#and the tragedy is succession and ted lasso are both the final season

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Dashboard Diaries is a production of Atypical Artists, hosted by Lauren Shippen (@thelaurenshippen) and Cher McAnelly (@overchers). Our theme was composed by Lauren Shippen and mixed by Brandon Grugle. Art by Shae McMullin. Transcription by Laudable.

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Transcript under the cut!

[intro music]

Cher: Hello, Antler Queens. I’m Cher McAnelly, Head of Entertainment at Tumblr. And the wilderness speaks to me. 

Lauren: And I’m Lauren Shippen, Professional Writer, who is never eaten another human being.

Cher: And this is Dashboard Diaries, a podcast for you – the folks who are in this internet bunker with us. We talk about what’s going on in our favorite hell site, get into what we like to call “tumbl-lore,” do fandom deep dives, and share the times when we’ve gone feral over a new ship.

So, Lauren, what has your last week on Tumblr been like?

Lauren: I feel like it has been finale central over the last ... especially the last four or five days. We’re recording this on Wednesday, it will come out on Friday. And between Succession, Barry, and Ted Lasso we’re really actually not even in season finale realm but in series finale realm. Because obviously the finale of Yellowjackets which we’re talking about today was last Friday. But then both Barry and Succession ended on Sunday and my dash has basically just been reactions to Succession and Barry for the past two days straight.

Now today I’m starting to get the Ted Lasso finale reactions. So, it’s been a lot of very, very complicated feelings that I think a lot of people I follow share and a lot of people on Tumblr share which the general consensus and the feeling that I have is that the Succession and the Barry finales were perfect. And they were also so hard to watch. I’m not going to spoil anything for anybody who is not caught up, but it was just ... both of those shows are dark comedy tragedies, right? That’s what they are. And they ended the way that they only could ever end. And it was so well executed and also after that double whammy on Sunday night I was like, I need to stare at the wall for a while.

Cher: Yeah. It’s hard to put into words ... that was ... what a finale. That was a lot. It was, oh my gosh. I kept checking the time to make sure ... I just didn’t want it to end. I kept being like, “How much longer is this episode?” It’s so ... UH ... just every scene was so intense and just so good. I mean, I would put this finale up there with the Sopranos finale, honestly.

Lauren: Yeah, I’d totally do that.

Cher: And please take this with a grain of salt because I will admit in this moment I have never watched Sopranos. 

Lauren: (laughs)

Cher: I’ve just heard so much about the finale!

Lauren: I’ll believe you, because I’ve never watched The Sopranos either!

(laughter) 

Cher: Yeah, look ... people have in depth explained the finale to me, and then it all goes dark and you don’t even know. So, I feel like I was there. And I’ve watched three episodes of Sopranos, so I get the overall vibe. 

Lauren: It’s in your consciousness for sure. 

Cher: Yeah. So, I can judge, I can compare The Sopranos finale to the Succession finale.

Lauren: Absolutely.

Cher: I’m an expert now. I was going to ask you how you felt about the Barry finale? Because I actually stopped watching Barry a few episodes ago because when they did the flash forward it just got so painfully bleak for me that I was like I need to take a step back. And I haven’t finished it. I’m going to finish it. I’ve watched every episode of Barry. I’m going to finish the show. I’m not a quitter. I don’t think ... but it’s so intense! 

Lauren: Yeah. It’s so intense. And I had a long conversation with my partner about this season in particular after the finale. And just the fact that for the most part the last few episodes or at least there is a scene in sort of the back half of the season in each season of Barry that has a big sort of action set piece, whether it’s the chase in season three, or Barry going through the gang hideout in season one and killing everybody. There’s always sort of a big thing. 

And this season doesn’t really have that in the same way. And I thought that was really, really interesting. And yet the finale felt like that. It evoked the same emotion of like watching a tense action sequence, but the action actually was all very quick. There was action but it happened very quickly. Everything in the episode happened very quickly. And it was unbelievably bleak. But also not bleak in like a we are sort of indulging in misery. I think some bleak content can kind of indulge in misery in a not productive way. But I think what’s so great about Barry is that it’s still always saying something.

And I will say this without spoiling anything ... and I mean this as the highest compliment I can give, but the second to last shot in the Barry finale I literally said out loud, “Are you fucking kidding me!?” 

(laughter)

Because they do something that’s just like so outlandish and so ... it makes perfect sense. It’s at the perfect conclusion to the story that we’ve watched, but it was also just like oh my god, I can’t believe we’re here. So, once you watch the last season, if you do watch the rest of the season, I’m very excited to hear what you think. And I think the other thing too that was really interesting about the Barry finale, especially comparing it to Succession and Lasso’s finales is that both Succession and Ted Lasso were an hour and fifteen. And those shows are usually around an hour anyway. But like Barry was like 33 minutes. It always is. It was just like we’re in, we’re out, you’re going to see ... we’re going to conclude 900 character stories really quick. There’s an economy to that show that I just find astounding.

So, Bill Hader, I am worshipping at your feet. But anyway ... how was your last week on Tumblr?

Cher: I mean, I think we were having a very similar week on Tumblr, very enmeshed in the Succession discourse. I was really enjoying watching along as that kind of unfolded post finale. I didn’t watch it Sunday night, so it was great to kind of watch it Sunday morning, or Monday morning and then kind of scroll. 

I saw a post that, gosh, what is it ... Roman wears a shirt in one of the scenes of the Succession finale when he’s like at his mom’s Bahamas house or wherever they are. And it’s like just a children’s stripey shirt from Wal-Mart. And people found it and it’s like $13 at Wal-Mart. It has been sold out. (laughs) 

Lauren: Oh my god. That’s amazing!

Cher: Yeah. So, I love that Tumblr teaches me a new thing every day. And so yeah ... and also just Yellowjackets, man. Which I know we’re going to dive into that this episode, but ... wow, wow, wow, wow. WOW. Yeah. 

Lauren: I mean, should we just go right into Yellowjackets and do the rest of our stuff after?

Cher: Yes.

Lauren: Switch things up?

Cher: Yeah, let’s. 

Lauren: Should we do that?

Cher: Yeah. We’re diving in. Okay. Let’s crash right into the forest of Yellowjackets, you know what I mean?

[game show trill]

So, Lauren, as you watched Yellowjackets, but you’re not caught up, right? Or you have not seen it at all?

Lauren: No, I’m now fully caught up. 

Cher: Oh, you’re fully caught up. 

