 recently released "The Spark," a banger of a drum-and-bass track that's going viral on X, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and everywhere else. The video was created by Rhyme Island, a "youth rap initiative" to promote Cruinniú na nÓg, Europe's day of creativity for young people, But you don't have to listen to it because it's "for a good cause" and you don't have to qualify it by saying "It's a good song, for a song made by kids." It's a legit jam. Or maybe I'm crazy. But still, it captures something essential about the energy and fearlessness of youth and made me bob my head and feel happy for a few minutes. Those accents are the best.
Viral video of the week: Fully Conscious Baby
The first baby to go viral on the Internet was Dancing Baby, a piece of CGI that became a worldwide meme in 1996, before the word "meme" was widely used. The newest viral baby is "fully conscious baby," star of a strangely compelling eight-second TikTok video. In it, the baby's aunt, TikToker Stefanie O’Brien, asks her nieces, "Who wants to go to the Four Seasons Orlando?" Fully Conscious Baby seems to consider the question for a moment, then raises her tiny hand and says "me!" in a way that seems way too advanced for her age. The video racked up tens of millions of views, inspired tons of response videos where users filled in Fully Conscious Baby's thoughts, and just generally delighted everyone. Most importantly, the Four Seasons Orlando gave this (no doubt already wealthy) family a trip to their resort. Everyone seemed to have a nice time.
I've scoured the new releases of Amazon's Prime and FreeVee platforms this month to present the best new movies and series the streaming services have to offer.
"There's something for everyone" is a cliche, but it applies to the best of Prime's June releases. Megaton blockbuster Oppenheimer is treat for fans of "serious" movies. There's a new season of The Boys on offer if you're the kind of person who likes a clever twist on the superhero genre. Prime's original documentary I am: Celine Dion will be a treat for the "My Heart Will go on," singer's fans. Or you could enjoy Nick Cannon's Counsel Culture if you're struggling with what it means to be a man. I'm going to spend June watching Godzilla movies though, because I'm that kind of person.
Oppenheimer (2023)
Christopher Nolan's biopic about the inventor of atomic weapons took home seven Oscars, including best picture, and it also made over $900 million at the box office. Cillian Murphy stars as physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, a complex, driven visionary tasked with creating the most destructive weapon in human history to fight the Axis powers during World War II. Spoiler: he succeeds, but Oppenheimer, both the movie and man, end up wondering if atomic weapons were actually such a great idea.
Starts streaming June 18.
The Boys, Season 4
The Boys, as they say, are back in town. In season four, the world is on the brink of collapse as evil Victoria Neuman gets closer to the Oval Office. If this were a normal superhero show, weirdos wearing underwear and capes would spring into action on behalf of mankind, but this is The Boys, so the corrupt, arrogant superheroes are causing the trouble in the first place, and only the titular team of un-super-powered CIA agents can stop them.
Starts streaming June 13.
Skyfall (2012)
In Skyfall, director Sam Mendes jettisons the campy gadgets and goofiness and goes for a "modern Bond" blend of intensity and breeziness that works perfectly with Daniel Craig's nuanced portrayal of the secret agent. The third James Bond movie starring Craig, Skyfall's Rotten Tomatoes score is 92%, and the Bond fan community generally places this flick in the company of the best films in the long-running series. If you know anyone who hasn't seen a Bond movie, this is a great way to jump in.
Starts streaming June 1.
I Am: Celine Dion
This original Prime documentary explores singer Celine Dion's struggle with Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare neurological disease. Described in a press release as an "emotional, energetic, and poetic love letter to music," I Am: Celine Dion takes viewers from the dressing room to the recording studio to the stage and captures an intimate look at the superstar singer's private life and struggles.
Starts streaming June 25
My Lady Jane
The real Lady Jane Grey was a Tudor noblewoman who became Queen of England in 1553 but only ruled for nine days before being beheaded. This Prime original series explores what might have happened if The Nine Days' Queen had kept her head. Based on the best-selling YA novel of the same name by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows, My Lady Jane is "an epic tale of true love and high adventure set in an alt-universe of action, history, fantasy, comedy, romance, and rompy-pompy," according to Amazon's promotional material.
Starts streaming June 27.
Counsel Culture
I'm intrigued by this upcoming Prime talk show. Based on host Nick Cannon's podcast of the same name, Counsel Culture is billed as a "safe space and a brave place for men to be vulnerable," but is a panel of dudes discussing mental health, masculinity, dating, and other dude topics the kind of thing men want to watch? Time will tell. Cannon is joined by therapist Dr. Mike Dow and psychiatrist Dr. Ish Major, and guest co-hosts include Howie Mandel, Lamar Odom, DeSean Jackson, and more.
Starts streaming June 6.
Marlon Wayans: Good Grief
Speaking of men sharing their feelings, in his new special Good Grief, stand-up comedian/actor/maker Marlon Wayans gets real about the death of his parents, but does it in a funny way. Filmed at Harlem's famous Apollo theater, Wayans's comedy-meet-therapy performance is based on the motto that "all grief is good grief," and touches on topics like which Wayans brother is funniest, and how remarkable it is that the matriarch of the Wayans family raised "five millionaires but only one crackhead."
Starts streaming June 4
Mean Girls (2024)
Written by and starring the supernaturally talented Tina Fey, this Gen-Z remake of the beloved 2004 movie adds original songs to the teen comedy mix. Up-and-comer Angourie Rice plays Cady Heron, a new girl at North Shore High School who is forced to navigate the backbiting cliques that make high school such a fantastic time. The cast includes Reneé Rapp, Jon Hamm, Auli'i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Tina Fey, and Tim Meadows, so if you like crowd-pleasing comedies with can't-miss performances, check out Mean Girls.
Judy (2019)
Judy explores the over-sized life of iconic movie star Judy Garland, specifically, her last years in London, when films like The Wizard of Oz were a distant cultural memory and Garland was too broke to pay her hotel bill. Trying to stage another in an endless series of "comebacks," Garland juggles her professional responsibilities with her fierce protectiveness over her children, all while battling alcoholism and drug addiction. Darci Shaw plays young Judy, but the movie really belongs to Renée Zellweger, whose portrayal of time-has-caught-up-with-her Judy is heartbreaking.
Starts streaming June 26.
Godzilla Movie Marathon
I associate Godzilla movies with the 1960s and 1970s, but there's more in the Godzilla cinematic universe than cheesy, guy-in-a-rubber-suit flicks from 50 years ago: There's cheesy guy-in-a-rubber-suit flicks made more recently! In June, Prime is streaming eight made-in-Japan Godzilla movies released between 1999 and 2004, including Godzilla Vs. Spacegodzilla (1999), Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2004), Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah (1999), and Godzilla, Mothra, And King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2003). All of these, I assume, are amazing.
Starts streaming June 1.
Last month's picks
The Idea of You
Based on a novel by Robinne Lee that began as a piece of Harry Styles fan fiction, romantic comedy The Idea of You stars Anne Hathaway as Solène, a 40-year-old single mom who goes to Coachella and unexpectedly falls in love with Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine), the 24-year-old singer in August Moon, a band playing the main stage. The Idea of You is sitting at a 90% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers praising Hathaway's excellent performance, the romantic chemistry between the movie's leads, and the film's easygoing, character-driven comedy.
Starts streaming May 2
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
To accompany the release of The Idea of You, Prime is dropping an older take on the May/December romance genre: 1955's All That Heaven Allows. Jane Wyman plays a rich widow whose life is defined by the opinions of her snooty children and the squares at the country club. Rock Hudson plays the dashing young landscaper/free spirit she falls in love with. Upon its release, All The Heaven Allows was regarded as a well-made melodramatic romance, but director Douglas Sirk was archly satirizing 1950s middle-class mores and Hollywood romance clichés, a piece of cinematic misdirection that wasn't noticed until decades later.
Starts streaming May 1
Outer Range, season 2
The set-up of Outer Range will seem familiar for fans of TV neo-Westerns: Josh Brolin plays Royal Abbot, a Wyoming rancher fighting to protect his land. But the series takes a wildly unexpected turn toward the supernatural when Abbot discovers a mysterious, perfectly round hole on the edge of his property and otherworldly events begin occurring around the ranch. The first season of Outer Rangeleft a lot of unanswered questions. Let's hope season 2's answers live up to the promise of the premise.
Starts streaming May 16
The GOAT
Remember back around 2004, when reality television was everywhere and shows like The Surreal Life had washed-up celebrities live together to see what would happen? The GOAT feels like a throwback to those halcyon days. Hosted by Daniel (Tosh.0) Tosh, The GOATfeatures 14 "reality superstars" like CJ Franco from F Boy Island and The Bachelorette's Joseph Amabile living together in GOAT Manor and competing for $200,000 and the honor of being named the greatest reality star of all time.
Starts streaming May 8
The Outlaws, season 3
Created by and starring Steven Merchant, co-creator of the U.K. version of The Office, The Outlaws serves up very British comedy with a side order of Christopher Walken. It follows a pack of minor scofflaws from different walks of life who come together to do community service for their crimes. Things get complicated when they discover a cache of hidden money and decide to keep it, angering the drug dealer it belongs to. Now is an excellent time to catch up on the first two seasons if you are unfamiliar.
Starts streaming May 31.
58th Academy of Country Music Awards
All your favorite country stars will be on-hand to do-si-do at the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards. Billed as "Country Music’s Party of the Year," this year's event will be hosted by Reba McEntire, who is also slated to perform new music during the show. It's a really interesting time in country music, as the often-staid genre confronts a new wave of performers. The "entertainer of the year" category, for instance, pits neo-traditionalists like Cody Johnson against new school iconoclasts like face-tattooed, hip-hop influenced artist Jelly Roll.
Starts streaming May 16
Whiplash (2014)
Winner of three Academy Awards, Whiplash tells the story of Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), a student drummer who longs for jazz perfection, and his complicated relationship with his ruthless teacher/band leader Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), a man who will do anything to get his students to perform at the peak of their talent. A movie that turns music instruction into a thriller with its tight pacing and editing, Whiplash has more than earned its Rotten Tomatoes score of 94%.
Starts streaming May 1
Amélie (2001)
Amazon's FreeVee isn't the first movie platform I go to for French magical-realist cinema, but it is streaming Amélie in May, so maybe I'm wrong. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's portrayal of an awkward Parisian waitress (Audrey Tautou) and her strange hobbies will satiate any desire you have ever had for the twee and magical, but it manages to avoid cramming in so much whimsy that you feel sick.
