Category Archives: Diversions

In a year unlike any other, these ten products helped us all make the most of it, or at least stay sane.

When 2020 started, the routine of going to a theater, purchasing a bag of popcorn, and losing yourself in a movie for a couple hours was still mundane. Over the last few years, streaming services like Netflix and money-burning companies like MoviePass have pulled at the threads of the traditional theatrical distribution model, testing the […]

The phrase “Life sucked, but great records got us through” could apply to any number of recent years. But, in 2020, music was hit especially hard, with clubs closed and tours canceled. Out of necessity, this became a year about turning inward, listening deep and looking for solace. Our top album of the year, Taylor […]

There was a lot of good work in 2020, too many to fit onto one list, so below are ten shows that stuck with me the most this year. Here’s to 2021 being a better year, with even more good podcasts.

Any given year, new music is what defines our seasons—giving us something to cozy up to in the wintertime, and party to in the summertime. In 2020, though, there was perhaps no greater companion than the music that came out, since—aside from the great new shows we were bingeing to fill our time or the […]

Another year, another one trillion new books that came out. The pace and sheer volume of book releases is daunting, with every piece of marketing copy claiming that this will be the read that changes your life. How can you possibly tell which is actually going to be worth your time? Leave that to us: […]

Let’s face it: 2020 sucked in an unprecedented way, by every single measure known to mankind, except one—television! With nowhere to go and nothing better to do, we’ve had little choice but to rely on the TV gods to entertain us, and the powers that be did so well at their one job that a […]

Good advice from a few people who’ve been there and back again. In 1974, Kurt Vonnegut asked the graduating classes of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, “What should young people do with their lives today?” Like any good graduation speaker, he answered his own rhetorical question: “Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is […]

100 Movies to Watch During Lockdown You’re stuck inside, we’re stuck inside, Idris Elba’s stuck inside, everybody’s stuck inside. And whether working from home or just chilling, it’s good to take a cinematic break when you’re social distancing during the coronavirus crisis. With movie theatres closed and blockbusters-in-waiting being postponed all the way to next […]