Lauren: Yes.

Cher: Incredible!

Lauren: I’ve seen it all. Yeah.

Cher: Oh my gosh. Okay. So ...

Lauren: Yes. So, this is a spoiler zone. If you haven’t watched Yellowjackets and you want to ... 

Cher: We have entered ... oh ... the spoiler Thunder Dome here. I’m excited. All right. 

Lauren: (laughs) Yes. 

Cher: First question – what were your thoughts on the finale? 

Lauren: Yeah. I thought it felt like the natural conclusion to everything that they’ve been doing this season. We knew that it was going to end in a major character’s death. And I don’t know that I saw Natalie being the person who dies. I don’t know if I saw that coming. I thought maybe it would be Lottie. I wasn’t totally sure. But the thing that truly shocked me was Coach Ben. 

Cher: Okay.

Lauren: Like ... Cher, tell me what you think about that whole thing?

Cher: I was typing up the other questions I was thinking of as you were talking and I was literally just typing in all caps, “COACH BEN IN HIS VIILAIN ERA.” (laughs) 

Lauren: (laughs) 

Cher: Oh my gosh.

Lauren: So, yeah, tell me everything. Do you think that he lit the cabin on fire, first of all?

Cher: I’m conflicted about it. I think the overall consensus in the fandom, at least from what I have seen is – yes, he lit the cabin on fire. I have seen some people thinking, “Oh no, he didn’t light the cabin on fire. That’s what they want you to think.” The wilderness set the cabin on fire. 

Lauren: Oh? 

Cher: And people were asking ... You know, I saw one comment that said, “Ben was just trying to go to the cabin to get rope to create a rope ladder and matches to start a fire and now you are all accusing him of arson.” But that moment when he looked through the window and he saw everyone kind of doing that ritual with Natalie as the antler queen where Natalie was the one person who he thought still had some shred of humanity. I think he just broke. I think he did.

Lauren: Yeah.

Cher: I think he did. I think you make irrational decisions when you are starving and your soccer team that you once coached are now cannibalistic. I don’t know what I would have done, you know what I mean? What do you think?

Lauren: I mean, I think he did it. I’m also speaking an unpopular opinion. I don’t think he’s totally crazy for doing that. I think it’s awful. Right? It’s terrible, they are children and he is the one adult in the room, and he I think generally has not been stepping up as the adult in the room. 

Cher: Not at all.

Lauren: Obviously he is down a leg, he experienced a great physical trauma compared to some of the other folks, but yeah, he’s just sort of generally been fairly passive and a situation in which he should be stepping up. But at the same time I think moving from we’re eating people who have died, which ... there’s a podcast called “You’re Wrong About” that does some great sort of arcs of episodes about the Donner party and the boys rugby team that crashed in the Ande’s in the ‘70s that Yellowjackets is kind of inspired by. And where they talk about the cannibalism that happened in those situations. I think the broad understanding is that, yeah, if you’re in that situation with Jackie who died of exposure, eating that person is not some sort of unforgivable sin. Right? It doesn’t make you a bad person. It’s like that person is already dead. It might be unsafe, because I mean, prion disease exists and if you eat the wrong part of your own species you can get mad cow disease basically. 

Cher: Yeah.

Lauren: But when you move from that to we are now actively hunting our fellow people and putting them to death? I don’t know, I think Ben maybe has some rights in this regard. (laughs)

Cher: Yeah. I mean, I feel like he must have thought it’s us or them. Me or them at this point.

Lauren: Right.

Cher: Because he has now escaped. He’s found his little hidey hole. But he kind of hinted to Natalie that it’s somewhere. She doesn’t know but Javi led her part of the way there. And they’re hunters, they could eventually find him. They’re a big group. So, I’m sure that’s what was going through his head. And him thinking, well, they’re going to find me and eat me. I guess ... or, I burn the cabin down. (laughs)

Lauren: I guess I should say I don’t think that what Ben did was necessarily justified or good but I don’t think it’s any different from what the girls are doing, right? In some ways I think it’s slightly less sadistic. The way in which they ... I mean, I also love that ... I’m very curious what you think about the ritual that they did to pick the person to hunt. Because I actually love that we didn’t get to see that process. That we just jumped into them doing it and we don’t get to see how they come to this conclusion. What did you think about that?

Cher: Yeah. I liked it. I think it was very much this is the way that they’ve been deciding things already, right? Their chores are decided with the card. And I also think it’s really interesting that Javi was the one who brought the queen card back. 

Lauren: Oh, I don’t know that I connected that.

Cher: Earlier when he is ... Yeah. It’s like a throwaway line. I have closed captions on so I don’t even know how loud it actually was. But there’s a line in the episode after Javi is found in season two where Ty asks him, “Where did you find this queen card?” And so he found it. 

Lauren: Interesting.

Cher: He found the card that ultimately led to his demise. But also the way that they’ve picked the cards ... Yeah, I found really interesting and kind of just, “Oh yeah, this is how we’ve been doing chores, this is how we’ll pick the person we cannibalize.” Yeah, duh, that’s how you do it. I also think it’s interesting that they were willing to kill Nat, which she’s the one person who can track and hunt. But I guess from their POV she hadn’t been succeeding in hunting, but it’s also the depths of winter and she had gotten them game before. So, you know? It is wild to think that they just went from Lottie needs to eat to we’re going to eat someone. 

Lauren: Yeah.

Cher: And also Coach Ben was gone for like, what, two hours, three hours? 

Lauren: Yeah!

Cher: He goes on a little field trip and he comes back and they’ve killed Javi. They’ve hunted and killed Javi. 

Lauren: It’s complete anarchy. (laughs)

Cher: Right? And the thing is he probably came back ... okay, what’s your POV? He came back to just tell Nat, “Hey, let’s get the hell out of there.” Or he came back to say, “I’ve saved us all?” 

Lauren: I think he came back to neither. I think he came back to get supplies. Right? He found this place and he was like, “I can’t just survive, I need stuff. I need matches. I need stuff to survive.” 

Cher: Yeah.

Lauren: And then I think he saw Nat and was like, you know what, she’s had a level head this whole time. If there’s one person I’m going to save it should be her. And so he gave her that chance. And if that had happened, if somehow Javi hadn’t died by that point who knows what Nat would have chosen to do. Maybe she would have left. Because I think that she was up until she let Javi die. I think that she was very much everyone else has lost their god damn minds. (laughs) And I’m the one sane person here.