Starts streaming May 1
Bottle Rocket (1996)
Starring Owen and Luke Wilson and directed by Wes Anderson,Bottle Rocket is one of the highlights of the 1990s indie movie craze. The story of a group of eccentric nobodies trying to pull off an ambitious heist, Bottle Rocket's quirky vibe is both of-its-moment and timeless. Even with a relatively low budget and a lack of feature film experience, Wes Anderson's talent is undeniable, and his fingerprints are on every frame of this endearing and strangely affecting movie.
I've pored over Netflix's release schedule to bring you the best movies and TV shows premiering on the service this month.
Original movie Hit Man is my pick for best thing to watch on Netflix in June. It's from Richard Linklater, one of the greatest directors working, and the true story that inspired the movie is so strange and compelling, it's hard to believe it really happened. If you're more into romantic comedies, A Family Affair with Nicole Kidman is for you. There are also two new David Letterman long-form interviews on tap, the third season of dark-fantasy series Sweet Tooth, and a new season of Worst Roommate Ever, a show that I'm embarrassed to admit I love.
Hit Man
Directed by the supremely talented Richard Linklater, Hit Mantells the real story of a fake Hit Man. Gary Johnson's job is pretending to be a professional killer for police sting operations (where can I send a resume?) but he puts everything on the line when he falls in love with a potential client. Co-written by and starring Glen Powell, Hit Man takes a darkly comedic look at an unusual lifestyle. If you're looking for a funny, perfectly crafted, and intelligent movie, look no further.
Starts streaming June 7.
A Family Affair
Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, and Joey King lead the cast of A Family Affair, a romantic comedy that begins with Zara (King) walking in on her mom (Kidman) and her ex-boss (Efron) in the middle of a passionate tryst. The ex-boss is an impossibly self-centered celebrity—so Zara is not at all sure how to deal with the new relationship. This exploration of love, sex, and identity is the kind of charisma-powered, crowd-pleasing movie that romantic comedy fans can't get enough of.
Starts streaming June 28.
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman, Season 5
David Letterman's in-depth interview series My Next Guest Needs no Introduction returns for a fifth season where Dave chops it up with basketball legend Charles Barkley and pop-singing legend Miley Cyrus. If you care about these specific people, or you're interested in larger-than-life people in general, Letterman's long-form, deep-dive interviews are worlds better than five minutes of banter on a late-night show's couch.
Starts streaming June 12.
Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial
At the risk of starting a sentence with "You have to hand it to the Nazis for..." Hitler and company inspired more compelling documentaries than anyone else in history. This one examines the post-World War II trials of the Nazi leaders who survived. Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial explores our failing cultural memories of the Third Reich and asks if forgetting about the past dooms us to a hellish repeat. It's not a lighthearted movie, but it is an important one.
Starts streaming June 5.
Trigger Warning
For her role as Parker in Netflix original action movie Trigger Warning, Jessica Alba learned Indonesian knife fighting skills to make the flick's intense hand-to-hand combat scenes extra real. Parker is a Special Forces commando who returns to her home town her father's funeral, only to discover a dangerous conspiracy that might be responsible for his death. Does she confront the evil men behind the plot with Indonesian knife-fighting skills? Goddamn right she does. Mark Webber, Tone Bell, Jake Weary, Gabriel Basso, and Anthony Michael Hall also appear in this treat for action movie fans.
Starts streaming June 21.
Worst Roommate Ever, Season 2
Learning that a second season of Worst Roommate Ever was coming to Netflix is the best news I've heard in months. If you're not familiar, this documentary series tells the stories of bad roommates through interviews with victims and animated re-enactments. If you're like, "Why would that even be interesting?" you're not grasping how monumentally, spectacularly, and unbelievably horrific these people are. Imagine your worst college roommate, now multiply their awfulness by 100; these people are worse than that. If you like well-made freak show TV as much as I do, you'll be hitting "play" at midnight on the 25th, too.
Starts streaming June 26.
How to Rob a Bank
I love true crime movies, especially when they're not about murderers, so I'm looking forward to How to Rob a Bank. This Netflix original documentary tells the story of the stylish and prolific bank robber Seattle cops nicknamed "Hollywood." His real name is Scott Scurlock, and he pulled off a string of audacious bank robberies in the 1990s, often using tricks and techniques inspired by action movies. How toRob a Bank promises all the cat-and-mouse thrills of heist movies like Point Break with the added bonus of it all having actually happened.
Starts streaming June 5
Sweet Tooth, Season 3
In dark-fantasy series Sweet Tooth, Christian Convery plays Gus, a half-human, half-deer chimera who lives in a future where everything went to hell after a contagious disease killed 98% of humanity. Humanimals like Gus are seen as either abominations to be stamped out or as keys to a cure for the sickness. With the help of pig/girl Wendy (Naledi Murray), Gus will face off against the First Men, a paramilitary group that wants all the hybrids dead.
Starts streaming June 6.
Keith Robinson: Different Strokes
Keith Robinson is a very funny comic, but his new Netflix stand-up special should be extra hilarious and/or poignant because of its subject matter. In 2020, Robinson popped a Viagra on an airplane and had a stroke, and in Keith Robinson: Different Strokeshe tells the whole story with his distinctive, no-bullshit style.
Starts streaming June 11.
Tour de France: Unchained, Season 2
Even if you don't care about bicycle racing, check out Netflix's excellent documentary series on the Tour de France. The annual race has been a national obsession in France since 1903, and Tour de France: Unchained explores the people, passion, fame, athleticism and power that makes it so fascinating. Understanding the backstory makes watching a bunch of European guys pedal fast riveting.
Starts streaming June 11.
Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution
This Netflix original documentary tells the story of LGBTQ+ stand-up comedy through interviews, stand-up performances, archival materials, and verité footage featuring huge comedians like Lily Tomlin, Sandra Bernhard, Wanda Sykes, Eddie Izzard, Hannah Gadsby, Tig Notaro, and Rosie O'Donnell. Outstanding explores the history of queer comics, the societal changes that came from their work, and the future of LGBTQ+ stand-up.
Starts streaming June 18.
That '90s Show, Season 2
Set 15 years after That ‘70s Show’s ending, That '90s Show continues the comic adventures of parents Red (Kurtwood Smith) and Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp), but now they're grandparents, and they have a new group of teenagers to wrangle, harass, and joke around with. But these are '90s teenagers, so expect lots of flannel shirts and Pearl Jam jokes. Season two sees the return of That '70s Show's Laura Prepon reprising her role as Donna. (Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, and Ashton Kutcher will not be returning.)
Starts streaming June 27.
Last month's picks
John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA
As part of the "Netflix is a Joke" festival, stand-up comedian John Mulaney will hosts six nights of live broadcasts beginning on May 3. Described as a "celebration of LA" and featuring the biggest names in comedy (names to be announced), Everybody’s in LA promises Mulaney and his comedian pals descending on the City of Angels to create an anything-can-happen experiences that comedy fans will definitely want to watch in real time.
Starts streaming May 3.
Katt Williams: Woke Foke
Speaking of unpredictable live comedy, Kat Williams will be appearing live from Inglewood on Netflix on May 4 to deliver what should be an incendiary, history-making set. The fast-talking star of Friday After Next and the reigning king of stand-up is not known for holding anything back; like the man himself says in the Woke Foketrailer, "It's gonna be some shit."
Starts streaming May 4.
Bridgerton, Season 3—Part 1
You know what's the opposite of a live, anything-goes Katt Williams stand-up performance? Bridgerton! The romance series set among high-society ladies and gentlemen of Regency London is going into its third season, and Netflix is dropping four episodes that tell the story of Colin and Penelope's friends-to-lovers romance. Series regulars Claudia Jessie (Eloise Bridgerton), Luke Thompson (Benedict Bridgerton), Golda Rosheuvel (Queen Charlotte), and Adjoa Andoh (Lady Danbury) are returning, and there will be new faces too, including Daniel Francis as dashing gentleman Marcus Anderson and James Phoon as the rakish Harry Dankwort.
Starts streaming May 16.
A Man in Full
Television powerhouses David E. Kelley and Regina King teamed up to create this emotionally gripping drama based on the best-selling novel by Tom Wolfe. Jeff Daniels plays Charlie Croker, a brash Atlanta real estate magnate facing bankruptcy and fending off white-collar adversaries eager to capitalize on his fall-from-grace. Diane Lane, Sarah Jones, and Lucy Lui round out A Man in Full's impressive cast.
Starts streaming May 2.
Unfrosted
If you like movies about brands, you're going to be very pleased with Unfrosted. Jerry Seinfeld co-wrote, directed, co-produced, and stars in this comedy that tells the origin story of Pop-Tarts, America's favorite breakfast rectangle. Set in Michigan in 1963, Unfrosted details the cutthroat competition between breakfast kingpins Kellogg's and Post, as each races to develop and market a breakfast pastry for the masses before the other guy steals the show.
Stars streaming May 3.
Atlas
In Atlas, Jennifer Lopez beats up AI. She plays agent Atlas Shepard, a wisecracking badass who's devoted her life to hunting down rogue artificial intelligence Harlan. Trapped on a distant planet with her life in danger, Agent J-Lo is forced to rely on a computer program named Smith to survive. But in classic Odd Couple style, agent Shepard hates all AI, so it's not going to be an easy friendship. I didn't have "Jennifer Lopez plays a science fiction action hero battling super computers" on my bingo card, but now that I've heard about it, it makes a weird kind of sense.
Starts streaming May 24.
Eric
Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this thriller series created by BAFTA and Emmy Award-winner Abi Morgan. Cumberbatch plays Vincent, a puppeteer who created wildly successful kids' show Good Day Sunshine. But when his nine-year-old son goes missing on the way to school, Vincent's world unravels and he descends into a personal nightmare of guilt, anger, obsession, and madness. According to Morgan, "Ericis a dark and crazy journey into the heart of 1980s New York—and the good, bad, and ugly world of Vincent." Sounds good to me.
Starts streaming May 30.
Power
The big-ticket Netflix originals this month may be comedy and historical costumes, but there's a serious side too, embodied by Power, a hard-hitting documentary that looks at our relationship with the cops and asks "Who is more powerful, the people or the police?" Directed by Academy Award nominee Yance Ford, Power examines the history of policing and asks tough questions about whether and how we're being oppressed by the boys and girls in blue.
Starts streaming May 17.
Roast of Tom Brady
Most football fans are eager to see ex-Patriots quarterback Tom Brady get taken down a few pegs, and this roast brings in Jeff Ross, Kevin Hart, and a host of the most vicious comedians on earth to hit Brady harder than a 260-pound linebacker. And they don't make helmets for your feelings. The show will be broadcast live and unedited, ensuring an anything-might-happen evening of insults and comedy.
Starts streaming May 5.
