| Welcome! It was the week when Superstore said goodbye. It was the week when Broadway's future became the topic of more specific conversations. And it was the week when Black Widow joined the list of movies that you'll be able to see at home at the same time as theaters. Let's get to it. |
Opening Argument: The Dog Who Loved Yo-Yo Ma |
I have a nervous dog. We're well suited to each other, in fact, because we both have trouble calming down at times. He paces, he chews on pens he snatches off the coffee table, and he comes over and stands in front of me, tucking his ears in and looking like a little Dickensian urchin, begging for attention (and meatball treats). Not all the time, mind you -- he spends the great majority of his time sleeping -- but at certain times, especially when he's tired. (This seems counterintuitive unless you have ever known a baby, a toddler, or a teenager.)
I don't know exactly what goes through his mind at times like this, other than "I want things." Sometimes it's just skritches, sometimes it's a snack. But one thing that always makes it worse is that he has hearing like a bat, and if a neighbor starts a leaf blower two blocks away, he can hear it inside our house, and he'll start barking at the windows and demanding to be loosed upon the neighborhood so he can defeat the hated enemy. (Not the neighbor. The leaf blower.) This is why I started playing noise in the house.
When I say "playing noise," I really mean it. I used to just leave the TV on, but that started to feel rather dystopian when I was at home approximately 26 hours a day. So I started using noise loops -- you can find them on any streaming music service and lots of relaxation apps -- played through the speakers in my living room. What they call "white noise" is too much like true static for me. What they call "pink noise" is close. What they call "brown noise," however, is my favorite. It's low and fuzzy rather than sharp and staticky; it sounds almost like having the heat on or a particularly loud refrigerator running. It's not a "shhhhhh" noise; it's an exhaling "haaaaa" noise. (There are plenty of apps that will simply give you the sound of a refrigerator running, by the way. Or a dryer running, or street traffic, or whatever else makes you feel relaxed.)
But there's only so much straight-up noise I want to listen to. So I started playing classical music for him. Why classical? Well, I get distracted by lyrics, and by songs I know, and when I was younger I spent time in a couple of different environments -- a music camp and a college with a conservatory -- where I heard more classical music than I otherwise would have. I decided to try the cello, because I find it the most tranquil of strings for reasons it's hard for me to explain. So I started the dog on a steady diet of Yo-Yo Ma.
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I concluded almost right away that it helped him. I loved starting the music and watching him lie down on his bed, turn around a couple of times, sigh heavily, and put his chin down on his front paws. I loved the idea that he loved music; I loved the idea that I could help him feel calmer. I've always relied on music and sound and movies and books to settle my nerves, so it seemed appropriate that he would too. My dog, the classical music aficionado.
But the more I did it, the more I noticed something else. When I would put the music on for the dog, I would often hear myself take a big inhale, sigh, and let my shoulders drop about two inches, which is probably my equivalent of laying my chin on my paws. Maybe it didn't help him; maybe it just helped me. Maybe it just made me feel relaxed. Maybe it just made the environment relaxed.
The thing about listening to music is that while there are scientists who study whether it affects animals (or plants, or babies, or whatever), for most of us, its effects will always be a little bit mysterious. The music you listen to when you roll down the windows is different from the music you listen to when you clean your kitchen, but why? Why, exactly, do you want drums one day and piano sonatas on another day? Does my dog like Yo-Yo Ma, or does he just like not being able to hear every creak and every squirrel sneeze in the entire neighborhood?
I don't know. I'm not sure it really matters. |
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| The brilliant actress Jessica Walter died this week, and if you only knew her as Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development, there's much more to discover. My friend Alan Sepinwall wrote a lovely remembrance for Rolling Stone.
I'm always proud to be a colleague of It's Been A Minute host Sam Sanders, but I was extra proud to be one this week when he spoke about the candor with which he calls out NPR alongside other outlets that need to do a much better job bringing a variety of voices to the air.
If you haven't yet watched the dog agility performance of Gabby the Papillon, I recommend you do that immediately.
If you want to start catching up on some of the Oscar categories that sometimes get a little less attention -- animated feature, documentary, international feature -- now's the time, because we have shows coming up on all three. |
Courtesy of Amazon Studios |
On Monday, we brought you a conversation between Stephen, Cyrena Touros, Latesha Harris and Chris Klimek about favorite concert films.
On Tuesday, I talked to PCHH pal Ari Shapiro about book club recommendations as we wrapped up our coverage of the 2020 book concierge.
On Wednesday, Aisha talked to Rafer Guzman and Kristen Meinzer of the podcast Movie Therapy about how to get out of your streaming rut. Here is what they recommended:
What to watch if you've lost your jobWhat to watch if your child's going to collegeWhat to watch if you need a comfort bingeOn Thursday, Stephen and Glen talked to one of our favorites, Soraya Nadia McDonald, about King Of The Hill.
And on Friday, Stephen talked to Lars Gotrich, Odie Henderson and Maria Sherman about best picture nominee The Sound of Metal.
Also this week, Glen wrote about the new show Invincible. And I wrote about the Apple TV+ show Calls, which might be ... a podcast.
And Stephen was on hand for NPR Music's New Music Friday. |
| Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: |
- What's Making Odie Happy This Week: Deadwood
- What's Making Maria Happy This Week: The band Joy and Mannequin Pussy’s new single “Control”
- What's Making Lars Happy This Week: By The Horns comic and the soundtrack by Artic Sleep
- What's Making Stephen Happy This Week: Fond memories of Jessica Walter
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