Cher: Yeah. Well, and I also think it really frustrated me the way that she framed Javi���s death to Coach Ben when he said, “You’re not like these girls.” And she said, “No, I’m worse. I was supposed to die and I let him die in my place.” What she should have said was, “They were hunting me. Javi fell through the ice and I let Javi die in my place because he fell through the ice.” And also the thing is, if you fall through the ice you probably get ... the amount of time he was in there he probably would have died anyway. 

Lauren: Yeah, almost certainly. Yeah. 

Cher: So ... 

Lauren: I totally agree. Yeah.

Cher: I feel like if she had said that to him Coach Ben would have been like, “Well, that’s fucked up, but that’s not your fault.” (laughs)

Lauren: Yeah. But I think it makes so much sense for Nat’s character, right? And I think that’s why she also was the one to die at the end of all of it, right? It’s like she’s been carrying around this guilt like she felt everything was her responsibility. And she didn’t want to be responsible for someone dying because of her own passivity. Right? Which I think is very, very tragic. And I have seen some fan reactions on Tumblr that people are pretty disappointed with Natalie’s death and the fact that she was going on this healing journey. And then sort of got that healing journey taken away from her by dying. And that it was not what that character deserved. 

I have a slightly different perspective on her healing journey. I’m curious to hear what you think. 

Cher: Okay. 

Lauren: Because when she went to Lottie’s, no ... when she was kidnapped and ended up at Lottie’s and spending time there and everything, the change of heart that she had and sort of the change in mood and perspective happened so quickly that I was like this woman is not healing. She is actively repressing stuff. She has decided to detach herself from reality. Not to say that she deserved to die or anything. None of them deserved to die. But I don’t think that actually she was on her way to healing. I think that she was falling into Lottie’s delusion in the same way that she did in the past. And we see her do that in the past. And so I don’t know what your perspective on that is. 

Cher: I mean, honestly, my perspective was kind of she changed so much, so dramatically – even in her demeanor and her body language that I thought she was being drugged. 

Lauren: Yes. Yeah!

Cher: Lottie is drugging her, because what the hell?

Lauren: What is going on!?

Cher: (laughter) So, I do kind of ... it is interesting that maybe ... and I did see some commentary say this is a space that Nat has been in before. Right? She has been to rehab. She has been in retreat spaces where you do introspection. And you kind of work through things, so she just snapped right back into that routine and that place mentally. 

Lauren: Which is a good point.

Cher: Interesting perspective I’ve seen. It does bum me out that her death was ruled as a drug overdose and she was sober. And her struggle had been drug addiction. I really wish she’d died in a different way or it hadn’t been ruled a drug overdose, because I just felt like that was kind of a slap in the face to her character. 

Lauren: Totally. Yeah, I completely ... I think that it makes sense from a dramatic irony standpoint but it still sucks right? Yeah. Because she had gotten sober and ...

Cher: I know that Yellowjackets isn’t the most realistic show in the world, so maybe I’m being nitpicky here. But once Misty realized who she was accidentally stabbing, which I think she did kind of instantaneously. Why would she press down on the syringe? Because you need to do that to do a full dose. And even if she’d started pressing, why didn’t she stop? You know? I’ve used a syringe before. 

Lauren: That’s a good point.

Cher: There’s a little give there.

Lauren: Yeah, that’s a really good point.

Cher: Yeah. Right? 

Lauren: Huh. Yeah. 

Cher: Just questions, questions for the show runners.

Lauren: I don’t know. Food for thought. 

(laughter)

Well, and speaking of I guess realism, I think one of the things that Yellowjackets has been toying with for its two seasons is the idea of the supernatural, right? And I think I’ve seen a lot of reactions from fans specifically in re-blogs of the gif set of Shauna and Lottie as adults at the end when Shauna is like, “There was no wilderness, it was always us.” And Lottie saying, “Isn’t that the same thing?” And that sort of being the thesis of the show. And I do think that it’s the thesis of the show.

However, do you think that there’s still something supernatural going on? Or is it just like all mass delusion kind of thing? 

Cher: I mean, I’ll say I just love shows that have a supernatural element of some sort. I want there to be something supernatural to be going on. I don’t think there is. I do think it’s a shared delusion. And that it’s just a lot of coincidence. But the fact that a bear just walked into their camp is wild to me. Things like that happening are wild to me, but again could that be part of a shard delusion of some sort because we’ve seen moments where you’re convinced it’s reality – like Akilah’s mouse. And then you find out the mouse was never alive and hadn’t been alive since like probably the ‘80s. It was completely mummified. 

Lauren: Yes. Yeah. 

Cher: So, all these themes where you think Akilah completely has it together. No, she’s been ... So, maybe they found a dead bear. Maybe something else happened. You know?

Lauren: Yeah.

Cher: Maybe it didn’t just stroll into camp and walk right up to Lottie. Maybe that’s what they all decided happened. 

Lauren: Yeah. Completely. I think you’re right. I do think that probably there’s nothing supernatural going on. I think most things can be explained. I think even Taissa’s sort of dream self and stuff ... that can just be explained through an untreated mental illness. Right? However-

Cher: Exactly.

Lauren: ... the symbol, right? What’s the deal with the cymbal? (laughs)

Cher: The symbol! Oh my gosh. I mean ... 

Lauren: That’s the one loose thread that I’m like, “When is this going to be explained?” (laughs) 

Cher: A really ... and the symbol is on the tree that has the moss-

Lauren: Yes!

Cher: ... that Coach Ben goes into. And the symbol is there right at the crash site, right where they land, and I do think the symbol is a map. That’s the symbolism map of the land that they’re in. 

Lauren: Yes.

Cher: Some people say that the symbol is because the symbol is on all of those points throughout and it is a map, it isn’t a map but a ritual and it’s trapped the darkness within that space. 

Lauren: Hmmmm.

Cher: And that’s what the symbol is. I don’t know. What do you think? What’s your POV on the symbol? And on the kind of what we might see happen next in the next season?

Lauren: Yeah. I mean, I think the symbol being a map makes a lot of sense. I think the idea of it being some sort of pentagram capturing the demon is nonsense, too. I think even Taissa finding the symbols in her sleep, obviously that could just be explained by our brains attached to patterns and also noticing subconsciously that we don’t notice consciously. But also I would not be surprised if we got a reveal in the next season that Taissa is actually carving the symbols. Right? That would make sense to me. 