Secrets of the Neanderthals
Sir Patrick Stewart narrates this documentary that tries to figure out what those Neanderthals have been hiding from usfor 300,000 years. In its quest for answers, Secrets of the Neanderthals takes viewers all over the world, examines the fossil record, and consults top researchers in the field to ask, "What is the deal with cavemen?"
Starts streaming May 2.
Rachel Feinstein: Big Guy—Netflix Comedy
The comedy will just absolutely not stop this month on Netflix, no matter how you might beg. Rachel Feinstein is a comedians' comedian who has won fans for her whip-smart observational comedy. She's the kind of always-on-it pro who gets laughs whether she's playing some dinky club on a Wednesday night or co-hosting The View. Don't miss her Netflix special.
Starts streaming May 21.
Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal
When hackers called "The Impact Team" took over find-an-affair website Ashley Madison in 2015, they told its owners "welcome to your worst fucking nightmare," but the nightmare extended beyond the business owners. All of Ashley's Madison's users, from ordinary Joes to political figures and entertainment industry leaders, had their sordid details spilled to anyone who wanted to take a look. Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandaltells the entire sleazy story, but doesn't shy away from the real-world emotional devastation the imbroglio wrought.
Starts streaming May 15.
Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult
At the time of this posting, Netflix hasn't released a ton of details about original documentary Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult, but the Instagram post announcing it by co-creator Katie Paulson describes the doc as shining a light on "the exploitation that occurs in Hollywood" by nefarious people preying on "talented dancers and entertainers." There's also mentions of a lawsuit to shut the documentary down, and there are hints of a huge, tangled mess of internet drama too. As a super-fan of cult-related documentaries, I am compelled to watch this one.
Starts streaming May 29.
Living with Leopards
I'm a sucker for nature documentaries, so I'm psyched for this made-in-the-UK movie that details the lives of a pair of leopard cubs, from birth to adulthood. Living with Leopards promises an up-close-and personal look at a the coming-of-age of some of the most majestic creatures on earth.
Starts streaming May 10.
Tires
Stand-up comic Shane Gillis stars in this six-episode comedy series about the crazy goings-on inside an auto repair shop. Gillis is also Tires' executive producer and co-creator, so this has the potential to be one idiosyncratic, sleeper-hit shows that streaming is made for. We'll all know for sure when it debuts on May 23.
Welcome to "Best Summer Ever," your guide to making the most of the sunny season. Whether your idea of a perfect summer is embarking on epic adventures or blissfully doing as little as possible (preferably somewhere with good air conditioning), we've got you covered, because the best summer doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen.
The beginning of summer usually doesn’t mean that much to adults—the season changes, but you go to work and pay the credit card bills just the same. It’s easy to forget that the change between the school year and summer is a big deal to kids. A family celebration, ceremony, or ritual is the perfect way to respect the transition and help your little ones navigate their mini life-change smoothly. Plus, it’s fun.
Celebrate the start of summer with FIRE
My little family started annually celebrating the end of the school year after my kid had a rocky time in sixth grade. He came home from the last day of school and said, “Hey, dad, can I burn all my school notes?” After a moment of panic thinking, “but what if you need them,” I remembered the zero times in my life that I consulted my sixth grade biology notes and said, “Yeah, let’s do it.”
So that evening, the family and a few close friends gathered around a backyard fire pit and watched while Dexter solemnly dropped pages of his notebooks into the fire. Maybe it was partly because we were letting him do something "dangerous," but it was clear from the way my normally lighthearted kid carefully and solemnly fed those looseleaf sheets into the flames that something important was happening to him. Then, with the symbolic past in ashes, we all shared our hopes and goals for the coming summer.
We’ve celebrated the end of the school year with notebook burning every year since. He doesn’t burn everything, of course—school projects, artwork, and meaningful writing assignments are stored away—but the unimportant things are fed to the flames. It’s become my favorite “holiday” because it belongs to only us. (And I'm not the only awesome Lifehacker parent who agrees.)
What to consider for your kid's beginning of summer celebration
The specifics of the celebration depend on the child and your family dynamic and style of course, but here are some things to keep in mind:
Keep it serious (at least for a few minutes): The seriousness with which you take the ceremony is, I think, what differentiates it from a run-of-the-mill picnic. So don’t make a joke out of it; even the goofiest kid will appreciate a little solemnity and a your acknowledgment that their lives are important and their feelings matter.
Don't make it part of another celebration: Folding the end-of-the-school-year celebration into a July 4th picnic or something is convenient, but it detracts from the weight that a ceremony needs to be successful.
Keep it simple and stress-free: You don’t need to do anything super elaborate. Limit activities to things everyone in attendance can enjoy (or at least tolerate) to keep the stress level low. Keep it loose and try to go into it without expectations.
Be consistent: Children love the stability of unchanging family traditions (even if the tradition is only a year old), so mark the occasion every year, and make certain you don't let it slip.
Keep it positive: While acknowledging challenges of the past is important, make sure the vision you present of the future is a positive one.
Let your kid plan and choose the details: Once your child is old enough to make decisions, let them pick how the end-of-school ‘do is going to happen, and make sure they’re involved in as much of the planning as their maturity level can handle. Don’t try to make it perfect or impose your ideas of how it should go: It’s not your show, so if your kid wants to go out for a steak dinner instead of burning their notebooks, take ‘em to a steakhouse.
Beginning of summer ceremony ideas
Even though the decision of how to best mark the passage of time should rest with your child, most kids need guidance and don't respond well to an open-ended question like, “How should we ritually mark the beginning of summer?” So give them options instead. Here are some thoughts:
Throw a family party: Invite the whole clan over, but let your kid pick their favorite food to serve, the games you play, and the music you listen to. Make sure everyone who attends understands that the “ritual” part of the evening is important. Ask relatives or friends to share a summer memory, or talk about their summer plans, if your family likes that kind of thing.
Go to a special place: Successful rituals can hinge on taking place in a space that’s outside of normal life. If you’re an outdoorsy family, consider a hike to somewhere beautiful. Or take a trip to the beach at night. Maybe just eat dinner in the backyard. Anything that indicates that this afternoon/evening is not like all the others.
Make a time-capsule: Many children (and parents) would be horrified at the idea of burning any of their school notes and would much rather memorialize the year by saving things in a scrapbook or a memory box packed with photos, mementos, art works, and whatever else they consider important. Mark the time-capsule with “Do not open until 2034,” seal it, and tuck it away in the attic until you're ready to dig it out. Eventually, you can add opening an old box to the yearly ritual.
Have them write a letter to their future self: Have your kid write a letter to themselves in the future, maybe to themselves at the end of the summer. Seal it, stick on a stamp, and set a reminder on your phone to mail it out at the right time. (Don't just hand it to them—the mail is "serious" and a little magical to kids.) Reading it will give them (and you) a chance to see how they’ve grown over only a few months.
Have a relaxation night: Even if your kid likes school, it’s demanding. To help your kid transition to the mellower vibes of summertime, have an evening that’s devoted to relaxation, whether that’s a pajama party, a spa day, or a marathon session of video gaming.
Have a “do nothing" day: If you keep your kid on a tight schedule, consider denoting a full day to doing nothing at all. No demands. No plans. Nothing. I realize that can be a big ask to hard-driving people, but maybe it will do you some good too?
How will a beginning of summer ritual help your child?
I’d like to end this post by telling you how our end-of-year rituals became cherished part of my child’s memories, how they’ve helped him grow up into a well-adjusted, kind adult, but the dice are still in the air. I have no idea whether he’ll look back on these annual ceremonies fondly or recount them ruefully to his therapist. But I can say for sure that they worked for me.
I went into it our first notebook burning thinking it would be a goofy thing to do on an early summer night, but something about how serious he looked lit by the flames stopped me cold. I had a moment of, “oh, shit. He’s not a little boy anymore, and he won’t ever be again.”
The realization of what that really meant filled me an immense mixture of love and sadness that only parents watching their children grow up (and away from them) can understand. Maybe you’re not a sentimental person like me, but I still highly recommend a beginning of the summer ritual.
Welcome to "Best Summer Ever," your guide to making the most of the sunny season. Whether your idea of a perfect summer is embarking on epic adventures or blissfully doing as little as possible (preferably somewhere with good air conditioning), we've got you covered, because the best summer doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen.
Whether your idea of “going camping” involves a solo trek far off the beaten path or packing an SUV full of gear for an all-family adventure to a KOA, camping and summer go together like mosquito bites and Calamine lotion. To help you get geared up for whatever you consider "roughing it," here is a guide to essential camping gear and supplies, from tents to trail shoes, for both backpacker and car-campers.
Essential camping gear: tents, sleeping bags, and more
Absolute camping must-have: a first aid kit
Hopefully you’ll never have to use it, but you gotta have a first aid kit. You don't need anything fancy; This one, for instance, is very lightweight, waterproof, and features hospital-grade first aid treatments for cuts, scrapes, fractures, headaches, and more.
Choosing the right tent for your camping trip
Like just about everything camping-related, the tent you choose depends on your personal trip. If you're packing up your car to park at your campsite, the size and weight isn't a huge issue, so you can go bigger. If you're backpacking to a distant locale, you'll want to keep things as light as possible.
Another consideration is the weather. My personal ideal tent is something like this minimalist OneTigris Two Person Mesh Tent but only if I'm camping in my favorite spots: the beaches of southern California, where the heat radiating from the sand keeps the temperature comfortable all night, and the ground is so soft you don’t need a blow-up mattress. I like the mesh that keeps bugs out, but lets you feel the breeze and see the stars. If you’re not camping on a perfect beach, it pairs with a shelter for more traditional element protection. Camping tip: When a tent says “two person,” it means “one person.”
A car-camping solution that's more versatile is a mid-range tent like this Skydome Tent from Coleman (the portable stove people). It sets up easily, is six-feet tall at its highest point, and comes in at under $200. And it's designed to block out 90% of light, so you can sleep in or take a nap in the middle of the day.
On the far end of the spectrum are "glamping" style tents that would be perfect for festivals where the outdoors is only part of the trip; something like this Koala Air Tent that's more spacious than my first apartment. It features two separate bedrooms, a stove jack that lets you cook inside, and views from all sides. Even though it's huge, it’s inflatable to make the set-up easier. Camping tip: This comes with a manual pump, but get a powered one to save your back.
I hate sleeping on a skinny mattress on the ground; that’s why I love this Coleman cot: It has a frame. It’s queen size, and it comes with a battery-operated pump. Maybe a huge bed is stretching the idea of “roughing it,” but you won’t care when you actually get a good night's sleep. On this other side of the spectrum, this self-inflating foam pad weighs two pounds, eight ounces, so it’s light enough to haul into the back country, but it’s designed to be as comfortable as possible. You can adjust the firmness with a few breaths, and deflating it is easy too.
