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September 14, 2024
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Good morning. On the eve of the Emmy Awards, it's worth taking a look at what we're actually watching.
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María Jesús Contreras |
Divided attention
The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards are tomorrow, and if it feels too soon for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to be throwing another one of these celebrations, that's because it is. It was a mere eight months ago that "Succession," "The Bear" and "Beef" swept most of the major categories of the 75th Emmys. That ceremony was postponed four months because of Hollywood's labor disputes, which leaves us with two Emmy ceremonies in one year. On the one hand, great — more to celebrate. On the other, even those of us who love to lose ourselves in the glitz and schmaltz of awards shows could use another minute to process the end of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," to get caught up on "Reservation Dogs," to miss Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri a little, as charming as they may be.
"What even is television anymore?" my colleague Alex asked me this morning, a question that seems almost impossible to answer. I'm not 100 percent caught up on all the shows nominated for these Emmys, but that's not because I haven't been spending unhealthy amounts of time watching things on screens. What does it mean is that I haven't found 10 hours to watch the first season of "Shogun," by all accounts a very good series that I would like very much, but I have just in the past week spent at least that much time consuming an incoherent jumble consisting of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce canoodling at the U.S. Open, Donald Trump's remarks at the Economic Club of New York, a "Gladiator"-themed Pepsi ad, plus countless movie trailers, Peloton workouts, cooking demos, fabric steamer reviews and oh god I could go on.
I'm watching stuff all the time, but very little of it leaves a mark. It's all passive time spent with screens, ingesting information. It requires little of me intellectually, emotionally, spiritually. Just because something uses up my attention doesn't mean I'm actually paying attention to it. A recent story in The Atlantic examined how we've abandoned meals for snacks. I see the same trend in my culture consumption: I'm noshing on bits of content all the time, but seldom sitting down for a full meal.
When I look over the list of the Emmy nominees, the category I am most excited about is the one honoring writing for a variety special. There are five nominees, four of which are comedy performances that I adored. Two, Alex Edelman's "Just for Us" and Jacqueline Novak's "Get on Your Knees," I saw when they were performed live, in February and March of 2022, as Covid restrictions were easing and attending a show in person still felt strange and new. I was nearly delirious with excitement, over how smart and dynamic the comedians were, how electric it felt to be in an audience with other spectators. Those evenings are, in my memory, perfect: I remember arriving at the theater, finding my seat, turning off my phone for the duration of the show, going out afterward and chatting excitedly about what we'd just seen.
I don't want to lose that appetite for full meals, for entertainment that engages my mind and heart and requires my physical presence. Streaming services invite one to graze on shows, to watch a few minutes between scrolling Instagram and working on an email. I remember, in the mid-'90s, going over to my friends' house each week for NBC's Thursday night Must-See TV lineup of "Friends," "Seinfeld" and "ER." Those evenings are still so vivid — we would all bring knitting projects to work on while we watched. It seems almost quaint now to invite people over to watch an episode of a streaming show, to create a time-restricted event out of the 24/7 banquet of watchable content. It's so much easier to just snatch little bites where we can. But I'm interested in trying it, in adding some formality, some inconvenience to my cultural diet in the hopes of returning some meaning and magic to the never-ending binge.
For more
Film
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James Earl Jones Jesse Dittmar for The Washington Post via Getty Images |
Television
- Joan Vassos, a 61-year-old grandmother of three, is the star of "The Golden Bachelorette" on ABC. "I know that it's a weird way to meet somebody," she told The Times.
- Three new cast members will join "Saturday Night Live" for its 50th season, NBC said.
- Gillian Anderson plays a sex therapist on the Netflix dramedy "Sex Education." In real life, she's an advocate for women's sexual health and has written a book about fantasies.
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Music
Other Culture Stories
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Jo Foster, center, as Oliver in "Why Am I So Single?" Matt Crockett |
2024 Election
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President Biden at the White House yesterday. Rod Lamkey Jr. for The New York Times |
- President Biden angrily denounced Donald Trump's false claim that Haitian immigrants were eating household pets. "This has to stop," Biden said.
- Trump defended Laura Loomer, a far-right activist he's traveled with recently, but claimed he didn't know she'd called the Sept. 11 attacks an "inside job." Trump allies including Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lindsey Graham have criticized her.
- Biden is likely to delay his final decision on whether to block the sale of U.S. Steel to a Japanese company until after the election.
- Pope Francis said that Trump, who opposes migrants, and Kamala Harris, who supports abortion rights, are both "against life."
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Other Big Stories
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🎸 "143" by Katy Perry (Friday): Perry — once pop music's center of gravity — has had a bumpy comeback. Critics and fans panned her new album's first single, "Woman's World," for peddling outdated girl-boss feminism. (Lyrics: "It's a woman's world and you're lucky to be livin' in it / You better celebrate / 'Cause, baby, we ain't goin' away.") And Rolling Stone revealed that Perry had worked on the album with the producer Dr. Luke, who was sued years ago over accusations of abuse and sexual assault. This album is a source of curiosity, not just for the music but for the public's response to it.
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Craig Lee for The New York Times |
Lemon Sweet Rolls With Cream Cheese Frosting
Do the words lemon sweet rolls with cream cheese frosting make you a little weak in the knees? Yossy Arefi's cozy recipe is a fresh, citrusy take on the usual cinnamon rolls, but made for lemon-heads like me. Her zest-spiked filling infuses a spiraled, buttermilk-enriched bread dough scented with cardamom. Yeasty, tender and slathered with a tangy cream cheese icing, it's just the thing to serve at a special breakfast or brunch when you want something rich and satisfying, but still brightly flavored.
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Jennifer Kaufmann and Josh Kaufmann in Chicago. Taylor Glascock for The New York Times |
The Hunt: A couple with a budget of around $650,000 wanted a house in Chicago for their growing family. Which home did they choose? Play our game.
What you get for $1.4 million: An 1890 Queen Anne Revival house in Salt Lake City; a brick townhouse in Savannah, Ga.; or a recently renovated 1938 Spanish-style house in Albany, Calif.
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A summer evening in the Cours Julien neighborhood. France Keyser for The New York Times |
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No, you probably don't need a new phone
Every year, tech companies release new smartphones with appealing but nominal upgrades, enticing you to buy a fancier model of the thing you already own. Our advice? If you properly care for your phone, you don't need to replace it every year — or even every other year. No judgment if you want a shiny new device. But if you're looking to save a few bucks and reduce electronic waste, Wirecutter's experts suggest a few small hacks that can make a big difference in making your phone last longer. Start by prioritizing your phone's battery health: Avoid extreme temperatures, and stop charging it to 100 percent. — Roderick Scott
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C.J. Stroud and the Texans beat the Indianapolis Colts in the season opener. Zach Bolinger/Associated Press |
Chicago Bears vs. Houston Texans, N.F.L.: The Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had one of the best rookie seasons in N.F.L. history last year. This week, he faces football's next great hope: Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 1 pick in the draft. Stroud led his team to the playoffs last year, and the Texans offense looks even better now — some believe they could be Super Bowl contenders, Zak Keefer writes in The Athletic. Meanwhile, with Williams still getting used to the pros, the Bears' best hope is their impressive defense, which outscored the offense in Week 1. Sunday at 8:20 p.m. Eastern on NBC
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Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch |