✉️: Welcome to December, 2024
My Winter Of August, Top Jokes Of November, Podcasts, Interviews, and Recommendations!
— This is a longer post than usual, so if you’re reading this via email, you might want to hop on over the web version here to read the full thing! —
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Table of Contents:
December Letter From African America:
My Winter Of August
The Top Jokes of Last Month!
You Are The Genre Episodes
TV, film, audio, and text recs!
Zach Cherry Interview
(I'm Just Thinking About) Cooling Out by Jerry Butler
Letter From African America (December, 2024)
Dear readers,
It’s been a weird tough year with a few notable bright spots. I often fight against the feeling of being robbed of time since the Covid pandemic. How is it possible that an entire Biden term has already fluttered by? I look at some of my recent achievements and am shocked when the dates defy the clock in my mind, and I feel guilty when considering the moments I took to step back to process instead of grinding my soul to death for money. But, hey, that’s just the worst part of my brain typing.
2024 has been a reminder to focus on things that hit deep. I don’t know if it’s the times we’re living in or my own personal age, but I just can’t handle surface level anything anymore.
Above the television in the Brooklyn place I call home hangs a print of a Romare Bearden painting titled Jammin’ at the Savoy. It once hung on a wall in the final place my pawpwaw called home in Los Angeles. I don’t know when, where, or why he got it and such mysteries, I’ve learned, are what make life worth living —
— but mom, knowing I’d like it, shipped it to me after he passed away last year, and it turns out the frame he had around it covered a surprise. After releasing the print from its former shell (due to a crack in the glass from its journey across coasts) I discovered words around the image stating, “The Brooklyn Museum.”
How bizarre… It felt like some weird cosmic wink from the heavens suggesting that, somehow, this object, worthy or framing, found its way back home with me.
I’ve been thinking about Bearden lately because I had the luck of seeing Malcolm Washington’s feature film adaptation of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson in theaters this November. I loved it. Up until that viewing, I had little to no understanding of August Wilson’s work, but something about Malcolm Washington’s equally thoughtful and youthful lens allowed the majesty of August Wilson to hit me in a new way — and since then, I’ve been devouring Wilson’s interviews…
Wilson, it turns out, was deeply influenced by Romare Bearden’s work. In fact, his The Piano Lesson was directly inspired by Bearden’s painting of the same name, which was directly inspired by Henri Matisse’s painting of the same name.
I enjoy Wilson’s ability to cut through the noise and write stories about Black people, unburdened by the white gaze. I also connect with his deep interest in the past. But I’m in awe of the fact that his work really isn’t that old. Most of the plays are younger than me, yet, from what I can tell, feel so deeply accurate to the times they’re set in. There’s an intoxicating rhythm to his dialogue that feels like home… like my pawpaw… like the south… and all of its permutations across the coasts.
I saw many movies in theaters this November thanks to the free screenings available to WGA members. It’s something I was never able to do until now because of this or that, and the experience has brought me back in touch with my favorite human activity (sad as that may sound): sitting in dimly lit rooms with strangers to laugh and cry at projections on the wall.
Watching films like Nickel Boys, The Apprentice, Nightbitch, and Gladiator II along with Q&A discussions with their respective writers, filmmakers, and actors has been a hell of a lot of fun.
During the Gladiator II screening, for instance, the legendary Spike Lee sat two or three rows behind me, excited to support his friend and frequent collaborator, Denzel, and rooting for him as he strolled down the aisle for the q&a afterward. Yet another reminder of why these strange gatherings at the movies are so important — even if it’s for a film withe sharks in a colosseum.
May the new year bring you friends worth rooting for, and art worth framing in the place you call home.
Best,
-Tim
last month right now! (best jokes)
Each weekday, I email five jokes and subscribers vote on the ones that make them laugh the most! Here are your favorite jokes from November, 2024!
TUESDAY: 11-5-2024
On the War Room podcast hosted by former Trump advisor Steve Bannon (who was released from prison last week), Tucker Carlson claimed that demons were responsible for the invention of nuclear technology. And since the inventors of nuclear technology were white, we finally have something Tucker Carlson and Malcolm X agree on.
[read the other jokes from that week here]
FRIDAY : 11-15-2024
Conan O’Brien is set to host the 97th Academy Awards — or, if Jay Leno has anything to do with it, the 97th After Party.
[read other jokes from that week here]
WEDNESDAY: 11-20-2024
Texas’ education board has advanced a new Bible-infused curriculum that would be optional for schools to incorporate in kindergarten through fifth grades. So, gather ‘round, kids! You know, climate change isn’t real, but here’s a story about a man who kept warning people about a huge flood.
[read the other jokes from that week here]
MONDAY: 11-25-2024
A two-parter!
