Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, and Throwing the Crown
A featured article by Travis Schuhardt and a podcast covering Eric Andre's Netflix special "Legalize Everything"
Welcome to the seventh 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
Project: New York by Travis Schuhardt
The storms are getting worse, they say. Mom says it’s probably nothing to worry about. Dad says it’ll be years before anything happens. I don’t know the value of a year, I’ve only had six, you see. I like watching the rain. We sit in a garage in New Jersey on lawn chairs and watch the storm, and Dad lets me run out into the storm, lets me lower my voice and act like a man and have the wind lift me off my feet, and I could fly if I jumped.
Album
Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon by Pop Smoke
It’s pretty hard to make a hit song, but it’s much harder to make a song that actually matters to people. Some artists make top 10 hits for their whole career without making that song which means more than the music. Pop Smoke, on his first full project, made an entire album of songs that transcended the genre and took over an entire city. His newest album, Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon, released five months after his death, shows what an immensely creative and important artist we lost way too early earlier in his career.
Film
Never Rarely Sometimes Always directed by Eliza Hittman
Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always follows a pregnant teen named Autumn and her cousin, Skylar from rural Pennsylvania to New York City. Why? Autumn needs an abortion.
Calling Autumn and Skylar’s journey an “adventure” would be disrespectful. It is a laborious journey, soiled by grief and lack of sleep. While Autumn and Skylar plan for the trip to take no more than a day, it ends up taking several.
Book
Throwing the Crown by Jacob Saenz
With great detail, Saenz captures a constant influx of violence in its many forms. The poems in this book are split into three different parts, which imitate Saenz’s waves of reflection. Part I guides readers through the cycle of boyhood. There are moments of tension, such as the instance of physical altercation with his stepfather, which snaps readers into the present. But then, of course, there are the sweet, nostalgic consolations of his youth which are taken up by video games and snacks. However, even in these softer moments, there is a harsh impending realness; the corner store he visits with his friends to buy Cheetos from is being gentrified. There is a never-ending roughness that underlies his experience.
Playlist
Keana Woods’ WE ARE IN A COMING OF AGE MOVIE features The Cure, Grouplove, and MGMT.
Keana’s favorite track: “Tongue Tied” by Grouplove
Description: “‘It features songs that I personally feel would be fitting during the happy and adventurous moments in a coming of age film. All of these songs are high energy and make fun times with your friends feel that much more exhilarating.”
Podcast
Two Virgins Episode #7: Legalize Everything, Virgin Mojitos, and James Patterson
On this week's episode, Sam and Teresa talk about Eric Andre’s newest comedy special “Legalize Everything” over a virgin mojito with Teresa’s friend James Patterson.
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xx Teresa and Sam