Heart Eyes, Vol. 3: The Good Place, Sam Sanders on Charlottesville, and Plum Cake
Happy weekend! I hope Saturday treated you well and Sunday feels just exactly as long and luxurious as you want it to be. This week, I'm bringing you two of my longtime favorite things—things that give me comfort and pleasure—and one thing that's helping me learn and grow. Maybe they'll do the same for you.
What To Watch: The Good Place on Netflix
This week's Heart Eyes is brought to you by one of the recommendations that made me want to found this newsletter in the first place: my favorite TV show from 2016 is finally on Netflix for everyone to watch and adore and then talk with me about at length. The Good Place, starring Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, and an ensemble cast you probably don't recognize but will soon love very much (remember when Amy Poehler was the only really famous person on Parks and Recreation?), is about a woman who ends up in heaven—"the Good Place"—by mistake. Or, at least, that's how it begins; it's really about showrunner Mike Schur (The Office, Parks and Rec) experimenting with a whole new sitcom ballgame, but you won't know that until later, when the plot takes off. If you're not sure after an episode or two, stick with it; it gets funnier, more complex, and more exciting as it goes, and the last few episodes are unlike any other sitcom I can think of. I've already rewatched it once and am waiting not at all patiently for season two, which, incidentally, begins September 20 on NBC.
What To Listen To: It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders
The truth is, I just started listening to the NPR news-chatter podcast It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders. Like, this week. But I'm really enjoying Sanders's conversational approach to the news, and I so appreciated his show's take on Charlottesville, particularly the August 14 episode discussing the rally with a series of white guests. So often, white people (I say this as a white person myself) expect people of color to educate them about racism and help them process racist history, systems, and events; this episode is, as stated, an attempt to break that pattern by asking white people to do that work for and among themselves. (This is, to be clear, meant to be different from only listening to white voices or silencing people of color, which I try not to support or recommend in generally lighthearted email newsletters.) I found it interesting and useful to hear white people teaching and learning about what's happening and how we can help. You might, too!
What To Bake: Famous Plum Cake
This recipe for plum torte is not new, even remotely. It appeared in the New York Times every year from 1983 through 1989; I personally own it in print form in the terrific Genius Recipes cookbook, but can also get it in perpetuity on the Internet at Food52 or at my beloved Smitten Kitchen or at the Times itself. If you've been to my house or worked in my office the last few summers, you've probably eaten it; it's my go-to between July and October, especially when I'm trying to keep my backyard cherry-plum trees from making a huge mess. You may even have made it yourself at some point. However: this recipe is classic, "genius," repeated in the Times seven times, for a reason, and plum season 2017 isn't getting any younger. Put the butter out to soften, find yourself some plums, and prepare yourself to be part of baked-fruit history. Which, as I think we all know, is the best kind of history anyway.