The thing that I’m like what is the origin point about, is the fact that the symbols have been there from the beginning. And they were at the crash site and they are in all of these places. And so it’s like I want to know is it that the guy who lived in the cabin before was like carving them? Has this happened before with another group of people? And that’s something that I am actually not sure this show is ever going to answer. Because I don’t think narratively they have to. But I still want to know. (laughs)

Cher: Yeah. I really am so interested in what the symbol is, and I do want more of what it is. I do wish they were a little faster with dropping kind of bread crumbs about it. Because I think we knew it was a map by the end of the first season. Right? So, what new kind information have we found? But I do think, yeah, especially Tai’s kind of dark or second shadow self or whatever you might call it – the fact that this man with no eyes who her grandmother saw, she now sees. And leads her to the symbol quite far from where they are, but also we know that they go to that ledge already. 

So, if she’s near that she could have carved the symbol. She could have seen it that one place that one time, maybe it’s in a tree and then she carves it. But also the fact the symbol, the places that the symbol are also build and create the symbol. 

Lauren: Yes.

Cher: I think it was cabin daddy or his crew.

Lauren: Yeah, it must have been. Yeah.

Cher: There’s got to be some kind of underground tunnels, right, because Lottie keeps hallucinating those or seeing them in her dreams. 

Lauren: Oh, you’re right.

Cher: When she was electrocuted at the beginning of the first episode. She sees herself walking in that tunnel by candlelight. 

Lauren: Candles, yeah. That’s right! Huh. So, we already know that Yellowjackets is getting a season three. What are some hopes, wishes, predictions that you have for season three?

Cher: I predict that we will have another wilderness survivor show up. I don’t know who it is, but a lot of people think it’s Mari, because ... someone did some frame by frame analysis of season two episode one when you see the survivors getting on the plane. And there is a teammate ... there’s one of the girls who has her hood down and she’s looking down and they compared the bottom of her face to Mari’s face and it looks like it could be Mari. I’ve also seen speculation though that Mari is pit girl. Pit girl could also be Jen, who is another kind of JV character. I think Mari is varsity. So, it would be interesting.

I also think Coach Ben survives. I am split between the theory that Coach Ben is going to be the big bad in the past and the present. 

Lauren: Oh! 

Cher: Or ... that Coach Ben didn’t get rescued with them and he’s still out there in the wilderness. And so these are some of my little predictions. And at some point they have to break up, right, into the warring clans, right? So, I wonder how they’re going to, if they’re all going to live together under the same roof, potentially in the plain but still be at war because where else is there to live? 

Lauren: Right.

Cher: It’s interesting. And I do think Antler Queen is a rotating role. There is going to be-

Lauren: Yes. Yeah.

Cher: ... multiple Antler Queens. What are your kind of thoughts and predictions and hopes for season three and beyond?

Lauren: I love that. I love the idea of Ben still being out there because of course if he hides from them the whole time then yeah he would know that they were rescued necessarily. Yeah, I mean, I wonder, too if we might eventually see the present day, the adult girls go back to the same spot. You know? Somehow charter a plane and get back there and sort of return to where it all happened.

Cher: I really think that is a natural next step.

Lauren: Yeah. 

Cher: Especially because I would say Lottie’s kind of cult wilderness retreat. First off, the symbolism is there when you get an aerial view. So that was the first step. Season one, they reconnect. Second they do the hunt in a wilderness at some kind of space. And I do think, yeah, season three they’re going to go back. I think in season three they’re going to back late in the season I think season four is when they are going to still be back there and season five when they will return to humanity and resolution.

Lauren: Yes. That makes perfect sense to me. Because also we have so much ... there’s so much story to explore in the past, right, especially now that the cabin has burned down. We have to see [crosstalk 00:27:35] we have to see the hunt, we have to find out who pit girl is, we have to see them find new shelter, deal with Ben in whatever way that needs to be dealt with. 

But I don’t know what the present day plot is, right? Because it’s like Adam’s murder has been resolved. Travis’ death has been resolved. Obviously there’s going to be the emotional fallout of Natalie’s death. And they’re still Taissa’s whole deal to deal with. But they don’t ... what is going to be the next thing sort of for them as a group to confront? And I’m really curious ... is it going to be that Ben somehow shows up? It feels like there’s going to be, yeah, another wilderness survivor, but it’s going to be something that they ... maybe someone they thought was dead or something. 

Cher: Yeah, I think there’s got to be that trigger that brings them back to the wilderness. And so yeah it’s going to be interesting to see what that is. I think season three will definitely open with them in the future reeling from Natalie’s death. I think Van is going to find out that she’s in remission from cancer. 

Lauren: Ooh. Yes.

Cher: And I think that is what the, because the wilderness got what it wanted. I do think that’s why she was so all in on doing the ritual again. And I think yeah in the past we’re going to see them kind of figuring out how to get shelter. I think it’s definitely going to be the plane, because we see-

Lauren: It has to be, yeah.

Cher: ... in the first episode when they’re walking away from ... in the morning after their nighttime cannibal feast around the fire they’re walking away and when they pan up you can see the wreckage of the plane. So, it’s nearby where they’re doing their little canniballing. 

Lauren: That makes sense.

Cher: I’ve re-watched this show a lot. 

Lauren: I was going to say, you’re picking up on details that I have not picked up on. I love it. (laughs) 

Cher: Having a lot of fun watching it. Do you have any personal favorite Tumblr takes or Tumblr posts that you saw? Because there have just been some real excellent content coming out of the season finale. 

Lauren: I mean ... I have loved all of the Ben memes and we’ll be sure to re-blog a bunch of those to www.DashboardDiaries.Tumblr.com. But beyond the Ben memes, I haven’t seen any of the sort of big predictions that you just made. So, I’m curious what your favorite Tumblr takes have been.

Cher: Oh, my favorite Tumblr takes have been less predictions and more, yeah, like memes and posts. No real in depth things like what I have really been latching onto, as much as I definitely have been reading all of that and thank you all for your insights. My favorite post that I think I saw was the fact that the cast threw an actual funeral for Javi. Did you see this? 

Lauren: No. 

Cher: Wait, I’ll drop the link now.

Lauren: Oh my gosh. 

Cher: And we will re-blog it to Dashboard Diaries. 

Lauren: Oh my god. This is so cute. 

Cher: Right? Isn’t it?

Lauren: They’re actually dressed in black around one of those memorial photos of Javi.

Cher: Beside the memorial photo. 

Lauren: That is so cute.

Cher: Oh my gosh. 

