Beacon Broadside

The way you got us all in our head, we think we’d rather you in bed. Whatever it is, you know we can take it. We’re counting the days. How many days till we can see you again? Wait. Are we talking about the summer or books or . . . ? Anyway, here’s what we’ve been reading, watching, and listening to this season.

From Marcy Barnes, Production Director

I just finished Jeff Hiller’s memoir, Actress of a Certain Age. It is as delightful and heartfelt as you’d imagine, and Hiller is more revealing and vulnerable than I’d expected. I got a signed copy preorder through The Strand and accidentally spilled mushroom gravy on it when I was visiting Savannah (this Northern gal is a newb to biscuits and gravy). At first, I was disheartened, but I think Hiller would approve somehow of my “French toast for the table” energy (yes, a nod to the actor’s most notable role thus far in Somebody Somewhere). You’ll laugh; you’ll cry; you’ll hear Hiller's unmistakable voice in every word.

 

From Perpetua Cannistraro, Publicist

Watching: Ironheart, streaming on Disney+. The latest entry in the Marvel TV lineup, Ironheart is a great (and too-short!) reflection on the lengths we're willing to go to fill ~the emptiness~ within us. The show’s soundtrack is also 🔥.

 

Watching: Season three of The Gilded Age, airing Sundays at nine on HBO and HBO Max. The show is lush, dramatic eye candy that you’ll find fun to watch if you enjoyed Downton Abbey, which I’ve never seen, or any other “upstairs/downstairs” drama. I’ve been fascinated by the sociopolitical dynamics of this era in American history since elementary school. Watching the show in 2025 is so interesting to me, given the parallels I see between Gilded Age society and today.

 

Reading: Sex with a Brain Injury by Annie Liontas, narrated by Natalie Naudus. I suffered a mild TBI this winter, which has led to some lasting symptoms that may take more than a few more months to heal. A media colleague recommended this book to me; so far, it affirms my experience and makes me grateful for the progress I’m making in my recovery.

 

From Carol Chu, Executive Creative Director 

I’m listening to The Bald and the Beautiful podcast with Trixie and Katya nonstop.

 

I’m working my way through The Master and Magarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. When I’m in the thick of it, I love it, and when I put it down, I’m left thinking, “What was that?!”

And I’m not watching much (not really any, actually) but enjoy the weekly Never Too Small videos on YouTube and binge the week’s posts on Saturday mornings.

 

From Christian Coleman, Digital Marketing Manger 

Surprise! I’m not reading horror this season. Back to science fiction. With all the attention the AppleTV+ Murderbot series is getting, especially now that a second season has been secured, I decided to conjure my own imaging of the human-averse security cyborg by reading Martha Wells’s Murderbot Diaries. There’s something very vindicating about reading about a cyborg getting exasperated with petty humanness. I’m on the fourth novella of the series and wonder what Murderbot would think of today’s corporate hard sell of ChatGPT and the glut of AI slop. Although Murderbot would rather do without humans, it admits in the second novella, Artificial Condition, that humans are necessary—at least for producing the series it binges while avoiding security detail. How would it, a SecUnit, feel about consuming AI slop regurgitated by a MediaUnit? Or a ContentUnit?

 

I am so out of practice reading short stories. I have been hyper-focused on novels and novellas—see above—that I figured it was time to get back in the short-fiction saddle. I’m halfway through We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020, edited by C. L. Clark and Charles Payseur, and am having a blast!

 

While I enjoyed the Netflix documentary Quincy, one question bothered me throughout its two-hour run. Why didn’t the filmmakers give us a glimpse of Quincy Jones as a music student? We wouldn’t have the rich tradition of any musics without mentors passing down the craft and practice to budding musicians. Perhaps the filmmakers felt this was implicit since they beelined to slice-of-life footage, Jones’s personal relationships, and the arc of his career. But the documentary presents him as a self-made/ready-made man. Musicians and composers aren’t grown from spontaneous generation crèches. Who taught him music theory and composition? Who gave him his first chances to cut his teeth on arranging? How did he become a producer? Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones is answering all those questions and filling in the gaps.

 

From Emily Powers, Senior Marketing Manager

Quirky songs from UK singer songwriters like Aimee Carty and Rose Betts. I recommend “2 Days into College.” And I dare you to try to listen to the pub anthem “Doodles” without smiling!

 

From Jasmine Thomas, Digital and Social Media Intern 

Currently, I am rereading The Blood Trials by N. E. Davenport because I want to read the sequel, The Blood Gift, which I put off way too long. The first pick has everything I always love in sci-fi fantasy books, which is a strong female lead, a Black protagonist, and an author who isn’t afraid to kill off their readers’ favorite characters. I think when an author is brazen like that it usually puts the reader more on the edge of their seat, as they don’t have the same security a lot of authors give by making the main character completely immune to being killed off. I have also been reading a lot of poetry, particularly Mary Oliver, because she’s the best. Particularly the poem “The Kingfisher.” It is so vividly descriptive. It's like I’m at the wave in the poem as well.

 

I have been watching reruns of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, which is a great comfort show of mine and is so effortlessly funny. I love how he always sticks up for staff when the owner is mistreating them. The network releases so many of the seasons for free on YouTube, so it is great to just be able to watch Ramsay fix businesses and deal with clueless owners over and over again. 10/10 I would recommend it. It is a great show to study, too.

 

I am listening to the Warriors soundtrack by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis. It is so amazing, and I need a Broadway show already! My favorite song on the album is, of course, “If You Can Count” by Lauren Hill. Such an amazing song.