RECOMMENDS
OUR TOP POPCULTURE PICKS OF MONTH
TV SHOW
1. ‘Insecure’ Season Five
When we left Issa (Issa Rae) and Molly (Yvonne Orji), their friendship was in a precarious place, leaving us hoping it can survive the final season. Either way, can Rae and Orji appear in many shows together, pretty please?
REUNION
2. ABBA
ABBA are back after 40 years for a new album this fall and a digital concert next spring. “We simply call it Voyage,” they said of the LP. “We’re truly sailing in uncharted waters.”
PODCAST
3. ‘Badlands Season 2: Sportsland’
Podcaster Jake Brennan ( Disgraceland) is shifting his unique take on pop-culture true crime, with each episode delving into the not-so-sportsmanlike deeds of stars like Mike Tyson, Oscar Pistorius, and Evel Knievel.
DOCUMENTARY
4. ‘Pharma Bro’
Filmmaker Brent Hodge went all out for this doc on infamous pharma exec Martin Shkreli — moving into his building, conducting interviews with everyone from an HIV patient to Ghostface Killah — to track his journey from capitalist boy wonder to “fake-ass supervillain” to felon.
ALBUM
5. ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground and Nico’
Brian Eno once claimed everyone who bought the VU’s debut formed bands. Here’s proof: Eleven brilliant, lusty covers of their tracks by Iggy Pop, Courtney Barnett, and others. Don’t miss Sharon Van Etten’s stirring “Femme Fatale” and Andrew Bird’s old-timey overhaul of “Venus in Furs.”
REMEMBRANCE
6. ‘Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography’
Longtime Anthony Bourdain collaborator Laurie Woolever talked to dozens of people who knew the late chef, uncovering details and anecdotes from his drug-fueled career in New York to his years spent traveling the world.
UNEARTHED RECORDING
7. ‘A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle’
John Coltrane rarely played his iconic LP
A Love Supreme live. Now, Impulse is issuing only the second-known performance of the title suite, an electrifying 1965 rendition that foreshadows the unbridled freedom of Coltrane’s final years.
LIMITED SERIES
8. ‘Colin in Black and White’
NFL star turned civil rights leader Colin Kaepernick narrates a scripted Netflix version of his life, from his childhood in Wisconsin (with Nick Offerman and Mary-Louise Parker as his adoptive parents) to his exile from pro sports.
SONG
9. “Lay It On Me,” by Mickey Guyton
This soaring, arena-size ode to companionship and commitment is a highlight from the country singer’s superb new album, Remember Her Name.