Lauren: Oh my god. Well, ‘cause also of course, I mean, when somebody dies on the show you lose that cast member and that’s always sad, right? So, you don’t get to hang out with your pal anymore. 

Cher: Exactly. I love that they did a little special funeral and send off. And I also just sent you another one of my favorites which is an image ... it’s like in the format of the live slug reaction meme, but it’s live Coach Ben reaction and it’s Coach Ben outside of the window watching Nat become Antler Queen. (laughs) 

Lauren: (laughs) That’s so good. Oh my god, I love it. Yes, I will be liking and re-blogging this. 

Cher: And then this is one of my just favorite Yellowjackets posts over all, it’s from season one, but always relevant. So, this post is from Neon Envy and it says, “Diversity win. The woman crouched outside your window eating dirt is a lesbian.” 

(laughter) 

Lauren: So applicable. That’s so great.

Cher: So, really living for all of the Yellowjackets memes and content. What a show. 

Lauren: What a show.

Cher: Please quadruple all writer’s salaries so that we can get all our shows back. Thank you very much.

Lauren: Yes, please. So, before we move onto our ad break and then the rest of our stuff, I do have a tiny little quiz for you because one of the episodes this season was titled Two Truths and a Lie, which is a classic game. And one that was played in the episode. And so I have a Two Truths and a Lie for you about the insect, yellow jackets. 

Cher: Ooooh. 

Lauren: I’m going to say three statements to you and you’re going to tell me which one is a lie.

Yellow jackets die when they sting.

Some yellow jackets build nests underground.

Yellow jackets eat other insects. 

So, which of those is NOT true?

Cher: Yellow jackets do not die when they sting. 

[game show chime]

Lauren: You are correct!

Cher: They can sting you as many times as you want, as they want. If they want to sting you three times on one finger when you’re five years old, they can do that! Not that that has happened to me.

Lauren: I think maybe we’re unlocking some more Cher back-story, injury back-story.

(laughter)

But yeah, I think thematically yellow jackets are a great insect to choose for this team because they will sting you multiple times. They eat other human beings in the way that yellow jackets eat other insects. So, I’m curious if they try to build a shelter underground. Who knows? Because some yellow jackets do that.

Cher: Coach Ben does kind of have the underground situation. Yeah, and they did have their pit but I guess that’s not fully underground. Them losing the cabin is going to just accelerate their descent into-

Lauren: Completely.

Cher: ... complete ridiculousness. I don’t even ... just chaos. Absolute lawless chaos.

[synth]

Cher: Speaking of things underground ... digging into our archives, should we go on into our Dashboard Confessionals?

Lauren: Let’s do it. 

[guitar riff]

So, this week I have a post that I re-blogged on May 30, 2016. So, almost exactly six years ago. Nope, sorry, seven years ago. It’s 2023. I knew that. And it is one of my favorite videos on Tumblr. It begins with a guy on a skateboard who then jumps onto a railing that then goes into a body of water, which is extreme vine energy. Right? That was something that was very common at the time. But then he bursts up from the water and has a massive fish in his hands. And it’s just absurd, it’s hilarious, it’s a great example of the structure of storytelling. You know, you set up a premise – man skating on a railing, then you introduce a conflict – he’s about to go into a body of water, and then you have a twist – he comes out of the body of water holding a live fish. So, just a masterpiece through and through. Cher, what do you have from your archives?

Cher: I have a really special posts, some nice nostalgia here. I posted this, or re-blogged this on May 30th, 2015. So, eight years ago. Yes. And it’s from Keep My Whiskey Neat and it is a photo of, if you are over 20 you may remember, 3D Doritos. A classic excellent snack. One of my favorite childhood snacks. And the caption says, “I can’t stop thinking about the one that got away, even though I haven’t seen you in years. There will always be a soft spot in my heart for you. I love you and miss you and hope that wherever you are you are genuinely happy.” (laughs) We miss you, 3D Doritos!

Lauren: A) I love this post. And B) I genuinely forgot all about 3D Doritos. What a time. That time in the late ‘90s, early 2000s where they were just doing crazy stuff with food. The purpose ketchup. It was all wild.

Cher: I was just about to say, yeah, the colorful ketchup and the colorful butter. 

Lauren: Yes.

Cher: When Cheetos used to turn your tongue green. Remember that? (laughs)

Lauren: Yeah, what was going on? What happened?

Cher: I’m convinced for that one that they made a batch of Cheetos and they turned the tester’s tongues green and they were like, you know what, we can use this to our advantage. (laughs)

Lauren: We can market this to weird kids! (laughs)

Cher: Oh my gosh. What a time. 

[game show sounds]

Lauren: So, we have a mail bag today. We have a listener email from a German listener, Pia, who wanted to share their perspective on Eurovision as a German viewer. And there were lots of great insights in this email. Basically Pia explains that Germany is so used to coming last or second to last that it’s just become this perpetual joke amongst German Eurovision fans. And that they thought maybe this year they might have a chance, given that Lord of the Lost, the band that was representing Germany, felt like a little bit more Eurovision-y but sadly they still came in last apparently. 

But the thing that I really enjoyed about this email especially was that Pia shared some ideas that German fans on Tumblr have been having around how Germany can improve their chances in the future. So, I’m just going to read through some of these examples. 

So, when Germany came in last again there were hilarious Tumblr posts going around suggesting Germany should just go rogue next year. Like letting a random security guard sing, off key yodeling, etc. The funniest one in my opinion is one in German that suggested a very elaborate plan for next year. And Pia sent through this post which we’ll re-blog but it is all in German, so Pia thankfully sort or shortened and explained it to me. I will shorten it a bit here but it included letting the long time German ESC commentator, Peter Urban, choose a group of toddlers at random who will proceed to compose a song. This song will be given to a random marching band, not toddlers, from a small town. But only a few minutes before the performance. 

During the performance rules from an elected German allotment garden club (love the specificity there) will be recited by the small town’s local [inaudible 00:38:07]. Something like King of the Marksmen in English and someone who wins a marksmen competition at a traditional German festival held annually by a lot of German towns. 

So, there’s lots of love about that summary of this German Tumblr post. (laughs) 

Cher: Look, I’m in for that show. (laughs)

Lauren: Right? I would happily watch a marching band play a piece they just learned that was composed by toddlers and I really like these details that German allotment garden club, I guess is a thing. And they have rules enough that this would be something that makes sense to fellow German citizens. And the fact that they have marksmen competitions in small German towns and that they have a name for the winner of those marksmen competitions is just really delightful. Germany, what a wonderful country. Thank you, Pia, for sharing your perspective on Eurovision. We love to see it. 

