Content to fill excess hours
Increased time at home means that there are many long hours that will need to be filled. Perhaps at this point you’ve exhausted Netflix but are still looking for media to entertain your time. Here’s a list of media that will, hopefully, stave off boredom and loneliness for a little while longer.
Starting with music recommendations: released in February of 2020, Spanish Love Songs’ album Brave Faces Everyone is a piece of art that feels particularly relevant to these times. Mixing punk and emo aesthetics and lyrical sensibilities, the album takes the listener on an emotional journey touching on topics such as growing up, anxiety, depression, poverty, drug addiction, and the figurative, or perhaps literal, end of the world. At 10 songs, this album can either feel comforting or a little too heavy considering the dark subject matter.
If you’re missing conversation, podcasts may be the way to go. Often recorded in long-form, podcasts that update regularly can be a welcome addition to everyday routine. If, for example, you enjoy true crime, Cult Podcast is a must for listening. Recorded by three Los Angeles-based comedians, it has an impressive back catalogue of 135 episodes, with extra and bonus episodes mixed in. As they talk about cults, there is the possibility that some material will be quite dark and not for everyone, especially because these are people who often have a joke to undercut whatever horrible reality they are talking about.
If that darkness seems a little much at the moment, MusicalSplaining is a podcast where video essayist Lindsay Ellis subjects her friend who doesn’t like musicals to a wide range of them — from Cats and its 2019 film adaptation to newer shows such as Hadestown and Beetlejuice to Broadway classics such as The Phantom of the Opera. Unfortunately, as Broadway has ceased performances and “gone dark” and most theatres and touring shows have closed, this podcast is on an unplanned hiatus.
If you prefer reading, particularly if graphic novels are a favourite style of storytelling, webcomics are an ideal media for this time. While it can often feel like you are watching a story being told in slow motion, many webcomics have an impressive backlog that can take a while to work through. If you like folklore-based stories, the horror-adjacent Wilde Life is phenomenal. It follows a writer by the name of Oscar Wilde, though it should be noted that this Oscar Wilde is not the Irish poet, as he moves to a small town and befriends a number of its strange inhabitants. If shows such as Sailor Moon are more your style, Sleepless Domain follows a cast of colourful characters as they fight off the forces of evil and deal with darker themes such as grief and loss.
YouTube, of course, is another platform with a wide range of content. Whether you’re into arts and crafts, books, makeup, or video games, there is something to watch. If you want to watch two guys who’ve been best friends for 35 years, Good Mythical Morning’s hosts Rhett McLaughlin and Charles Lincoln “Link” Neal have taken to revamping their Rhett & Link channel and have been posting vlog-style videos on Saturdays. Whether it’s eating as much Grape-Nuts cereal as possible or playing disc golf with tortillas, this duo will always make you smile.
If you’re craving a narrative and are passionate about animations, Dollmotions’ Divus series may be for you. Rooted in a rich folkloric world, the series feels like a blend of Gravity Falls and Fantastic Mr. Fox. It follows a cast of anthropomorphic characters living in Amsterdam as they come to learn of the existence of people with magical powers. Animated in stop motion with handmade dolls, Divus’ many mysteries will have you anxiously awaiting the next episode.
With the excess hours, there has never been a better time to pick up a new piece of media and watch, read, or listen to it. While this list does have a bias to it, hopefully it’s varied enough in its media type and theme that you will discover something new to love.