The best sleeping bags for camping
If you're backpack camping in summer, a sleeping bag is essential. While there are advantages to something like this Rab Mythic Ultra Down sleeping bag, you can find perfectly serviceable, ultralight sleeping bags for much less. This TETON Sports Ultralight Sleeping Bag strikes a balance between price ($54.99) and performance.
But if you're car-camping and weight and space don't matter, I say forget the sleeping bag altogether. I find sleeping bags to be constricting, claustrophobic, and often too hot for summertime camping, so I just bring some old blankets from home. I'd much rather have some layers of blankets so I can control the temperature and avoid feeling locked in.
Fire pits, coffee-makers, and other almost-essential camping gear
You could get by with just a tent and a sleeping bag, but if you want to actually enjoy your camping trip, you need to go a little further. The below items will make spending time in the great outdoors much easier and way more fun.
A grill/fire pit: The idea of cooking over a fire pales in comparison to doing it, so if you have the space, something like this UCO Flatpack Smokeless Firepit and Grill provides an all-in-one outdoor cooking solution.
Coffee maker: I like the classic camping vibe of percolator coffee makers, but the one I have has a silicone handle because I will burn myself without it.
Thermos: A solid, dependable, time-tested thermos to keep the hot liquids hot and the cold ones cold is essential. I like the classic Stanley. Long before they were known for trendy water-bottles, this kept the company going for over 100 years.
Trail shoes: Like everything, the shoes you bring camping depends on how you're camping. An old pair of Converse are perfectly acceptable for car-camping, but if you're doing any hiking, your feet will thank you for wearing something more sturdy and supportive. That doesn't mean you need a heavy pair of hiking boots, though. Trail shoes, like these from Hoka, aim for the sweet spot between heavy hiking boots and running shoes. They're a great solution for more casual hiking.
Panic button: You (probably) won’t need a GPS device at a campground, but if you’re doing adventure camping, a panic button could save your life. This Garmin lightweight satellite communicator enables two-way messaging and interactive SOS just about anywhere on Earth, as long as you have a satellite subscription.
Fire-starting gear: My wife once gave me a Bear Grylls Fire Starter with a ferrocerium rod, SOS instruction, and a built-in emergency whistle. The thought was nice, but it's useless. Just bring a lighter.
Camping gear you might not have thought of
Welding gloves: A pair of welding gloves are an essential part of my camping pack, because being able to manually rearrange hot logs leads to optimal campfires.
Flashlight gloves: What can I say? I like gloves. These LED-powered gloves are better than a flashlight, because you don’t have to hold them. You’ll find them useful at home too, for all kinds of low-light, detail-oriented work.
Headlamp: Like LED gloves, headlamps are better than flashlights because they let you keep your hands free.
Booze: It's a taste thing, but my favorite camping tipple is Hochstadter's Slow & Low Rock & Rye, a delicious mix of rye whiskey, rock candy, oranges, and honey that's strong enough to matter but mellow too.
Toilet paper tablets: These individually packaged, compact little “pills” contain disposable personal towels for all your business; throw some in the glovebox in case they didn’t refill the TP at the campground.
Guyline cord adjusters: Throw some cord adjusters in with the tent stakes. Whether you're setting up a tent or a hammock, cord adjusters will take the place of knots. They’re the kind of thing you never knew you always needed.
Mosquito repeller: Skip the bug sprays and citronella candles. Instead, pack a Thermacell, an inspect repeller that actually works.
Body/face wipes: If you want your friends to be impressed with your camping preparedness, whip out some of these face and body wipes on a hot, grimy day. They’re like showers in a package.
Welcome to "Best Summer Ever," your guide to making the most of the sunny season. Whether your idea of a perfect summer is embarking on epic adventures or blissfully doing as little as possible (preferably somewhere with good air conditioning), we've got you covered, because the best summer doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen.
Drive-in movies were once a staple of summer evening entertainment—what could be better than a movie under the stars? You can bring back those days, but do it better, by turning your backyard into a movie palace.
Creating a DIY outdoor screening room will make you the envy of the cul-de-sac, and it's surprisingly easy and inexpensive. Here's everything you need to do to turn those lazy summer nights into a cinematic experience.
The essential ingredients of a backyard movie theater
Choosing a projector for an outdoor movie theater
The easiest solution to screening movies outside is obviously to haul your TV out to the backyard and set it up. Or, if you're more serious about outdoor media watching, you could invest in a element-resistant TV like this Samsung Terrace to permanently sit on your patio. Both have their advantages, but if you want to create the most impressive outdoor movie-going experience, you have to go with the authenticity of a projecting Jaws onto an actual screen.
When choosing a projector for outdoor viewing, keep these things in mind:
Brightness: Without getting into the technical weeds of light measurement, the rule-of-thumb for projecting anywhere is: The bigger the screen, the brighter the projector needs to be. You also need to take the ambient light into account—the more ambient light, the more brightness you need. Luckily, even a budget-friendly projector like this BenQ GV30 projector will do a decent enough job for movie night, and they're extremely light and portable, too.
Resolution: If you're a true cinephile, you might insist on full 4K. That's fully possible with higher-end projectors, but for most purposes, 1080p is plenty. But the same rule basically applies: The bigger the projection, the higher the resolution.
Space: If you don't have a huge backyard, but you still want to project a big image, you can take a look at projectors with short throw lens, like this Optoma GT780.
It's not a movie theater without a movie screen. Your first thought might be to project the film on the wall of your house or your garage. That will work, but only if the wall is white and not textured. Any imperfection will throw distracting shadows.
Another option: hanging a white sheet. If the sheet is wrinkle-free, it will work well as a movie screen, but a breeze that ripples through will mess up the movie, and you might find that the logistics of hanging a sheet so it stays perfectly still are more trouble than its worth.
So consider an inflatable movie screen. This one is 16 feet diagonally, and tops Amazon's user recommendations.
Most projectors designed for home use, even on the budget side, are essentially smart devices that are ready to stream as soon as they hook up to your wifi network, so you won't have to drag your Blu-ray player outside. But if your projector doesn't do that, a USB-based streamer like a Roku Streaming Stick or an Amazon Fire TV Stick will do the trick.
Choosing a sound system for your outdoor movie theater
Many projectors feature onboard speakers and hook up to Bluetooth speakers too, and for a one-time special occasion movie screening, it will work just fine. But if you want to get more seriously, something like this Sonance Patio Series 4.1 Speaker System can live in your yard permanently and provide background music all year, as well as on movie night. Another option: These solar-powered, Bluetooth speakers that look like rocks and even offer a light show for intermission.
Outdoor movie theater extras that you might not have thought of
Extension cords: The amount of cords that will need to run into your backyard depends entirely on how your yard is wired, but it will probably be more than you expect, so it can't hurt to stock up on a long extension cord or two so you won't be running to Staples on movie night.
Cord cover mat: Speaking of cords, consider a cord cover mat to make sure that any wiring is covered so guests don't trip.
Wifi extender: Before movie night, check if your wifi actually reaches your backyard. If not, consider a wifi extender.
Blankets: Remember to keep a supply of blankets on hand in case things get chilly.
Insect control: Keep bloodsuckers out of your movie theater with these tips.
What movies should you show at your outdoor movie night?
The movie you choose is really the most important thing about your outdoor movie night. In keeping with the casual vibe of a summer movie screening, classic, more lighthearted movies are the conventional choices. You can't go wrong with Back to the Future, Goonies, or Raiders of the Lost Arc, especially if you're keeping it kid-friendly. If your guests are all adults, Jaws is a classic. If you're going for a little more elevated (but still crowd-pleasing), try The Big Lebowski.
That said, it's your movie theater, and if you want to screen Bergman's The Virgin Spring, go for it. The right movie depends on the crowd—my brother-in-law screened a series of movies for a group of adults and young teens in his yard last summer, and the biggest crowd-pleaser was Breaking Away, a quiet coming-of-age story about bicycle racing from the 1970s, so it really depends on the crowd.
Ideas for making your home movie night extra special
There are lots of ways you can make your best-summer-ever movie night an occasion instead of just "watching movies outside." Here are a few ideas:
Themed night: Make it 1980s-themed, or heavy on superheroes. Whatever suits the bill of movies.
Create a program: Take some inspiration from the way movie houses did it in the past and show some related trailers, drive-in movie interstitials, or even a newsreel before the main feature. You can find compilations of all of these on YouTube.
Trivia: Everyone likes a trivia contest. You can make your own group trivia contests at Kahoot that can be shown on your backyard screen, so make one related to the genre you're showing.
Welcome to "Best Summer Ever," your guide to making the most of the sunny season. Whether your idea of a perfect summer is embarking on epic adventures or blissfully doing as little as possible (preferably somewhere with good air conditioning), we've got you covered, because the best summer doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen.
There are two kinds of people: indoor people and outdoor people. With its interminable beach vacations, barbecues, and outdoor games, summer is definitely the season for outdoor people. But fear not, homebodies and agoraphobics: You can have the best summer ever too, if you invite summer into your life by turning your home into a cool oasis, marking the season with some new decor, and keeping yourself and your friends entertained until the blessed day when the fall comes back around.
Prepare your home for summer
If you missed the window for "spring cleaning" this year, don't despair—early summer cleaning works too. So transform your home from a dreary winter den to summer oasis by decluttering, deep-cleaning, and brightening the corners with some seasonal decor.
Clean and service your air conditioner: I'm putting this one up front because this summer will be global-warming hot, and keeping your air conditioner performing at peak efficiency is vital to a tolerable indoor summer.
You should clean your AC at least once a year. To clean a window unit, disconnect it from the power source, remove the cover, and get rid of dust that's accumulated on the coils, then use dish soap and water to get rid of the grime. Clean or replace the air filter in accordance with the owner's manual instructions, let everything dry, and put it back together. If you have central air, call a professional.
If you don't have an air conditioner, it's not too late to get one. Our sister site, PC Mag, recently did a guide to the best smart air conditioner of 2024, so if you're shopping, start there.
Create air flow: Air conditioning is king, but that doesn't mean you should hermetically seal your place until September. Open the windows and shades strategically during cooler summer mornings and evenings. Stick a fan in an upper window to suck the hot air out, while letting another fan circulate air inside. Nothing makes it feel like summer more than warm breezes blowing through.
Declutter: The beginning of summer is the perfect time to get rid of things you don't need anymore. So toss, donate, and store your junk and give yourself a clean summer-slate. If you find it hard to organize and declutter, Lifehacker's expert Lindsey Ellefson has laid out a ton of strategies to make it easier, so I won't belabor the point, but whether you use the Marie Kondo's famous KonMari method or the more indie rock ski-slope technique, it's the perfect time to get rid yourself of Winter-You's possessions so Summer-You can shine.