Cher, I think you have some Eurovision updates generally for our listeners?

Cher: I absolutely do. So, in the month of May there were a little over one million notes on posts tagged Eurovision. And so again these metrics that I have right now are only on content tagged with Eurovision. But a lot of the time people will post things and not tag them. So, I will say that this is likely significantly larger. But one million notes on Eurovision content. And 333,000 searches for Eurovision on Tumblr in the month of May.

Lauren: Jeez Louise. 

Cher: The vast, vast majority of that over 90% of those numbers were the weekend of Eurovision. So, that was pretty much what was going on on Tumblr in those 48 hours which we love. (laughs)

Lauren: I love it. That’s amazing.

Cher: I thought Lord of the Lost performance was great. And they did not deserve to Lord of the Lose Eurovision. 

(laughter) 

Lauren: Tee hee.

Cher: Tee hee. (laughs) 

Lauren: That was a good one. 

Cher: Intense ridiculous fun, heavy metal performance. It was out there. It was energetic. I thought it deserved top five. Because it did have Eurovision vibe.

Lauren: Yeah, show some love to Germany. 

Cher: Yeah. 

Lauren: Well, Germany, I hope next year you fare a little bit better. 

Cher: Yeah, we’re looking forward to seeing your toddler composed small town marching band performed marksman singer show. It’ll be great.

(laughter)

Lauren: That’ll be great.

[gentle music]

Cher: What’s got you in your feels this week, Lauren?

Lauren: Well, I have a resurgence of an old and long held fandom of mine, which is always such a fun thing. And which happens in the way that it often does which is semi spontaneously. So, I live in Seattle and a local theater that is in the neighborhood that I live in was doing, or is currently doing a PG Wodehouse play. They’ve put on Jeeves Takes a Bow and I have been a huge Jeeves and Wooster fan for my entire life. And so I was like, you know what, I’m going to go and support this local theater and I’m going to go see this play. 

And I did. And it was delightful. And it’s gotten me back into my Jeeves and Wooster feelings. So, for those who maybe have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m not entirely sure how niche this fandom is but if you remember a time where there was a website called “Ask Jeeves,” this is usually how I explain Jeeves and Wooster to people. So, Ask Jeeves was a search engine back when there were more than just two search engines. And the character of Jeeves, of this butler who was very helpful, comes from a series or short stories and books by British author, PG Wodehouse. That sort of encompasses the Jeeves and Wooster adventures. 

Jeeves is this butler, he’s a valet which is a little different than a butler I think, I don’t know, it’s English aristocracy stuff from the early 20th century, who knows. And Bertie Wooster is his charge, essentially. Technically his employer, but he mostly just takes care of Bertie. HE’s sort of the one in charge. And they just get into hijinx it’s all 1920s ‘30s, London and England and New York. And my grandfather was a big PG Wodehouse fan and introduced me to the books when I was a child. And then for Christmas one year I received the DVD box set of the entire Jeeves and Wooster BBC series from the early ‘90s which stars real life best friends Hugh Laurie and Stephen Frye. And it is delightful. You can see some of it on YouTube. But is otherwise not on streaming anywhere.

And so I have just been re-reading, or actually I’ve been reading some of the books of PG Wodehouse that I haven’t read before. And I’ve just been getting really in my feelings about the fact that it can be 20 years since you first got into a fandom and you can not think about it for several years and then something happens and it pops back into your life and brings you joy again. So, that’s what’s gotten me in my feels. How about you, Cher?

Cher: I love that. I also did not know that Hugh Laurie and Stephen Frye are best friends and I love that little tidbit of information. 

Lauren: Oh yeah. They have a sketch show called A Bit of Frye and Laurie. Which used to be on Netflix, like years and years ago. I don’t think it’s anywhere now. But if you can find it, it is not always good. (laughs) But it’s really fun because it’s like ... it’s them, they met I think in college and became best friends, and then started writing and doing sketch together and this was their first sketch show. And it’s just delightful and ... but yeah, Jeeves and Wooster is really their, the pinnacle of their output, in my opinion, as a pair, not as individual actors. They both have done many phenomenal things.

Cher: Love that. I’ll have to find it. For my feels this week, I mean, Yellowjackets, which I feel like I just talked about for perhaps an hour, so ... we’ll skip that one. And Succession, which again we touched on. Definitely have a lot of feelings about that show ending. So, I have two things.

One is I have been watching this show called From. Have you heard of it?

Lauren: No. 

Cher: It’s an Epics show, an NGM Plus show. And I found it because I was looking for things to fill the void in my life left by Yellowjackets. And this was one of the things that came up as related and so the plot of the show is essentially this family is driving on a road trip and they drive into this town and they keep driving and they can’t seem to leave the town. They keep just coming back around to the town. There’s just not escape from it. 

Lauren: Oooh.

Cher: So, they have to stay in this town and it turns out this town is comprised entirely of people who are in the same exact situation all over the country. All over the United States. So, we don’t know where this town is and if it’s a pocket universe, what is it? And at night evil monsters come out. So, you have to be in your home at night. And so it’s kind of interesting.

Lauren: That sounds awesome!

Cher: It’s this very interesting kind of horror, it’s kind of like that show The Society, if you’ve ever watched it, which is on Netflix, it was only just one season. It was really good. One of those shows that we lost due to ... season two was supposed to be filmed during COVID. So, it just ended up not happening because the cast all did great things. 

But I’ve really been enjoying From. It is very, a lot scarier than I can ... usually my threshold, Yellowjackets is scary but From just is like full on horror. Like it really ... I’ve had to ... if it’s too scary I leave the room, but keep it playing so I can know what’s happening. 

(laughter)

But I’ve been enjoying it. 

Lauren: That’s a good system. 

Cher: Yeah. Right? And then the other thing that has me in my feels is a show called Feel Good. Have I ever talked about this? I can’t remember. 

Lauren: Oh, yeah. 

