At BYT, we like stuff! (We even LOVE stuff!) And we think you might, too, so here we’ll share with you what we’ve been reading, watching, listening to and more. (Sometimes there will be guest stars! Exciting!)
We also wanna know what YOU are loving right now, so let us know in the comments, or share with us on social media! (@brightestyoungthings on IG, @BYT on Twitter)
HERE WE GO:
SVETLANA LEGETIC
Book I’m currently reading: Zadie Smith’s “Intimations” – her COVID essay collection – because OF COURSE Zadie Smith already managed to publish a thoughtful, insightful, human book about the current situation. That woman is a north star to us all. (also this week is 6 months of us all living LIKE THIS, so it felt ok to lean into the topic)
Tune of the week: “High Horse” by Kacey Musgraves – feels like a good summer-into-fall bop energy
TV show I recommend: We’ve been re-watching VEEP. Still by far one of the best thing of all the things that ever graced a TV. (also, deeply prophetic in a way that I am not quite sure I am comfortable with).
Movie I recommend: E.T. – just re-watched that after probably 25 years and cried like a small child. Also Drew Barrymore is the biggest star anyone has ever seen, and she is, what, 4 years old?
Something I’m excited about: Fall clothes to wear indoors? (I have been obsessively looking at the Sezane.com website for soft sweaters and boxy jackets while resisting pulling the trigger).
Exciting purchase(s) I’ve made lately: I am really trying to NOT buy things. But I did cave and got several t-shirts on Etsy that say “Tilda Swinton”, “Sigourney Weaver” and “Rushmore Academy” on their respective fronts. So, there’s that. Be on the look-out for them on upcoming zooms.
MARISSA RUBENSTEIN
Book I’m currently reading: The Evening and The Morning by Ken Follett. I love love love the Kingsbridge trilogy and am so excited the prequel to Pillars of the Earth is here! Reading Pillars launched me into reading I think every book Ken Follett has ever written, and was so excited to get a prequel for it. Very excited to be back in Kingsbridge (even if I am sure it will be raided by Vikings, my heart will be broken by a main character dying, there will be lots of drinking and sex, and more Ken Follett book norms).
Tune of the week: “Little Things – ilo ilo remix” – Louis The Child. This is a v v good remix of Louis’s pop-y single off their new album Here for Now which is full of much synth-y fun. Also “MMXX-XII“- Diplo ft. Rhye. My favorite tune off of Diplo’s new ambient album – the whole album is worth a listen to though. Great background music, I’ve been putting it on when I take walks lately.
TV show I recommend: Vikings (Hulu). So I have seen the first season of Vikings, but the one thing about having had surgery once a year for like 4 years straight, I would watch so much TV while heavily medicated that even ones I saw are now completely fresh! Anyways so I am now re-watching because my sister recommended it and I absolutely love it.
Movie I recommend: I bought Mulan. Ahhh I can’t believe I did that, I had plans to go halfsies with a friend but got impatient and just bought it myself. It’s not… the best Disney movie ever, but it WAS visually stunning and the martial arts were really cool. It was definitely not worth $30, find someone else who was silly enough to purchase it and use their login.
Something I’m excited about: Vikings? Between the new Ken Follett book, the new Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, and the fact that personally my general rule for TV shows and books is “nothing that takes place after 1690”, 2020 is coming up Viking.
Exciting purchases: Well I spent all my money by giving Disney+ $30 for Mulan soo.. kidding. I ordered these SATIN PJS and I am so so so so, run down to the mailroom every time I get a package, excited. I feel like in the still relative quarantimes my purchases need to enhance my at home life. Which is also why I have (this is 100% true) 16 different candles (not the movie) in my living room right now.
MEGAN BURNS
Book I’m currently reading: I just started The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty. (I can give you more expansive thoughts after I’ve finished, but so far fantastic and important reading.)
Tune of the week: 110% YELLE – “J’veux un chien”
TV show I recommend: I am officially a Teenage Bounty Hunters stan.
Something I’m excited about: The second season of PEN15 hits Hulu this weekend and I. AM. BUZZIN’. (Also, v. hype on the mid-sixties weather.)
Exciting purchases: Svetlana and I are v. aligned this week. I’m actually pretty annoyed with myself for getting into the habit of online shopping during all of this, because it’s basically entirely against my ethos as a self-described minimalist human. (Like, I drunk-ordered Marmite peanut butter after I saw a commercial for it on TV a few weeks ago and I thought it would be funny. I have never even eaten Marmite before. WHY.) That said, I just bought this Seventh Seal t-shirt, so…while I’m self-aware, we’re not out of the woods just yet.
DIYA EGGLESTON
Chief Creative Officer of our sister agency, Exactly
Book I’m currently reading: What is a book? I spend my free time chasing after a recently mobile infant who thinks she is related to Spider-Man.
Tune of the week: Nilufer Yanya – “Hey” is on repeat and perfectly fits the last week of summer in London vibe.
TV show I recommend: HGTV is so good? I‘m now aspiring to a fixer upper in some remote spot in Texas.
Something I’m excited about: Is it too early to be excited about pumpkin spice lattes?
Exciting purchase(s): I’m really into subscription farm boxes at the moment and have been getting a big crate of vegetables delivered weekly. Can a squash really be exciting? Yes, I think so.
ELSIE YANG
BYT Contributing Writer
Book you’re currently reading: These Truths by Jill Lepore — it’s a tome, but an excellent look at the history of the United States (helpful as we prepare for November).
Tune of the week: “You Broke Me First” by Tate McRae. Happily, not directly applicable to my life, but a very catchy tune all the same.
TV show/movie I recommend: If you haven’t watched Watchmen, run don’t walk to your nearest screen. It’s particularly topical in this moment.
Something I’m excited about: Call me basic, but I’m THRILLED about the onset of the fall.
Exciting purchase(s): I got these VOTE boots from Naturalizer, and they’re #mood for the rest of the year (and also really comfortable). And Acid League has a new special, limited-edition selection of its Experimental Editions for the vinegar lovers among us. Loving the riesling black peppercorn vinegar and the chamomile vinegar for bread dipping purposes.
ALAN ZILBERMAN
BYT Film Editor
Book I’m currently reading: I’m still reading “Lush Life” by Richard Price. I gotta be honest, one of the casualties of pandemic life is I find it harder to focus on books. I’m not sure whether it’s being stuck in the same place or the doom scrolling, but it’s a new challenge. Maybe filling these out will get me out of my rut!
Tune of the week: “Dream Rats” by No Joy. Mixing dream pop and black metal is my current vibe.
TV show I recommend: Dicktown. Episodes of the animated Hulu show are only ten minutes, but they pack a lot of jokes. The premise – John Hodgman plays a former Encyclopedia Brown type who is now a gen X loser – is a perfect way to explore the newest culture clash.
Movie I recommend: Cuties. Maybe you’ve heard about this movie because it’s so controversial – QAnon and other pearl cultures claims it enables pedophilia – but that is nowhere near the film’s purpose. It is a challenging, smart movie about a young girl who is torn between two different sensibilities, unaware that they both silence and stifle women/girls, just in different ways. At the very least, watch the movie before you start arguing about it on social media.
Something I’m excited about: This week Neighborhood Restaurant Group offers a special “date night” menu based on the classic foodie movie Big Night. It even features a Negroni the way Stanley Tucci likes to make them!
Exciting purchase: My wife recently got a giant disco ball for our living room, and that delights me. Now I just need to buy some lights to shine at it.
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