Deep cleaning: Now that's there's less stuff, it's easier to get in there and give everything a deep clean. Don't just straighten up—get in there and really do it. Clean the baseboards. Clean the oven. Be a civilized person. A clean house is a necessary foundation for enjoying everything else about your indoor summer. Plus, it's good for your mental health to have a clean place, and getting rid of dust, mold, and allergens is good for your physical health too.
Decorating tips for bringing a summertime vibe indoors
Now that your house is decluttered, cooled-off, and clean, let's talk about how to make it look and feel summery, because even if you're suspicious of the whole “going outside” part of summer, the power of the season's breezy vibe can’t be denied.
Summer decor: You can create a summertime feeling in your home without completely changing everything, going broke, dumping a truckload of sand in your living room like Brian Wilson, or surrendering to cheesy "life's a beach"-style decor that mars the season. Just getting a few new throw pillows, hanging some different drapes, and replacing your duvet cover with something season-appropriate will do a lot for making your place feel like an exotic bungalow in Tahiti. (Maybe that's overstating it a bit.)
The classic summer decorating style is bold patterns and sun-yellow, ocean-blue, or jungle green colors, but you can create a different, classy kind of summer vibe with serene linen fabrics and neutral colors. Or you can just go overboard and make it as ridiculous as possible; it's your summer.
Below are some pieces that might get your mind going:
Houseplants: Houseplants produce oxygen, improve your mood, and give your place an outdoorsy vibe. You can't go wrong with summer classics like a birds of paradise or spider plants—both are relatively easy to care for. If you want a really hardy plant, you could stick with hard-to-kill succulents or flowering cacti, and still project a summer vibe.
Make it smell like summer: Infusing your house with the scent of lemons or eucalyptus with essential oils makes it smell like summer too. Those are more idealized summer fragrances—if you want realism, you can make your house smell like summer in a tourist town by mixing a coconut-scented essential with the musk of stale beer. Thankfully, there is no essential oil for "New York Subway in August."
Indoor summer entertainment guide
To make the season feel like summer instead of warm-winter, you need to change up what you do as well as change how your house looks. Outside people take advantage of summer by traveling, going water-skiing, or participating in other interminable "activities" that can't be done in cold weather, but you can take a different approach and read books about people traveling, surfing, falling in love, and getting murdered instead.
Summer "beach" reading for shut-ins
You don't have to go to the beach to enjoy a "beachy" novel. I put together a list of summer novels below, but I must admit, the only one of these books I've read is Barbarian Days so I can't vouch for the rest personally. But they all have at least four stars on Amazon, and if you can't trust Amazon's readers, who can you trust?
People we Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry: Reading a book about a vacation while you're actually on vacation is way too on-the-nose, but if you're staying home, it's escapism.
This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune: Romance at the beach is fun to read about, but way too sandy in real life.
The Trackers by Charles Frazier: This book is about an artist traveling during the Great Depression. I actually ordered it while researching this story.
One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole: Is there anything more beach read-y than a mystery novel?
Ultimate summer movie list
Along with reading trashy novels, you can spend your summer watching movies about summer too. I like classics, so here are the best summertime movies made before 1980.
Gidget (1959): The movie that introduced America to surfing, Gidget is a teen melodrama that is way better than it has any right to be.
Beach Party (1963): The first in a series of schlocky teen-sploitation starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, the breezy "ain't this fun?" vibe of Beach Party becomes deeper when you know that almost all the fun-loving teens onscreen are dead.
Lord of the Flies (1963): If you want a contrast to Beach Party that came out in the same year, check out this adaptation of Lord of the Flies. It's far superior to the more modern version.
American Graffiti (1973): George Lucas' first movie takes place over a single summer night in 1962 Modesto, Calif.
Jaws (1975): Spielberg's monster-shark movie invented the summer blockbuster. It is the GOAT.
Indoor socializing
Anyone serving time in prison will tell you that socializing is important even if you don't ever leave your house. You have to get your friends to come to you, of course, but now that you have a clean, breezy house with a summer look and a selection of classic summer movies to watch, it should be easy. You might find that your outdoorsy friends are only too happy to spend a low-key summer Saturday in an air conditioned house watching Annette Funicello movies and drinking margaritas. OK, maybe not, but you can sweeten the deal by serving up ones of these summer cocktails.
The mai tai: The mai tai is the best cocktail that has ever been invented, without a doubt, and no argument is possible—and it's even better in summer. Just don't order one in a bar unless you can trust the bartender to stick to the original recipe.
The classic margarita: The margarita is the drink most people associate with summer, but even though it's overly popular, the margarita is an undeniably great cocktail. It even stands up to variations (but the simple original is best).
Corona with lime: It's time we all admit that IPAs taste terrible. A light, refreshing Mexican pilsner like Corona with a wedge of lime in the bottle tastes great, and it's quintessentially summer.
The blue Hawaiian: The blue Hawaiian looks ridiculous, but if it's made correctly, it's not a syrupy sweet gross-out, despite it blue hue. Instead, it's a kitschy classic.
The ding-a-ling: In the 1983 movie Cocktail, Tom Cruise reels off a long list of gimmicky, vodka-and-schnapps-based cocktails that were popular at the time (sex on the beach, the Alabama slammer, etc.) But he also mentions a drink called a "ding-a-ling." No one knows how to make a ding-a-ling, or whether it ever even existed. I mention this because who doesn't like a summertime mystery?
The cucumber Collins: A mixture of gin, seltzer, cucumber, lime, and mint, the cucumber collins is a light, refreshing, sophisticated summer tipple.
Any cocktail made by the pitcher: What is summer if not the perfect time to mix up 10 drinks at once and share the pitcher until everyone is too sloppy to fill it up again?
Welcome to "Best Summer Ever," your guide to making the most of the sunny season. Whether your idea of a perfect summer is embarking on epic adventures or blissfully doing as little as possible (preferably somewhere with good air conditioning), we've got you covered, because the best summer doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen.
While everyone is waiting for electric cars to take over the highways, the real e-action is happening on your local bike path: 18% of pedal-only bikes sold in 2023 were electric, while electric cars made up only 7.6% of car sales in the same year, and that's not even taking all the electric scooters, skateboards, and other vehicles into account. It's time for you to make this the best summer ever by hopping on e-bike, e-scooter, or electric unicycle, and getting out there.
What to look for in an e-bike
E-bikes are the best-selling personal electric vehicles by far for good reason. It's as easy to do as riding a bike, and gets just about anyone, of any fitness level, out on the road. But the growth of the e-bike market over the last few years makes it easy to get get overwhelmed with choices, so let me break it down for you.
For most products, I'm on the side of "just get a cheap one and see how it goes," but I make an exception for e-bikes. The cost-cutting that allows for a $300 bike has to come from somewhere, and it's likely cheap components that break easily and can't be repaired (most bike repair shops won't even look at a no-name Amazon e-bike). So they're possibly a safety hazard and probably not a bargain in the long run—there are exceptions, but most name-brand e-bikes are sold direct to consumer.
The kind of bike that will suit you best depends on the kind of rider you are and where you're going. Here's how it breaks down in terms of the main categories for newer riders:
Cruiser E-Bikes
It's summer so lets start with quintessentially summer variety bike: the cruiser. These are designed for relaxed, leisurely rides and are generally built for comfort not speed. Here are a couple excellent cruisers to consider if that's your vibe.
Aventon Pace 500.3: In terms of price vs. performance and versatility, the Aventon Pace 500.3 is one of the best bikes I've ridden, especially if you're new to e-bikes. ($1,599) (Full review here.)
MOD Easy SideCar 3: Rolling up to the beach on an e-bike with a sidecar makes a statement. The Mod Easy is a lot of bike, even without the passenger seat. ($4,190) (Full review coming soon.)
Commuter e-bikes
Commuter bikes are built for utilitarian city rides. They're made to be comfortable and are able to carry light cargo. This is the right bike if you're looking for one to take a short trip to and from work or to the store.
Tenways CGO60-Pro: This single-speed, lightweight, Euro-styled city bike features a belt-drive instead of a chain, so maintenance is unlikely to be an issue. ($1,499.00) (Full review coming soon.)
Propella 7S: I've ridden way more expensive e-bikes, but I keep coming back to the no-frills Propella. It has surprisingly high-quality parts for such an inexpensive bike, and it looks cool. ($799) (Full review here.)
Folding e-bikes
These bikes are designed for easy storage and portability. They're the choice for commuters who have no space.
Ride 1up Portola: This budget-friendly whip packs a powerful motor and fits in a closet. ($995) (Full review here)
Cargo E-Bikes
Cargo bikes are heavy-duty. They're designed to carry heavier loads and usually feature fat tires to take on more rugged terrain.
Radrunner 3: This beefy bike boy eats up dirt tracks, streets, and bike paths alike. It's like a little SUV. ($2,099) (Full review here)
Electric Mountain Bikes (E-MTBs)
These are built for off-road adventures on natural terrain. If you're into mountain biking, a motor really improves the experience.
Jasion EB5 Electric Bike: If you want to ignore my advice and good sense and get a really cheap e-mountain bike, this Jasion retails for only $289 on Amazon and has a cumulative review score of 4.4 out of 5 with over 1,000 reviews. I still wouldn't ride one down a driveway, let alone a mountain, but you do you. ($289) (Review never coming.)
Electric scooters, 0ne-wheels, and skateboards
I've messed around with them a little bit, but I don't have as much experience riding non-bike personal electric vehicles as I'd like. They seem like a younger person's game, to be honest. But if that seems like your vibe, here's some positively reviewed scooters, skateboards, and unicycles.
Electric scooter
Electric scooters are easier to ride than electric skateboards, and lighter than electric bikes. They're closer to toys than transportation, which makes them perfect for summer.
Segway Ninebot: Remember when Segways were going to revolutionize transportation? They still might do it. The company name is now slapped on electric scooters that are inexpensive and positively reviewed by professionals and Amazon customers alike.
I wouldn't get on one of these unless you have a background in analog skating, but if that's you, you will have a ridiculously good time on an electric skateboard.
Wowgo 3E: An electric longboard with a belt-driven motor that retails for under $500 and gets high consumer ratings? Sign me up, please. ($483.90)
Tynee Mini 3 Pro Electric Skateboard: On the other side of the spectrum from the above longboard is this teeny skateboard. It's 30" long but can travel 31 mph. ($749.00)
Electric unicycles and one-wheels
I'm going to be honest: I find electric unicycles and one-wheels scary as hell. I know the self-balancing features make them easy to ride, but I imagine the physics of a one-wheel engine going out while going 20 mph, and I wince. But if I could get over my fear, I bet I'd have a much more enjoyable life.