Cher: Because we’ve been doing the show for a while. It’s one of my favorite shows of all time. It’s lovely. If you haven’t watched it, it’s a Netflix, kind of like dramedy, I would say. There are two seasons on Netflix. And it’s kind of the story of a comedian who is living in London and kind of navigating their sexuality, their gender, their sobriety, love and relationships, their relationship with their parents, and it’s just such a really sweet, tender show. The lead and the person who created the show is named Mae Martin. They’re a great comedian. And they also just had a really great special that just came out on Netflix that I absolutely loved and if you haven’t watched it, please do. It had me in my feels because it’s a funny special but also it really just kind of ... they talk a lot about gender exploration and just kind of figuring yourself out. And so it’s just a really beautiful cute special as well.

And Mae Martin is on the current season of Taskmasters, season 15. So, I’ve been really enjoying watching one of my favorite comedians on Taskmaster as well. 

Lauren: That’s right!

Cher: So, that’s ... Mae Martin just overall has me in my feels. Love them. (laughs)

Lauren: I love that. That’s amazing.

Cher: And with that ... Cher McAnelly and you can find me at OverChers.Tumblr.com. 

Lauren: And I’m Lauren Shippen, and you can find me at TheLaurenShippen.Tumblr.com.

Cher: This has been Dashboard Diaries. And ... 

[outtro music]

Lauren: May your anons always be loving.

Cher: Your dash always refreshed.

Lauren: Your gifs always be loading.

Cher: And your ships always canon.

Lauren: May the fics you’re reading always be finished.

Cher: And the answers you seek always in the re-blogs.Lauren: Thanks for scrolling with us!

Dark rituals, wild hunts, cannibalism, and bone alters - it's just girly stuff! This week, we discuss the second season of Yellowjackets, reminisce about 3D Doritos and give a few Eurovision updates.

Credits and transcript in our reblog. You can find transcripts for this, and every other episode, here.

Find the posts discussed in this episode in this tag!

[fullregalia]

20/20.

This year, in hindsight, was a real write-off. I had grand plans for it, and while I ushered it in in a very low-key manner since I was recovering from the flu, I’d expected things to look up. Well, you know what they say about plans (RIP, my trip to Europe). I got very, very sick in early February, and I’m not entirely sure it wasn’t COVID. Since March, the days have been a carousel of monotony: coffee, run, work, cook, yoga, existential spiral, sleep. My Own Private Year of Rest and Relaxation, if you will. Of course, life has a way of breaking through regardless; I attended protests, completed my thesis, graduated from grad school, took a couple of road trips upstate, and celebrated the accomplishments and birthdays of friends and family from a safe social distance. It was all a bit of a blur, and not ideal circumstances to re-enter the real world, or whatever this COVID-present is. 

Throughout it all, in lieu of happy hours, coffee dates, and panel discussions, I’ve turned even more to culture and cuisine to fill the the negative space on my calendar where my social life once resided. However, since a global pandemic ought not to disrupt every tradition, here’s my year-end round up of what made this terrible one slightly more tolerable. 

TV

After an ascetic fall semester abstaining from TV in 2019 (save for my beloved Succession), I allowed myself to watch more as the year wore on, and especially after graduation. I caught up on some cultural blind spots by finally getting around to The Sopranos, Ramy, Search Party, and Girlfriends. I wasn’t alone in bingeing Sopranos, it absolutely lived up to the hype and then some; this Jersey Girl can’t get enough gabagool-adjacent content, pizzeria culture is my culture!

Speaking of my culture, there was also a disproportionate amount of UK and European shows in my queue. Nothing like being in social isolation and watching the horny Irish teens in Normal People brood. I’m partial to it because I share a surname with the showrunner, so I have to embrace blind loyalty even though there was, in my opinion, a Marianne problem in the casting. Speaking of charming Irish characters with limited emotional vocabularies, I belatedly discovered This Way Up a 2019 show from Aisling Bea and Sharon Horgan. And while Connell and Marianne are actually exceptional students, I found the real normal people on GBBO to bring me a bit more joy. Baking was abundantly therapeutic for me this year, and watching charming people drink loads of tea and fret over soggy bottoms was a comfort. I also discovered the Great Pottery Throw Down, and as a lifelong ceramics enthusiast, I cannot recommend it highly enough if you care about things like slips, coils, and glazing techniques. GPTD embraces wabi sabi in a way that GBBO eschews flaws in favor of perfection, and in a time of uncertainty, the former reminded me why I miss getting my hands in the mud as a coping mechanism (hence all the baking). Speaking of coping mechanisms, like everybody else with two eyes and an HBO password, I loved Michaela Cole’s I May Destroy You; though we’ve all had enough distress this year for a lifetime, watching Cole’s Arabella process her assault and search for meaning, justice, and closure was a compelling portrait of grief and purpose in the aftermath of trauma. Arabella’s creative and patient friends Kwame and Terry steal the show throughout, as they deal with their own setbacks and emotional turmoil. Where I May Destroy You provides catharsis, Ted Lasso presents British eccentricity in all its stereotypical glory. At first I was skeptical of the show’s hype on Twitter, but once I gave in it charmed me, if only for Roy Kent’s emotional trajectory and extolling the restorative powers of shortbread. For a more accurate depiction of life in London, Steve McQueen’s series Small Axe provides a visually lush and politically clear-eyed depiction of the lives of British West Indians in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Lastly, how could I get through a recap of my year in tv if I don’t mention The Crown. Normal People may have needed an intimacy coordinator, but the number of Barbours at Balmoral was the real phonographic content for me.

Turning my attention across the Channel, after the trainwreck that was Emily in Paris, I started watching a proper French show, Call My Agent! It’s truly delightful, and unlike the binge-worthy format of "ambient shows” I have been really relishing taking an hour each week to watch CMA, subtitles, cigarettes, and all.

Honorable mention: The Last Dance for its in-depth look at many notable former Chicago residents; High Fidelity for reminding me of the years in college when my brother and I would drive around listening to Beta Band; and Big Mouth.

Music

My Spotify wrapped this year was a bit odd. I don‘t think “Chromatica II into 911″ is technically a song, so it revealed other things about my listening habits this year, which turned out to remain very much stuck in the last, sonically. I listened to a lot more podcasts than new music this year, but there were some records that found their way into heavy rotation. While I listened to a lot of classics both old and new to write my thesis (Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, Prokofiev, and Bach) the soundtrack to my coursework, runs, walks, and editing was more contemporary. Standouts include: 

Saint Cloud by Waxahatchee, which makes me feel like I’m breathing fresh air even when I’m stuck inside all day 

La Bella Vita by Niia, which was there for me when I walked past my ex on 7th avenue (twice!) and he pretended that I didn’t exist 

Fetch the Bolt Cutters by THEE Fiona Apple, because Fiona, our social distancing queen, has always been my Talmud, her songs shimmering, evolving, and living with me every year 

Shore by Fleet Foxes, for the long drive to the Catskills 

Women in Music, Pt. III by HAIM, because these days, these days...

