The Nose looks at the COVID pop culture canon and ‘The Power’

This week’s Nose could be some genetic switch that flipped. Something that was there, dormant, and it just…

On April 8, The New York Times Opinion published an interactive, “17 Pop Culture Moments That Define the COVID Era.” The Nose didn’t really have a choice but to start figuring out its own COVID canon.

And: The Power is a TV series adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s 2016 science fiction novel (which The Nose covered in 2018). It tells the story of a world where teenage girls suddenly develop the ability to produce electricity. It stars an ensemble cast that includes John Leguizamo, Halle Bush, Toheeb Jimoh, Eddie Marsan, and Toni Collette. Five of The Power’s expected nine episodes are available to stream on Prime Video.

Rebecca Castellani’s endorsements:

• Dark on Netflix
• the books of Margaret Atwood

Rand Richards Cooper’s endorsement:

• the books of W.G. Sebald

Lindsay Lee Wallace’s endorsements:

• Crush on Hulu
• Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

Colin’s endorsement:

• the music of Connie Converse

Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take:

• Al Jaffee, Mad magazine’s cartoon maestro, dies at 102 He was Mad magazine’s longest-serving contributor and proudly helped corrupt the minds of generations of young Americans
• Mary Quant, British Fashion Revolutionary, Dies at 93 Known as the mother of the miniskirt, clad in her signature play clothes and boots, with huge painted eyes, fake freckles and a bob, she epitomized London’s Swinging Sixties.
• Food storage synonym Tupperware has ‘substantial doubt’ it can survive
• Taylor Swift’s breakups defined her early stardom. Not anymore. The tone and reaction to Swift’s split with actor Joe Alwyn after six years is remarkably different from a decade ago
• Some People’s ‘Funny’ Is Other People’s ‘Offensive’
• A Resurfaced Clip Of Aubrey Plaza Recalling The Time A Director Instructed Her To Masturbate On Camera Has Left People Seriously Disturbed “The camera was mounted on the ceiling, I was in my underwear and a Clinton t-shirt, and there were a bunch of old men smoking — the crew guys. And then I went and touched myself.”
• Actor Jesse Metcalfe talks about dating in CT on podcast
• Inside Donald Glover’s New Creative Playground He changed the course of television with Atlanta and laid out a blueprint for a whole era of dark comedy. And now, out in Ojai, California, the multihyphenate star is preparing for the next phase of his career, building something even bigger and more ambitious that only he could have imagined.
• ‘Succession’ and ‘Dr. Pimple Popper’ Together in New Warner Streaming App The service, expected to be called Max, is meant to help the company compete more directly with Netflix and Disney.
• “The Body You’ve Been Comparing My Current Body To Was The Unhealthiest Version Of My Body”: Ariana Grande Addressed Speculation Around Her Body “I was on a lot of antidepressants and drinking on them and eating poorly and at the lowest point of my life when I looked the way you consider my ‘healthy.’”
• How ‘Hud’ Began Texas’s Love Affair With the Bastard Paul Newman plays a brutish, morally repugnant monster in the classic anti-western. So why do Texans admire him anyway?
• The Case of the Fake Sherlock Richard Walter was hailed as a genius criminal profiler. How did he get away with his fraud for so long?
• NASA’s Webb Telescope Reveals Supernova in Unprecedented Detail A stunning new picture of an exploded star includes a “green monster” and other never-before-seen features.
• Brad Pitt and the Bizarre Charity Mess That’s Left Katrina Victims Stranded Again Owners of faulty homes built by the star’s Make It Right Foundation in New Orleans were relieved when charity Global Green promised $20.5 million for repairs. The only problem: It never had the money.
• A Journey Inside the Updated James Bond Novels Book Bond has long been obscured by his cinematic doppelgänger. Now, thanks to savvy edits, readers can finally have a serious discussion about the complicated man on the page.

GUESTS:

• Rebecca Castellani: Co-founder of Quiet Corner Communications and a freelance writer
• Rand Richards Cooper: A fiction writer, contributing editor at Commonweal, and the restaurant critic for the Hartford Courant
• Lindsay Lee Wallace: Writes about culture, health care and health equity, and other stuff, too

The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.