One Wheel Pint X: One Wheel has been around for over decade, so I trust they make a good product. (I'm not going to ride one, though.) ($1,100)
INMOTION Adventure Electric Unicycle: This all-terrain electric unicycle is wild. Suspension and knobby tires let you take it off-road, it can conquer a 50-degree incline, and is powered by a 4,000W high-torque motor. God help me, I want one. ($2,999)
Electric hydrofoil
They have little transportational use, but the first time I saw someone cruising above the ocean on an electric hydro-foil, it became clear that I must ride one. My personal goal for this summer is to at least try either a jet board or an electric hydrofoil. They're both supposedly easy to learn, too, so wish me luck.
Waydoo Flyer ONE Plus eFoil:These move at over 25 mph, and the battery can last as long as two hours. I don't know if I could handle that much fun.
Welcome to "Best Summer Ever," your guide to making the most of the sunny season. Whether your idea of a perfect summer is embarking on epic adventures or blissfully doing as little as possible (preferably somewhere with good air conditioning), we've got you covered, because the best summer doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen.
It's not the "best summer ever" for me unless I spend a lot of time on beaches. I crave the time-has-stopped feeling that comes with spending all day in a place where it's impossible to be productive or do anything useful. A lifetime of mindfully laying around on sand near water has taught me that it's easier to achieve that "beach zen" state if you plan ahead and bring the right gear—the difference between a great day at the beach and sandy headache can come down to what you pack. Below is everything you need for the best beach day ever, from towels and shades to underwater scooters.
Beach basics: towels, shade, and more
I'm from a beach town, so I used to roll up to the sand with just a ratty towel and book—even a pair of flip-flops was extra baggage. There's something to be said for that minimalist beach-bum style, but these days I like things more comfortable. I'm usually bringing the family too, and that requires stuff, so there are a few must-haves I always bring.
This picnic blanket with an attached strap is a higher-end option. It's easy to carry, waterproof, and versatile.
If you're staking out a lot of ground, nylon beach mats are a great option. I don't love how they feel lying on them, but you can get a 10' by 9' beach mat that packs up small and weighs little, then put your (generously sun-blocked) toddler in the middle of it and watch them crawl around.
Sun shades
I like shade, but I hate beach umbrellas. They're a bear to set up, and a sudden gust of wind can cause them to take flight, turning them into dangerous projectiles. There are better options. I really like the design of the ShibumiShade, an ultralight piece of fabric that floats on the breeze to give you shade. Another option, especially if there's not going to be any wind, is something like this SOLI air canopy. You inflate it to set it up, and once it's standing, it's like having a personal cave.
Personal sun protection
Big straw hats like this one from Quiksilver have been a staple among Southern California surfers since the 1960s and absolutely can't be improved upon. Generous sun protection and great look.
Sunglasses: I like these Knockaround Premium shades. They offer full UV400 protection, have impact resistant, polarized lenses, and they aren't incredibly expensive. Plus, they come in a variety of eye-catching designs.
Sunscreen: I always use Banana Boat sunscreen because it's what they tend to have at the drug store, but it turns out reviewers love it too.
I want to tell you about my dream cooler. The KoolMAX is a ridiculous, maximalist dream of a cooler. It can chill your drinks like any cooler, but it also has a built in 350W Bluetooth-compatible sound system, a guitar amplifier, and it's karaoke-ready. These features won't come in handy very often, but there may come a time when you need to start an instant beach party, and you'll be ready.
If you're only packing a few things and you don't need loudspeaker, over-the-shoulder carried coolers like this Polarbox 1 Ice Chest have a retro appeal.
What to bring to the beach for fun in the water
With the basics settled, let's talk about fun things you can do at the beach, starting with the thing that differentiates a beach from a pile of dirt: the water. I generally like body surfing, but that may be because I don't own an electric hydrofoil yet.
Electric hydrofoils and underwater scooters
If I had my dream summer, I would spend it flying over the ocean like Silver Surfer. Over the last few years, electric hydrofoils have taken over the waves off Southern California (at least on the beaches for people with disposable income), and whenever I see one, I think, "Yeah, that's the most fun thing a person could do on water."
I'm not sure what the most fun thing you can do in water is, but snorkeling comes close, especially snorkeling with an underwater scooter. These things are amazing. They're about the size of a soda bottle, and can pull you along with over 14 pounds of thrust. You can even clip one on a paddle board and use it like a little outboard engine.
For less adrenaline-packed water fun, paddleboards, many say, are awesome. I don't love them personally—too much work—but hey, that's just me. They've come down in price so much lately that you can get a nice inflatable paddle board for less than $200.
Fun things don't have to be expensive, though. The Surfer Dudes Wave Powered Mini-Surfer costs less than $20, but it's hours of fun for kids, as long as you're at a beach with any kind of waves. You can throw it into the surf at random and it will catch a wave, or you can get skillful with it and try to catch one just as it breaks, like real surfers.
What to bring to the beach for fun in the sand
I might say doing nothing on the sand is the personal goal, but you don't want absolutely nothing to do. So pack these "almost nothing" things to do:
An e-reader
I used to always bring a book to the beach. Now I pack a Kindle Paperwhite. Kindles are better than books in every way. They're can stay under the lake for an hour and still work (try that with a copy of War and Peace.). Unlike antique books, Kindles are Bluetooth-compatible for when you decide you'd rather listen to a podcast anyway. (The Kindle will be OK if you drop it in fresh water, but salt and sand is a different story, so get a screen protector.)
A camera
It's not a day at the beach if you don't have a record, right? So bring a camera. I used to think my phone was fine, but then I got a GoPro Hero 12. This small camera is rugged as hell, fully waterproof, mounts onto literally anything, and has almost no learning curve. It takes beautiful pictures and full 4K video, and pairs with editing software on your phone to instantly cut your footage into action-y videos like this one I made to test it out.
Little is more beach-zen than breaking out the cards and playing spades on the beach. I like these waterproof playing cards from Hoyle. They’re waterproof and practically indestructible, so you can play Bridge while whitewater rafting.
A guitar
Bringing a guitar to the beach is like wearing sunglasses at night. Most people shouldn't do it, but some people should always do it. "The beach will damage my delicate guitar!" you might be saying. Yeah, that's why you need a carbon fiber guitar, like this Klos Deluxe acoustic/electric. They can plug right into your cooler, and they're practically indestructible—a feature that will come in handy if you're playing "Wonderwall" through a cooler.
A Bluetooth speaker
If you like a little music at the beach, but a cooler-based sound system is a bit much for your personal style, pick up one of these beach-ready SoundLink Flex speakers from Bose. They’re IP67 waterproof, so they can be fully immersed in water with no ill effects, and they're designed to resist outdoor threats like dust, sand, and UV light.
An extra charger
You will be the hero of the beach if you can whip out a charger when someone's phone dies. I like this Poseidon Nano Charger. It's small, but packs eight hours of electric go-juice. Plus, it’s water-resistant, and it holds a charge for up to two years.
Speaking of phones, they overheat at the beach—but not if you pack them in a thermal phone case. Not only do they reflect sunlight and heat in the summer, they protect your phone from extreme cold in the winter too.
A personal air conditioner
I have heard rumors that there are people who don't like the beach, who don't see the fun of doing nothing all day in the hot sun. Those people need to hang a personal air conditioners around their necks. It will keep them cool until they can convince everyone else it's time to leave.
I used to think conspiracy theories were fun. It was interesting/funny that there were people out there who believed we faked the moon landing, or that Elvis Presley didn't actually die in 1977 (instead, he put on a mask and changed his name to "Orion," and kept on singing.) But those kinds of "harmless crank" conspiracy theories have always been rare. They usually eclipsed in popularity by hateful (but politically useful) conspiracy theories that boil down to "it was the Jews' fault."
There are still some "harmless" conspiracy theories out there, though, that capture the old "wait, people believe that?" energy. Below are my favorites, as well as a couple of conspiracy theories that seem harmless on the surface, but are stealthily hiding some terrible beliefs.
The year is actually 1727
According to the “phantom time hypothesis," It is not 2024. It is 1727. The years 614 to 911 never happened. They were simply added to the calendar to push the date forward artificially. The theory comes from German author Heribert Illig who detailed the theory in a 1996 (sorry, I mean 1699) book. Illig lays the blame for the missing time on Holy Roman Emperor Otto III and Pope Sylvester II, who conspired to change the dates so Otto could be Emperor in the year 1000, to legitimize his reign. Radiocarbon dating, the recorded appearance of eclipses and comets, histories written in China, and a ton of other evidence refute this theory, but ultimately, I'm just happy the Jews aren't being blamed for stealing all those years.
The Moon isn't real
This conspiracy theory comes from the world of Flat Earthers, and it's a fringe belief even there, but the theory holds that the moon is not physically present. What you see in the sky at night is a projection put there by someone, presumably to make us think the world is round. In a weird way, it makes sense. If the earth really were a flat plane, the moon's movement across the sky wouldn't make sense—unless it's not really there. Since we can see the moon, it must be a projection. There can be no other explanation.
It's a good idea to "sun your butthole"
A fringe belief in the "wellness community," practitioners of "perineum sunning" or "butthole sunning" believe that briefly exposing the area between the genitals and anus to sunlight gives you energy, improves your circulation, regulates hormones, and has a host of other health benefits. There's no way to absolutely prove that this isn't so, but there's no evidence that it is so either. Doctors point out that the taint is sensitive to sunlight, so you could get sunburned, and sunning where the sun (traditionally) does not shine puts you at greater risk of developing skin cancer, but butthole sunners generally recommend very brief exposure, and suggest using sunblock. So you should probably do this.
You don't need food and water to live
Breatharians believe that we don't need food to live, and some believe we don't need water either. In the West, the belief dates back to a 1670 Rosicrucian text describing a physician who lived "several years by taking only one-half scrupule of Solar Quintessence." Complete fasting is described in older Hindu texts as well, and often attributed to the particularly enlightened or wise. Periodically, people still claim that they don't eat or drink for months or years at a time to this day (and scientists are baffled). These people are all caught sneaking food eventually (like the founder of the Breatharian Institute of America who was spotted outside a 7-11 eating a hot dog, a Slurpee and a box of Twinkies) or no one has caught them yet.
Death is not inevitable
Immoralists believe that life can be extended indefinitely. There is obviously a lot of scientific effort being put into extending human life, but, as yet, everyone is going to die. Even you. Like the breatharians, various people have publicly claimed to be immortal throughout history, but as far as we know, all of them died eventually (and their deaths must have been particularly embarrassing.)
