Vox Quick Hits

Sometimes all you want to do on a sticky summer weekend is huddle up next to the air conditioner with a great, bingeable comedy. Emily VanDerWerff, Vox's critic at large, recommends three short-run TV comedies you can finish by Monday: We Are Lady Parts on NBC’s Peacock, Mythic Quest on Apple TV+, and Feel Good on Netflix. 

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In many parts of the world, insects are a regular part of people’s diets. That’s not the case in the United States, but perhaps it should be. Vox senior correspondent Dylan Matthews explains why eating bugs may be a more environmentally friendly alternative to eating meat, as well as what insect farming might look like. He also lays out why some people still have reservations about insect diets (beyond the ick factor), since we don’t know whether insects feel significant pain.

Learn More: 

Read Dylan’s story here. 

And you can read more about sustainability and farming from the team at Future Perfect. 

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There’s been a lot of pressure to become a better person during the pandemic — to pick up a new hobby, read more books, or learn a new language. And as life gets back to something like normal for many Americans, that pressure is coming around again. Some employers are reportedly asking job applicants about the "passion project" they pursued over the past 18 months. Even in social circles, there’s a sense that you were supposed to have undertaken some form of self-improvement during the Covid-19 outbreak, instead of just surviving. Vox’s Anna North dives into why some people still feel they were expected to treat the pandemic as an opportunity for growth.

Learn more: 

Read Anna North’s pandemic productivity story here. 

Vox senior reporter Constance Grady also wrote about pandemic productivity back in April 2020.

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Nothing makes a corporation seem less evil than a shout-out to small business. Big companies love to talk about how much they support the little guys. But are they actually helping or harming and what can be done about their fraught relationship? Vox’s Emily Stewart explains how companies like Uber and Facebook and Amazon use the reputation of small business for their own benefit and what we as consumers can do to actually save their smaller competitors.

Read the full story: 

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22550608/how-big-business-exploits-small-business

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This week, Constance recommends novels about how being Extremely Online™ messes with our brains. Plus, hear Constance in conversation with Rumaan Alam about his book Leave the World Behind from Vox’s Book Club Zoom event in June.

Constance recommends:

If you’re looking for a book recommendation, you can email [email protected] – Be sure to use the subject line “Ask a Book Critic.”

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Drive-in movie theaters have made a comeback — and today, we pretend we’re at one. From horror to weird cult classics, we pick our dream drive-in flicks. Grab some popcorn and a giant soda and join us!

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Right-wing coffee shops are popping up across the country, proving yet again that America can make pretty much anything political. One sells blends such as “The Don” and “Sleepy Joe Decaf.” Another offers concealed-carry permit classes. Many have Donald Trump-themed decor and products. Reporter Luke Winkie discusses the MAGA coffee trend and why Republicans are looking for a conservative-leaning version of Starbucks.

Learn More: 

Read Luke’s story on right-wing coffee here. 

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Tell Me More is hosted by Emily Stewart and produced by Sofi LaLonde.

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When Max Ufberg and his girlfriend left New York for Pennsylvania at the beginning of the pandemic, they assumed it would be a quick trip. But as weeks became months, they splurged on a kayak and began to spend their downtime ambling through the very landscapes Max had once been so eager to leave behind. And he started to realize just how wrong he was about the place. 

Read his essay here; https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/11/10/21556650/best-money-covid-19-moving-home-kayak

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The House of Representatives recently voted to make Washington, DC, the 51st state in the union, something many residents have wanted for a long time. Even though momentum is building, the bill probably isn’t going anywhere in the Senate unless Democrats get rid of or change the filibuster rules. Vox policy reporter Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas) discusses what DC not being a state means for the people who live there as well as politics and polling around the issue.

Learn more:

Read Jerusalem’s story on DC statehood here. 

––

Tell Me More is hosted by Emily Stewart and produced by Sofi LaLonde.

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Summer of Soul revives the forgotten, groovy history of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a pivotal moment in Black culture sometimes dubbed “Black Woodstock.” 

This massive concert series spanned multiple weekends and featured everyone from Sly and the Family Stone to Nina Simone to Stevie Wonder to Mahalia Jackson. But the footage of the festival sat in a basement for 50 years. Now it’s been compiled into a documentary by director Ahmir Thompson — better known as Questlove, the drummer and frontman for the Roots — and the result is absolutely infectious.

How to watch it: Summer of Soul is in theaters and streaming on Hulu.

Read Alissa's review here:

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