My thing about
#Outlander
is that, at its core, it's about a woman and a man who actually listen to one another. No wonder people love it -- when was the last time anybody really heard what you were saying?
On
#AlexTrebek
. This is why I always like to write an Appreciation in the moment, instead of in advance like a straight obit. This moment is about celebrating intelligence and competence; so oddly meaningful that this is when the universe claimed him.
On
#Outlander
this season (why aren't you watching it already?), Claire has been trying to make penicillin in the 1770s. Should she be monkeying around with the time-space continuum? HELL YES. More thoughts from this Outmander here:
THIS goes out to all the girls in the class of '86, from the boy who loved you best.😎-->> Review | For too long,
@OfficialGoGos
story was a cautionary tale. A new documentary turns it into a triumph.
Today I reached a point where I don't want to read stories about small-biz owners panicked about making the April rent. Instead: WHO ARE THESE LANDLORDS, who think the rent/eviction paradigm is workable right now, and believe it's better to have NO tenants when this passes?
As it happened, I spent Thanksgiving 1997 alone, by choice (or social inertia). I was 29, single. I made pasta and listened to Yo La Tengo and finished reading "Angela's Ashes." Point is, if you're alone today, you'll remember it and you will be okay. I'm thinking of you.
This afternoon, we began correcting the original sin of
@washingtonpost
's digital existence: no Style section. No way for readers to experience the mix of culture, politics, arts, media and weirdness that has defined Style in print for 50+ years. 1/3
Tis true, I am stepping down as The Post's TV critic at the end of the year, and into a great new gig: senior editor for Style. I have LOVED being the TV critic, but I also think it's important to know when you've said all you can say about a thing.
Replace me! The Washington Post is looking for its next TELEVISION CRITIC. This is a biggie that rarely comes open. An amazing opportunity for an experienced critic to push it in a whole new direction. Details here:
There shouldn't have been a baseball season. People should not be going to restaurants and bars, even patios. Your road trip, your backyard get-togethers aren't safe. School attendance should be out of the question, incl college campuses. Flights should be canceled. Sorry.
Also, re last night’s TV coverage: when/if we get to move on, I’d like to see all that magic wall effort converted into daily coronavirus mapping: hotspots, infection rates, hospital totals, deaths. A national picture, with that same intensity.
If you really want to know what the best, most sublime thing on TV this year was, it was
@StephenAtHome
answering
@AndersonCooper
's question about grief, loss and faith.
I love getting notes from readers alerting me to typos (which I promptly fix) but what I will NOT accept are snide remarks about copy editors or the perceived lack thereof. They are here, saving our asses constantly, and faced with more copy than you can possibly imagine.
My yacht policy is that if you’re bringing more than one vegan on board (but your party is not all vegans), then we’ll have to hire a 2nd chef. It’s not fair to expect top-notch cooking across those preferences. AND WHAT I SAY GOES.
#BelowDeckMed
Congratulations, you have lived long enough to enjoy the first gay TV Christmas movie (
#theChristmasSetup
), and it is as tame and conventional as we always dreamed it would be. Merry Christmas, Justice Alito!
It writes itself, doesn’t it screenwriters? Two FBI agents (one male, one female), six days, “limited scope,” discouragement from superiors, surprising revelations, shifts in perspective. And, of course, 80s songs.
This
@mffisher
obit of Rush Limbaugh is chock full of one galling detail after another, all the things one might have tried to forget, laid end to end, adding up to so much damage to our culture and politics, inflicted by one person.
Gee, I wonder where we could possibly find lots and lots of honest, able-bodied people who would be willing to move to Maine, work, pay taxes, raise kids and be great citizens.
It may feel weirdly old-school, but Nana had the right idea, and millions are finding out: The networks' nightly news is a good way to manage your information intake. Like a Clorox wipe across the anxious mind.
I just want to say that having the Stealth bomber, followed by three fighter jets, fly a few hundred feet above your house is not providing the happy, freedom-swelling effect it's meant to.
If we haven't used up all the broadband and
#Netflix
is working, I highly recommend the four-episode drama
#Unorthodox
(premiering Thursday). Gripping and beautiful. My review:
The Washington Post is adding all kinds of investigative reporting jobs: in Sports, in Europe, on climate, a newsroom FOIA director, researcher. Editors too. Details:
The
@washingtonpost
Style section turns 50 on Sunday. Here are 9 stories from five decades -- not a greatest-hits album (which would be impossible to compile) but a good sampling of what we've done and still do.
One year on the job — 300 or so Style sections headed for recycling. Keeping 63 really good ones for a while. The writing, the reporting, the ideas, the editing, the headlines, the photos, the art, the design. Hard work by all.
If you have friends who live in DC, don’t assume we’re all just peachy keen and loving the proximity to history. And if no one else has checked in on you, Washington, I will: Everything OK?
#FX
has ordered a limited series called
#MrsAmerica
, about the effort to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Cate Blanchett will play Phyllis Schlafly. Had to read the press release twice to be sure.
I’m sorry, but no. Inauguration needs to be small and virtual. The DNC was some of the most compelling TV this year. Inauguration should be the sequel. Save lives.
35 years ago in the Style section: Madonna at RFK, reviewed by Richard Harrington. "With her nonstop dancing, costume changes, mini-dramas and dynamic pacing, it is sort of a 'Liza With an M.' It could just as well be called 'The Madonna Workout.'"
If I seem a little enthusiastic about the work of my colleagues, sorry. I just came out of a cave where I was watching TV for 11 years and I am blinded, dazzled, by all the talent we have. That includes photo, designers, copy editors. Bear with me.
SCOOP: Tennessee Department of Health halts all vaccine outreach to kids – not just for COVID-19, but all diseases – amid pressure from GOP. Staff ordered to remove the agency logo from any documents providing vaccine info to the public, per internal dox.
Congratulations to
@LizSeymour
, The Washington Post's new deputy managing editor for news operations. As executive features editor for the last 8 years, she worked miracles: brought us out of the doldrums, improved our work, hired the best and, most of all, cared deeply for us.
Here’s a cleanse from that NYT story about rich people rediscovering their second homes. A
@washingtonpost
story about how one woman spent every penny she had to buy a house in 1936 and changed the course of her family’s story.
Cleaning my
@Swatch
watches today. There’s a lot, I know. Don’t judge, I’m a white man in America in midlife. It could be a boat. It could be GUNS. Luckily it’s just watches.