Pinecones are mystical symbols
There are a lot of people out there who think the appearance of pinecones in the art of various ancient civilizations are symbols of human enlightenment and the pineal gland, which is said to be the source of mystical knowledge and visions. What the YouTube videos and websites that confidently spread these theories don't seem to grasp is that the pineal gland was named after the pinecone because the gland has the same shape. There's also no reason to think that representations of pinecones symbolized the same thing to ancient Assyrians as it did to ancient Greeks. We don't know what they mean. A more reasonable theory is that pinecones are frequently represented in ancient art because their repeating patterns are visually interesting and fun to sculpt.
Two stealthily harmful conspiracy theories
These two conspiracy theories seem like "wacky, fun" conspiracy theories, but once you scratch the surface, you realize they're actually based on poisonous ideas.
Helen Keller was a fraud
This conspiracy theory claims that Helen Keller didn't actually do all the things people give her credit for, particularly writing books, or that she wasn't actually deaf and blind. "Helen Keller is a fraud" has become a popular meme on TikTok over the last few years, but the accusation actually dates back to 1892. While I think the TikTokers are mainly having a little joke, this isn't as "harmless" a theory as it might seem, as its basis is the belief that people with disabilities aren't capable enough for some intellectual tasks.
On the other hand (and giving this theory way more credit than it probably deserves) in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a fairly widely accepted belief that "facilitated communication" could allow non-verbal people (mainly people with severe autism) to communicate. With the help of a facilitator helping them point to letters or words, some previously non-verbal people wrote books and graduated college. But as soon as real testing was applied, the communication was shown to be the product of the facilitator alone. So this could have happened with Keller; there's no reason to think it did, but it's at least possible. (Unlike the crazy theory below.)
The White House was built thousands of years ago, by giants
When I first heard of the "Tartarian Empire" I thought I'd found a rich and fascinating conspiracy theory that wouldn't make me think "gross." I was wrong.
The Tartarians, according to conspiracy theorists, were/are an ancient but advanced civilization, sometimes posited to be giants, who were responsible for thousands of well known buildings all over the world, including Notre Dame de Paris, The Great Wall of China, the Eiffel Tower, the White House, and pretty much any opulent pre-modernist structure you've ever seen. These edifices were built thousands of years ago, and they aren't just buildings; they hold the key to Tartarian free energy, and if you study them hard enough (and your hat is on too tight) you can find hidden clues in the architectural details. The Tartarians were buried in some kind of "mud flood" that, depending on who you ask, happened as recently as 100 years ago (when my grandmother was alive!). Much of recent history, including World Wars I and II, were attempts to erased evidence of Tartarians so that the secret of their free energy can be kept from us.
It may seems like a wacky, harmless nutjob theory, but the Tartarians seem awfully similar to the Aryan race that the Nazis invented. Plus, the Tartarian theory is catching on, and its popularity is about to turn it from something stupid into something ugly.
Most Tartarian believers seem like well-meaning dopes who don't understand architecture or history, but their theory is so outlandish that it doesn't yet have comprehensive historical narrative to bind it together. It's a pastiche of different dumb, often conflicting ideas, but as it gains cred among the gullible, bad actors are stepping in to shape the narrative. People like white nationalist holocaust denier Stew Peters are going hard at Tartarian theories, so it's only a matter of time before the age old conspiracy theory pattern repeats, and someone answers the question of "What happened to the Tartarians?" with "it was the Jews' fault."
Teenagers used to be considered the life-blood of the movie industry, but judging by the terrible box office returns on Memorial Day weekend, they don't seem to care that much anymore. They do care about impassioned, four-hour long YouTube videos, cringe-y crush tales, and how to get very, extremely high, though.
The movie business' very bad weekend
This Memorial Day weekend was a box office disaster for the movie industry, the worst in nearly 30 years (adjusted for COVID). Neither of the tentpole weekend releases (Fury Road prequel Furiosa and Garfield) returned more than $30 million, largely because younger people just don't care about movies like they used to.
There are any number of theories for the epically bad weekend—tickets are too expensive; we're seeing the result of the actors' strike; this is part of "sequel fatigue;" neither Garfield nor Furiosa are very good—but here's my opinion: This is part of a generational shift away from movies altogether that's partly due to the industry, and partly due to larger cultural forces.
As of 2019, the 18-24 demographic still made up the largest share of moviegoers, and Hollywood really missed that mark this weekend. Furiosa features a teenage hero and bankable star Chris Hemsworth, which should appeal to younger people, but it's also based on a series that started back in the 1970s. Another key demographic that Hollywood seemed to have missed this weekend: little kids who badger their parents into taking them to movies. Garfield, based on an ancient comic strip, doesn't seem to have caught their imagination.
In a broader sense, no matter what you put on screen, I don't think most younger people get the cultural reinforcement vibe out of movies that they used to. Instead, it comes from their peers online, a much faster and more relatable form of feedback. In the U.S., moviegoing is down across the board, and the convenience and low cost of watching movies at home seems to be no match for hassle and expense of the local multiplex.
What does "egg blinker" mean?
The term "egg blinker" is trending this week among the druggier corners of TikTok. It refers to a method for smoking weed out of vape pen (aka "dabbing"). "Blinker" is slang for inhaling on a vape pen long enough that it starts to blink, indicating a stronger than expected pull. "Egg blinker," a term coined by TikToker 448smokes in this video, is hitting the pen for five seconds, then taking a quick break, then inhaling for four seconds, quick break, another four seconds, quick break, four seconds more, quick break, four seconds more, then hold everything in for eight seconds. This is a lot to remember for someone who is stoned, but it supposedly produces the feeling of an egg in one's throat, and, presumably, gets one very, very high. I know there is no lethal dose of marijuana, but if I were to try this, I would definitely die, or at least have to watch the video below a few times.
TikTok's #lostmymind trend: What did you do for your crush?
Remember actually caring about another person enough to have a crush on them? Me neither! But TikTok's young romantics are sharing the cringe-worthy, embarrassing things they've done to impress their crushes in a series of videos that might melt your icicle heart. Examples include putting a love spell on 'em, having your dad take paparazzi-style photos of you, trying to slam-dunk at beer pong, pretending to like anime, or Bruno Mars. I admire the courage it takes to post these videos, because they really are embarrassing, but they're heartwarming, too. If you want to enjoy, just check out the videos that use this sound clip.
Google's AI delights internet with misinformation, than disappears
Google rolled out AI-assisted search this month, with the search engine often returning results culled from its Gemini AI instead of just the links people expected. To call it unsuccessful is an understatement. Users quickly noticed that Google's AI was giving some severely unhinged answers. It told users to glue the cheese onto pizza, suggested eating rocks every day, claimed that dogs play professional sports, and that a cure for depression is "jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge." Google's response has reportedly been to manually take down answers to these specific questions, and they seem to be cutting back on how often AI results appear on searches. (I say they "seem" to be cutting back because if you search "Did Google turn off its AI search results?" you will not return the answer to that question.)
Viral video of the week: The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel
This week's viral video highlights the power that fans can have over huge corporations. YouTuber Jenny Nicholson recently posted a video describing her experience at Disney's Star Wars hotel, the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, in great detail. Over the course of more than four hours, Nicholson describes and shows footage of every facet of the experience and concludes that it was pretty bad, and that the price tag of around $6,000 for a weekend was way too high. (This tracks with Lifehacker's review.)
Even if it was free and worked perfectly, staying at the Star Wars hotel sounds like a nightmare to me, but Jenny is coming at it from the opposite point-of-view: she's a 100% fangirl. She paid for this as a vacation, and she desperately wanted what Disney promised—a fully immersive Star Wars weekend—but was thwarted seemingly at every turn. She's exactly the kind of person who should come away from this experience delighted, but instead of a galaxy-spanning LARP, according to Nicholson, guests are nickled-and-dimed for "add-ons" at every turn, and little about it actually works.
Her disappointment is genuine and her logic flawless. As a result, the video has been viewed millions of times and was picked up by CNN, NPR, and other news sources. The Star Wars hotel is already closed, but you'd hope Disney and other owners of beloved intellectual property will spare a few hours to consider what happens when you do a bad job of stewarding the creative output that fans love.
If you're looking for a new show to watch this week, streaming has you covered. Some of them are even worth your time!
My pick of the week is Love Island USA on Peacock. No series premiering this week says "summertime streaming" like this guilty pleasure of a reality/romance show set on Fiji. If that's not your bag, there's a new season of meta superhero show The Boys beginning, and a couple of new episodes of David Letterman's excellent long-form interview show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction available too.
Love Island USA, Season 5
Ariana Madix hosts the fifth season of Peacock original Love Island USA, a brightly colored tropical confection of a reality show in which attractive, extroverted people with shiny white teeth couple up, compete in weird little contests, and yell at each other to find love and win cash. Despite its name, Love Island USA is set in Fiji (what, Staten Island's not exotic enough?) and offers viewers the chance to play God and vote on which couple is thrown into an active volcano at the end of each episode—uh, I mean "which couples have to leave the island." A new episode of this perfectly produced reality/romance program will stream nightly during premiere week, because, hey, it's summer, so why not?
Where to stream: Peacock
The Boys, Season 4
The Boys, as they say, are back in town. In season four, the world is on the brink of collapse as evil Victoria Neuman gets closer to the Oval Office. If this were a normal superhero show, weirdos wearing underwear and capes would spring into action on behalf of mankind, but this is The Boys, so the corrupt, arrogant superheroes are causing the trouble in the first place, and only the titular team of un-super-powered CIA agents can stop them.
Where to stream: Prime
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Season 5
David Letterman's in-depth interview series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction returns for a fifth season where Dave chops it up with basketball legend Charles Barkley and pop-singing legend Miley Cyrus. If you care about these specific people, or you're interested in larger-than-life people in general, Letterman's long-form, deep-dive interviews are worlds better than five minutes of banter on a late-night show's couch.
Where to stream: Netflix
Tour de France: Unchained, Season 2
Even if you don't care about bicycle racing, check out Netflix's excellent documentary series on the Tour de France. The annual race has been a national obsession in France since 1903, and Tour de France: Unchained explores the people, passion, fame, athleticism and power that makes it so fascinating. Understanding the backstory makes watching a bunch of European guys pedal fast riveting.
Where to stream: Netflix
Candis Cayne's Secret Garden, Season 1
Trans icon Candis Cayne hosts a gardening show like none other. In her “literally groundbreaking” comedy/DIY/gardening show, Cayne and her friends will teach you how to transform your home and garden into a magical place. Billed as a whimsical and visually stunning experience that combines the real-life gardening expertise of Candis Cayne with a playful and imaginative world, each episode of Secret Garden presents a different DIY project designed to inspire your imagination and motivate you to make your backyard and home magical.