Musicians have been reckoning with tumult this year as much as the rest of us, and the industry has dealt with loss on all fronts. I’d be remiss not to talk about how the passing of John Prine brought his music into my life, and McCoy Tyner, who has been a companion through good and bad over the years. 

Honorable mention to: græ by Moses Sumney; The Main Thing by Real Estate; on the tender spot of every calloused moment by Ambrose Akinmusire; Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers; folklore by you know who; and songs by Adrianne Lenker. 

Reading

What would this overlong blob be without a list of the best things I read this year? While I left publishing temporarily, books, the news, and newsletters still took up a majority of my attention (duh and/or doomscrolling by any other name). I can’t be comprehensive, and frankly, there are already great roundups of the best longform this year out there, so this is mostly books and praising random writers. 

Last year I wrote about peak newsletter. Apparently, my prediction was a bit premature as this year saw an even bigger Substack Boom. But two new newsletters in particular have delighted me: Aminatou Sow’s Crème de la Crème and Hunter Harris’ Hung Up (her ”this one line” series is true force of chaotic good on Blue Ivy’s internet). Relatedly, Sow and Ann Friedman’s Big Friendship was gifted to me by a dear friend and another bff and I are going to read it in tandem next week. 

On the “Barack Obama published a 700+ page memoir, crippling the printing industry’s supply chains” front, grad school severely hamstrung my ability to read for pleasure, but I managed to get through almost 30 books this year, some old (Master and Margarita), most new-ish (Say Nothing, Nickel Boys). Four 2020 books in particular enthralled me:

Uncanny Valley: Anna Wiener’s memoir has been buzzed about since n+1 published her essay of the same name in 2016. Her ability to see, clear-eyed, the industry for both its foibles and allure captured that era when the excess and solipsism of the Valley seemed more of a cultural quirk than the harbinger of societal schism.  

Transcendent Kingdom: Yaa Gyasi’s novel about faith, family, loss, and--naturally--grad school was deeply empathetic, relatable, and moving. I think this was my favorite book of the year. Following the life of a Ghanaian family that settles in Alabama, it captured the kind of emotional ennui that comes from having one foot in the belief of childhood and one foot in the bewilderment that comes from losing faith in the aftermath of tragedy.  

Vanishing Half: Similarly to Transcendent Kingdom, Brit Bennett’s novel about siblings who are separated; it’s also about the ways that colorism can be internalized and the ways chosen family can (and cannot) replace your real kin. It was a compassionate story that captured the pain of abuse and abandonment in two pages in a way that Hanya Yanagihara couldn’t do in 720.

Dessert Person: Ok, so this is a cookbook, but it’s a good read, and the recipes are approachable and delicious. After all the BA Test Kitchen chaos this summer, it’s nice we didn’t have to cancel Claire. Make the thrice baked rye cookies!!!! You will thank me later.

Honorable mention goes to: Leave The World Behind for hitting the Severance/Station Eleven dystopian apocalypse novel sweet spot; Exciting Times for reminding me why I liked Sally Rooney; and Summer by Ali Smith, which wasn’t the strongest of the seasonal quartet, but was a series I enjoyed for two years.  

Podcasts

I’m saving my most enthusiastic section for last: ever since 2018, I’ve been listening to an embarrassing amount of podcasts. Moving into a studio apartment will do that to you, as will grad school, add a pandemic to that equation and there’s a lot of time to fill with what has sort of become white noise to me (or, in one case, nice white parents noise). In addition to the shows that I’ve written about before (Still Processing, Popcast, Who? Weekly, and Why is This Happening?), these are the shows I started listening to this year that fueled my parasocial fire:

You’re Wrong About: If you like history, hate patriarchy, and are a millennial, you’ll love Sarah Marshall and Michael Hobbes’ deep dives into the most notable stories of the past few decades (think Enron and Princess Diana) and also some other cultural flashpoints that briefly but memorably shaped the national discourse (think Terri Schiavo, Elian González, and the Duke Lacrosse rape case).

Home Cooking: This mini series started (and ended) during the pandemic. As someone who stress baked her way through the past nine months, Samin Nosrat and Hrishikesh Hirway’s show is filled with warmth, banter, and useful advice. Home Cooking has been a reassuring companion in the kitchen, and even though it will be a time capsule once we’re all vaccinated and close talking again, it’s still worth a listen for tips and inspiration while we’re hunkered down for the time being. 

How Long Gone: I don’t really know how to explain this other than saying that media twitter broke my brain and enjoying Chris Black and Jason Stewart’s ridiculous banter is the price I pay for it.

Blank Check: Blank Check is like the GBBO of podcasts--Griffin Newman and David Sims’ enthusiasm for and encyclopedic knowledge of film, combined with their hilarious guests and inevitable cultural tangents is always a welcome distraction. Exploring a different film from a director’s oeuvre each week over the course of months, the podcast delves into careers and creative decisions with the passion of completists who want to honor the filmmaking process even when the finished products end up falling short. The Nancy Meyers and Norah Ephron series were favorites because I’d seen most of the movies, but I also have been enjoying the Robert Zemeckis episodes they’re doing right now. The possibility of Soderbergh comes up often (The Big Picture just did a nice episode about/with him), and I’d love to hear them talk about his movies or Spike Lee (or, obviously, Martin Scorsese).      

Odds & Ends

If you’re still reading this, you’re a real one, so let’s get into the fun stuff. This was a horrible way to start a new decade, but at least we ended our long national nightmare. We got an excellent dumb twitter meme. I obviously made banana bread, got into home made nut butters, and baked an obscene amount of granola as I try to manifest a future where I own a Subaru Outback. Amanda Mull answered every question I had about Why [Insert Quarantine Trend] Happens. My brother started an organization that is working to eliminate food insecurity in LA. Discovering the Down Dog app allowed me to stay moderately sane, despite busting both of my knees in separate stupid falls on the criminally messed up sidewalks and streets of Philadelphia. I can’t stop burning these candles. Jim Carrey confused us all. We have a Jewish Second Gentleman! Grub Street Diets continued to spark joy. Dolly Parton remains America’s Sweetheart (and possible vaccine savior). And, last, but certainly not least: no one still knows how to pronounce X Æ A-12 Boucher-Musk.