Not a tortured poet but definitely tortured
Your Weekly Breakdown
Hello friends!
What a week. Between an out of control inbox, insane deadlines, and sick kids, I'm spent. I'm looking forward to doing a bit of gardening, catching up on reading, and tapping my feet along to some great music while I jot down my random thoughts and musings. If I'm lucky, we'll get a few uninterrupted nights of sleep...not a tortured poet but definitely a tortured working woman. 🫶🏼
Anyway, what are you up to? In case you need it, I've put together some great recommendations of what to watch, listen to, and read. Media is a weird world right now. There's just so much flooding our inboxes and feeds, and--at the risk of you clicking unsubscribe--, I'll just come out and say it: we're all oversubscribed!
The entire aim of Hard Copy is to filter through the noise and get you only the essentials, shipping them straight to your inbox. We love helping make life a little more simple and a lot more enjoyable.
Without further ado...happy weekend! 🖤
Recommendations
📺 Watch
If you can get to a theatre, revel in Dev Patel’s highly anticipated action film Monkey Man. Patel is a producer of the film, alongside industry fav Jordan Peele.
Baby Reindeer (Netflix) is a British drama-thriller that’s based on the true and twisted story of a struggling comedian and his stalker.
I’ll watch anything with Léa Seydoux. One Fine Morning (Prime) lives somewhere in the realm of drama and romance, painting a moving portrait of the wide breadth of emotions available to a single mother stretched thin, grappling with the realities of her ailing father, and the temporary bliss of an affair.
🎧 Listen
Well let’s get this one out of the way: if you need the link for TSwift's The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, there it is. More on that later.
Moving right along...
The Bahamas’s Repackaged Love Songs came out in January, but it’s getting a special shoutout this weekend the band is performing here in Canada. It’s cozy, romantic, light, easy. Also, don’t sleep on their 2023 country album that knocked the socks off just about everyone in Nashville.
Khruangbin’s A LA SALA is a classic indie rock jam and a nod to American psych-funk, all packaged up into a fantastic album with a very global feeling. This is on while you’re enjoying a coffee on the patio or a beer on the stoop.
Shabaka’s Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace is a gorgeous instrumental, soft jazz album to score your mellow weekend or that bit of work you need to catch up on.
📚 Read
Tech
“Sharenting”: What is the price of childhood turned into content? Take a look behind the scenes of family influencer culture. (Cosmopolitan)
Did you know that Google provides cloud computing services to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and that the tech giant has negotiated expanding on the partnership during Israel’s war in Gaza? (Time)
Author and essayist Laura Oyler is interviewed on everything from hot takes to pop culture to the bowels of the internet. (Embedded)
The Canadian government tabled the 2024 budget this week, one that relies heavily on increased capital gains inclusion rate. This move has resulted in a chorus of entrepreneurs and investors blasting the government, saying this will lead to ‘brain drain’ and further degrade Canada’s already poor productivity (CBC).
Women
Alright, back to Taylor Swift. Listen, the girl (superstar, artist, genius) had a lot to say–31 songs worth–and though Swifties will fight to the death screaming that this album is the best yet, it’s not. (Stereogum)
(I also really enjoyed Nathan’s review of the reviews)
If you’ve ever fallen under the spell of an enigmatic boss, you know the high and lows of being the main character of someone else’s dream. This piece is a brief coming-of-age career story that resonates a bit too much. (Hard Copy)
A 3am interview between Rhianna and her former stylist. (Interview Magazine)
Culture
One of the top non-fiction books on the NYT bestseller list has been The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt. In it, the social psychologist makes a compelling case that the use of smartphones and social media have caused a mental health crisis for teens. Not everyone agrees. (Platformer)
For the past four years, Dr. Herbenick has been tracking the rapid rise of “rough sex” among college students, particularly sexual strangulation, or what is colloquially referred to as choking, highlighting a troubling trend in teenage sex. (NYT)
Sex and the City, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Devil Wears Prada, The Holiday, and 13 Going on 30, just a few of the many cheesy 2000s romantic comedies and the supposed whimsy of becoming a writer. (Hard Copy)
Let me know what's working for you and what isn't - I'd love your feedback, thoughts, or recommendations of your own! You can email me anytime.
Until next time, take good care.