Where to stream: Hulu
Last week's picks
House of the Dragon, Season 2
A lot of people are excited for the second season of House of the Dragonon Max. The first season was a banger, with critics giving it 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and things are going to get dragon-breath hot in season 2 with Westeros on the brink of a civil war, and King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra locked in battle to sit on The Iron Throne.
Where to stream: Max
Star Wars: The Acolyte
The Acolyte series takes Star Wars in a unique direction: It's a sci-fi action/thriller set among the Jedi and Sith. Amandla Stenberg plays both Osha and Mae, identical twins on opposite sides of The Force. Mae's dark mission is to murder as many Jedi as she can, where her light-side twin is dedicated to tracking her down. Some of the The Acolyte's juiciest drama is meta: Critics love it to the tune of 93% "fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes, where fans feel the opposite—the audience reaction score is sitting at a dismal 31%.
Where to stream: Disney+
Sweet Tooth, Season 3
In dark-fantasy series Sweet Tooth, Christian Convery plays Gus, a half-human, half-deer chimera who lives in a future where everything went to hell after a contagious disease killed 98% of humanity. Humanimals like Gus are seen as either abominations to be stamped out or as keys to a cure for the sickness. With the help of pig/girl Wendy (Naledi Murray), Gus will face off against the First Men, a paramilitary group that wants all the hybrids dead.
Where to stream: Netflix
Fantasmas
If you like fantasy, but dragons and swords aren't your thing, you might enjoy Fantasmas, a surrealist comedy series created by, directed by, written by, and starring Julio Torres, the dude who starred in criminally under-watched Los Espookys. In Fantasmas, Torres is searching for a missing earring, but that's just a framework to decorate with the magical, surreal, haunting, and hilarious imagery, situations, and characters that come from Torres' head.
Where to stream: Max
Counsel Culture
I'm intrigued by this Prime talk show. Based on host Nick Cannon's podcast of the same name, Counsel Culture is billed as a "safe space and a brave place for men to be vulnerable," but is a panel of dudes discussing mental health, masculinity, dating, and other dude topics the kind of thing men want to watch? Time will tell. Cannon is joined by therapist Dr. Mike Dow and psychiatrist Dr. Ish Major, and guest co-hosts include Howie Mandel, Lamar Odom, DeSean Jackson, and more.
Where to stream: Prime
Ren Faire
Three-part docuseries Ren Faire would make a great double feature with House of the Dragon. Ren Faire features a real-life fight for supremacy. "King" George Coulam, founder of the Texas Renaissance Festival, the first ren faire—and the largest, most lucrative one in the world—is preparing to retire, and his underlings are scheming to be named his heir apparent and end up with the multimillion dollar business and the crown. Ren Faire presents its colorful characters' weird quirks and lifestyles in funny ways but it doesn't mock anyone, like all ren faire people should be treated.
Where to stream: Max
Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial
At the risk of starting a sentence with "You have to hand it to the Nazis for..." Hitler and company inspired more compelling documentaries than anyone else in history. This one examines the post-World War II trials of the Nazi leaders who survived. Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial explores our failing cultural memories of the Third Reich and asks if forgetting about the past dooms us to a hellish repeat. It's not a lighthearted show, but it is an important one.
Where to stream: Netflix
Becoming Karl Lagerfeld
Before he became a fashion legend and fashion icon, Karl Lagerfeld was just some guy named Karl; this Hulu original bio-series Becoming Karl Lagerfeld explores this remarkable transformation. The series follows Lagerfeld, played by Daniel Brühl, as he navigates the 1970s Parisian high fashion scene. He encounters fierce rival Yves Saint Laurent (played by Arnaud Valois), forms a business partnership with Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz), and develops a more personal relationship with bon vivant Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin). If you’re fascinated by fashion or the jet-set lifestyle, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld is a must-watch.
Where to stream: Hulu
Queenie
Queenie Jenkins, the hero of Hulu original comedy series Queenie, is a British Jamaican woman in the UK who is suffering from a quarter-life crisis, a bad breakup, and the general horror and annoyance of urban life in 2024 all at once. With the vibrant yet challenging landscape of South London as a backdrop, Queenie struggles to navigate her dual cultural identity and find her place in the world. If you enjoy witty, contemporary character studies that tackle themes of race and identity, Queenie is a must-watch.
Where to stream: Hulu
Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders, Season 1
I love true crime docs, so I'm psyched for a whole season of social-media-centered mayhem and murder that Deadly Influence is bringing. Influencer culture's mixture of parasocial relationships and terminally online weirdos often result in exceptionally weird crimes, and this series dives into the trashy dungheap to dig up stories. I'm here for it.
Looking to settle in with a good movie? Me too. That's why I've pored over the release schedules of major streaming services to bring you the best original and new-to-streaming movies you can watch right now.
My standout movie stream-of-the-week is Max's Am I OK?, a romantic comedy for all the late bloomers out there. If you're more into pop culture documentaries, I suggest hosting a '80s double feature with Brats, a look inside the infamous "Brat Pack" and Let the Canary Sing, a documentary about the great Cyndi Lauper.
Am I OK?
In this heartfelt romantic comedy, Dakota Johnson plays Lucy, a receptionist at a Los Angeles spa who starts to suspect, at 32 years old, that she might be gay. As Lucy discovers more about herself, she's also dealing with the imminent departure of her longtime best friend Jane, played by Sinoya Mizuno. Am I OK? is sitting at 83% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the cast's nuanced performances and the writing talent of first-time screenwriter Lauren Pomerantz, who eschews cliches and well-worn tropes in favor of honesty.
Where to stream: Max
Let the Canary Sing
Everyone loves Cyndi Lauper for her massive singing talent and her flamboyant style, but not enough people know the person behind behind the act. Through archival footage and interviews, Let the Canary Sing explores Lauper's meteoric ascension to superstardom, her unique and ever-changing fashions, her uncompromising artistic vision, and her lifelong advocacy.
Where to stream: Paramount+
Brats
To teenagers in the 1980s, no one was cooler, sexier, or more famous than The Brat Pack, that cadre of young actors that starred in every teen movie and seemed to rule Hollywood. Directed by original brat-packer Andrew McCarthy, Brats gives us a view from inside the fame fishbowl through interviews with brat packer Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy and more. (Spoiler: being in the Brat Pack wasn’t as much fun as you probably imagined.)
Where to stream: Hulu
Keith Robinson: Different Strokes
Keith Robinson is a very funny comic, but his new Netflix stand-up special should be extra hilarious and/or poignant because of its subject matter. In 2020, Robinson popped a Viagra on an airplane and had a stroke, and in Keith Robinson: Different Strokeshe tells the whole story with his distinctive, no-bullshit style.
Where to stream: Netflix
Last week's picks
Hit Man
Directed by the supremely talented Richard Linklater, Hit Mantells the real story of a fake Hit Man. Gary Johnson's job is pretending to be a professional killer for police sting operations (where can I send a resume?) but he puts everything on the line when he falls in love with a potential client. Co-written by and starring Glen Powell, Hit Man takes a darkly comedic look at an unusual lifestyle. If you're looking for a funny, perfectly crafted, and intelligent movie, look no further.
Where to stream: Netflix
Queer Planet
Peacock's original nature documentary examines gay animals, just in time for Pride. The elevated part of my brain wants to watch Queer Planetbecause I want to learn about gay penguins, bisexual lions, and other animals with surprising personal lives; the petty part of my brain wants to watch it to spite everyone who has ever said being gay isn't natural. Turns out, Nature can be pretty woke.
Where to stream: Peacock
How to Rob a Bank
I love true crime movies, especially when they're not about murderers, so I'm looking forward to How to Rob a Bank. This Netflix original documentary tells the story of the stylish and prolific bank robber Seattle cops nicknamed "Hollywood." His real name is Scott Scurlock, and he pulled off a string of audacious bank robberies in the 1990s, often using tricks and techniques inspired by action movies. How toRob a Bank promises all the cat-and-mouse thrills of heist movies like Point Break with the added bonus of it all having actually happened.
Where to stream: Netflix
Skyfall (2012)
In Skyfall, director Sam Mendes jettisons the campy gadgets and goofiness and goes for a "modern Bond" blend of intensity and breeziness that works perfectly with Daniel Craig's nuanced portrayal of the secret agent. The third James Bond movie starring Craig, Skyfall's Rotten Tomatoes score is 92%, and the Bond fan community generally places this flick in the company of the best films in the long-running series. If you know anyone who hasn't seen a Bond movie, this is a great way to jump in.
Where to stream: Prime
Marlon Wayans: Good Grief
In his new special Good Grief, stand-up comedian/actor/maker Marlon Wayans gets real about the death of his parents, but does it in a funny way. Filmed at Harlem's famous Apollo theater, Wayans's comedy-meet-therapy performance is based on the motto that "all grief is good grief," and touches on topics like which Wayans brother is funniest, and how remarkable it is that the matriarch of the Wayans family raised "five millionaires but only one crackhead."
Where to stream: Prime
I Am Cuba (1964)
I don't think you're allowed to graduate film school without watching I Am Cuba, director Mikhail Kalatozov’s examination of Cuba right before the revolution. Even all these years later, the lush black and white photography, graceful camera movement, and vibe of simmering revolution will stop you cold.
Where to stream: Criterion Channel
Godzilla Movie Marathon
I associate Godzilla movies with the 1960s and 1970s, but there's more in the Godzilla cinematic universe than cheesy, guy-in-a-rubber-suit flicks from 50 years ago: There's cheesy guy-in-a-rubber-suit flicks made more recently! In June, Prime is streaming eight made-in-Japan Godzilla movies released between 1999 and 2004, including Godzilla Vs. Spacegodzilla (1999), Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2004), Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah(1999), and Godzilla, Mothra, andKing Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2003). All of these, I assume, are amazing.
Where to stream: Prime
Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation
It's summertime, so your kids probably need something to do. You could do way worse than watching Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation with 'em. The Disney+ series is quirky without being annoying, positive without being cloying, and moderately funny, even to adults. In their movie debut, the Greens's Earthbound vacations turns into a trip into outer space for an experimental farming mission (it doesn't have to make sense; it's a cartoon!)
Where to stream: Disney+
Saw: the first seven movies
Saw movies are like comfort food to horror fans. From its humble beginnings with James Wan’s low-budget, indie horror movie Saw in 2004, the gritty franchise has grown into a horror mainstay with 10 feature films, a (bad) AAA video game, and more merchandise than you could collect in 10 lifetimes. Some are better than others, but all the Saw movies are variations on the theme of a madman putting people into devious traps so we can watch them die, escape, and/or enact revenge on their tormentor. Hulu is streaming the first seven movies in the series to celebrate the start of summer, a fact that will delight horror fans, even if horrifies everyone else.
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