Making Your Way During The Stay-In-aissance

Plus: Streaming Recommendations, Emma, and What's Making Us Happy by Linda Holmes Welcome! Well heck, you know what week it was. It was the week when [South by Southwest was canceled](. It was the week when we sent our warmest wishes to so, so many people, including [Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson](. It was also the week when Harvey Weinstein got [23 years in prison](. Let's get to it. Opening Argument: Making Your Way During The Stay-In-aissance It’s extremely difficult to know what to do with a newsletter like this when we’re in a news cycle like we’re in right now. For the most part, after this week, I hope that we’ll be able to make it a little oasis of other things to think about besides pandemic preparations and responses, but I do think that it’s good to have a state-of-things conversation about the cultural times, because they are, interestingly enough, pretty significantly affected. I honestly hope and believe that the more palatable and the less stressful staying in can be, the more people will be willing to do it when it’s beneficial to public health. It’s certainly not for me to say when you should stay home and when you shouldn’t, but certainly a lot of folks are doing it more, and if you’re doing it more, we might as well find ways to keep some sense of normalcy. If you have kids, if you have anxiety, if you have any other challenges, it should be your choice how much you want to distract yourself and how much you want to give your energy to vigilance. The role of people who write about entertainment is to help out with the distraction part, whatever you think it should be. Current concerns are going to make a hash out of the spring and summer movie release schedule. Last week, it was James Bond; this week, it’s A Quiet Place II, and by the time you read this, it might be something else. Festivals and other events are canceling daily. So: The Stay-In-aissance it is. You’re going to read a lot of pieces, from me and from a lot of other people, about things you can binge-watch and catch up on -- you’ll see some recommendations in this very newsletter. But honestly, when it’s about reducing your own stress, it can be whatever you want. I waived, very early, my own New Year’s Resolution about trying not to watch things I’ve watched before. If an old season of Survivor is what makes me feel better, that’s what I’m going to watch. Just like you’re balancing distraction and awareness, it’s probably healthy to balance pure comfort and actual quality (not that these are mutually exclusive; I’m just talking about your own motivation for choosing them). There’s so much good stuff, there really is. I myself am making a list of things I want to catch up on. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter (@lindaholmes) if you need a suggestion. But I also have watched a couple of my favorite seasons of Survivor (available on CBS All Access). And I’m checking out the many, many reality shows over on Netflix. I’m making sure I flex my Criterion Channel subscription. It’s so disappointing missing live theater and live events and maybe parties and other things you’re looking forward to -- I’ve had several things canceled myself, and it stinks. And it’s hard to admit that it stinks when it’s so trivial compared to … well, picture me waving my arms all around. Choose your actual news sources carefully. Take care of yourself; limit how much time you spend on Twitter looking at the same things you already know and have absorbed, only now they’re in caps; and find the accounts that specialize in animal pictures or funny videos or whatever you use to soothe your nerves. You’re allowed to soothe your nerves. Soothed nerves process information better anyway. Next week, we will talk about something else. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- We Recommend: There are so many streaming recommendations out there right now -- and there will be more, and we’ll be here to help -- that I want to highlight a perhaps underutilized resource, which is things that are available on DVD and Blu-ray. There is an entire memory hole into which a lot of television has fallen. Freaks & Geeks, I discovered this week, is not streaming. But you can buy the whole, beautiful season on physical media. And if you’re planning to do more working at home and more staying inside for a while, you’ve got time for it to be delivered. But are you looking for streaming? Consider catching up on one of the I Always Meant To Watch That, But Everyone Was Talking About It So Much That I Abstained shows! How about Fleabag on Amazon? Any of the HBO biggies can be found on their streaming platforms -- this is your chance to watch The Wire and not tell anyone, so you don’t give them the satisfaction. Succession! The Jinx! Westworld! Try one out and blame it on your isolation. It’s also a great time to read. Don’t ever feel like you have time to read? You may have time to read! My favorite source of reading recommendations is Maris Kreizman, whose [reading list for 2020]( will keep you occupied for a while. What We Did This Week: [Emma Image]( Box Hill Films/Focus Features We’re in the middle of making adjustments to work from home, and that means we’ve spent some of this week gearing up for some episodes of PCHH that may sound a little different as we record them from Under A Blanket or wherever. But for now, we’re still in our studio for the Wednesday episode in which [we talked about The Invisible Man]( a very creepy movie we liked. [Our Friday show]( is about the new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, which I highly recommend in a theater (or when it comes to streaming). And because it’s turning 25 this year, we also checked in with Amy Heckerling’s indelible Emma adaptation Clueless. What's Making Us Happy: Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: - Glen: [Six]( musical]( - Margaret: [Tuesday Mooney Talks To Ghosts]( - Christina: [The Bold Type]( - Linda: [The Two Lives of Lydia Bird]( What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [pchh@npr.org](mailto:pchh@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Pop Culture Happy Hour emails. 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