ENERGY, House of Hummingbird, and There There
A featured article by Jacob Shkrob and a podcast featuring an interview with poet and rapper Mamadou.
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Welcome to the fifteenth installation of The Q: your one-stop weekly newsletter of culture recommendations. Can’t find a platform where you can receive condensed, reliable, pop-culture content? Yeah, we can’t either.
Every Saturday morning in your inbox, you’ll find a featured article, an album, a film, a playlist, a book, a video, and something funny we found that week. Oh, and a Two Virgins podcast episode, where Sam and Teresa talk about a recommendation while drinking virgin drinks. We also invite a guest onto the show every week (that guest could be you!)
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Featured Article
strange loops and monotony by Jacob Shkrob
we are all remembering
solo pictures of daffodils hang
in the memories of his plastic heart
where I work like the aphid to an ant
in the amalgamation of my fears
Album
ENERGY by Disclosure
Growing up in Chicago, house music was always a presence in my life. I remember every summer, hearing the Chosen Few House Music Fest blasting music from across the park and all of the old-heads in the city gathering in one place to dance to the music that they grew up on. In middle school, a new type of dance music emerged in my life: EDM.
Film
House of Hummingbird directed by Bora Kim
Bora Kim’s House of Hummingbird deeply moved me in a way that I did not expect it to. By delicately contrasting and comparing the way the film’s 14-year-old protagonist sees herself with the image that others have of her, Kim crafts a full-bodied human, whose identity is a messy collage of who she thinks she is and how others perceive her. In many ways, watching House of Hummingbird felt like I was watching a God’s-eye reel of my former self.
Book
There There by Tommy Orange
I often read to escape the passage of time. Whether I’m willfully ignoring a deadline, staving off boredom, or attempting to recuperate my senses after receiving bad news, I find that to read is to be ensconced. Here, the past and the future can fade away: all that exists is the page you are currently reading, and the scene it’s recounting.
Playlist
Spencer Derthick’s teenage pregnancy features Big Words, Yeek, and Daniel Caesar
Spencer’s favorite track: “Carry Me Home” by Jorja Smith and Maverick Sabre
Description: “This playlist, a personal favorite of mine, is perfect for late-night solo drives, a quiet Sunday afternoon, camping, and affectionate and intimate moments with others. It features songs from smaller artists and, at 13 hours long, it contains an extensive variety of vocals that never become old. it is the essence of a 19-year-old coming of age novel. ”
Follow Spencer on Instagram
Podcast
Two Virgins Episode #15: Oolong Milk Tea and an Interview with Mamadou.
On this week's episode of Two Virgins, Teresa and Sam interview Harlem poet and songwriter Mamadou. over a cup of oolong milk tea. His debut album, To Stitch a Rose, dives into the psyche and consciousness of an 18-19-year-old Mamadou. as he navigates and reflects on his coming of age as a 1st generation Malian man in Harlem. The album embodies the different vignettes/dream-like states of Mamadou.’s inner thoughts as he grapples with his experience dealing with young intimate relationships, coming of age as a young man and with the new, confusing emotions that come with loss. Mamadou. talks to Teresa and Sam about how poetry has influenced his music, the importance of taking time for yourself and working with various friends and artists as collaborators.
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