Adultery is no longer illegal in New York. Mayor Adams hopes to use this as a loophole for spiritually cheating on the city in his indictment case.”
Hotels in New York City charged an average of $417 per night in September, their highest ever monthly rate. But, in hindsight, its clear they were simply taking advantage of the final days of illegal adultery.
[read the other jokes from that week here]
stuff you might’ve missed
My You Are The Genre podcast is on a break until the new year but I still released a few episodes in November!
There was the episode with comedy/speech writer Chandler Dean:
A season 1 finale featuring ’s interview with me on the podcast:
And most recently, an ADVANCED release of a season 2 episode for paid subscribers featuring my conversation with comedian/TV writer Rae Sanni:
Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever else you get podcasts!
current obsessions
SOUNDS:
RADIO: WBGO
Nature is healing, and I’ve returned to listening to the radio as my primary source of music — most frequently to jazz from the WBGO station. There’s just something to the vibe of human curation and needing nothing more than the turn of a knob to find a nice tune. Micro-decision overload rots the brain!
PODCAST: The Piano Lesson: The Official Podcast
This podcast gets really in-depth with the thought process behind the recent film adaptation of The Piano Lesson!
PODCAST: The Vergecast - If Netflix can't make live work, can anyone?
The title doesn’t cover the part of this Vergecast episode that I loved. About 27 minutes in is a conversation about the history of paper notebooks. It altered my brain a bit to consider such items a piece of technology and beyond waxing poetic on the power of paper, there are some interesting science facts about why it may be better for our noggins than the endless scroll provided by laptops and tablets.
SIGHTS:
SHORT: 4th Dimentia
I had the pleasure of attending the screening of this well-crafted short from the comedy collective Dinner For 1. It’s directed by my friend from way back in the day when we were on a film-focused study abroad class in college (city college in my case and Emerson in his)!
FILM: The Piano Lesson
Hey, yeah, I wrote about this in the letter.
YOUTUBE RABBIT HOLE: August Wilson Interviews
As I mentioned in the letter, I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole of August Wilson interviews in my novice attempt at knowing who he was. A few things stand out. He was a prominent Black playwright in an era (the 90s) where the dominant culture felt it should not be chained to the label racism that it associated with the turbulent 60s. You can see it in the tone and line of questioning from Charlie Rose here and the sensitive nervousness around similar topics from Bill Moyers here. Most fascinating to me is Wilson’s public debate with theater critic Robert Brustein about diversity here which takes incredible twists and turns but helps put so many of today’s debates in context.
FILM: Nightbitch
This movie is awesome! Based on a novel of the same name, it’ll make you appreciate the power of motherhood in a whole new way. It’s also one of the rare movies that’s truly in tune with itself (perhaps, again, due to being based on a novel). The premise of a woman turning into a dog at night could have manifested in a commercial mess full of pop songs and mindless montages, but instead director/screenwriter Marielle Heller has crafted what I consider to be a grounded, funny masterpiece filled with nuance and mystery. It’s neither “too arthouse” or “too commercial.” The kind of movie that will casually stop you in your tracks if you catch it flipping through channels. Something I needed, because I forgot movies could feel this way.
YOUTUBE: Quest for Craft
The YouTube algorithm served me Questlove’s interview series Quest for Craft — which has similar goals to my own You Are The Genre podcast only with sweet, sweet brand synergy. The episode showcases some of the great information Questlove manages to get out of guests, his passion for the craft of art-making and his sensitivity as an interviewer. I loved Smith’s anecdotes about Jimi Hendrix, who was one of my teenage idols. She’s deeply reflective throughout the conversation, and her remarks on him were humanizing in a rare way. Nice knowing rock gods are just people, you know?
FILM: The Apprentice
Saw it at a screening event and left thinking I probably just witnessed one of the most important films of all time. I don’t know how true that is. It might need a second viewing for me to be sure. But, depending on how quickly things go south with Trump’s second “term,” that second viewing might not even be in the cards. It’s brilliantly shot, wonderfully acted, and poignant as hell. And its journey from a screenplay written during Trump’s first term, shot during the Biden administration, and released during the 2024 election cycle makes it all the more fascinating as a cultural document.
TV: St. Denis Medical
Yes, it’s another brightly lit NBC workplace sitcom, but goddamnit, it works!
DOC: George Carlin’s American Dream
Re-watching this documentary about George Carlin helped focus me after the 2024 election. Not just in terms of harnessing my political anger, but also as a means of really stepping back and thinking about how comedic careers evolve and change with the times.
YOUTUBE: Legacy Talk with Lena Waithe
I guess I’m just a lover of great interviews. Been watching and enjoying Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad YouTube channel featuring conversations with the likes of Mara Brock Akil and Gina Prince-Bythewood. I breathe a little easier hearing from Black creators who have been in the industry during various ups and downs.
TV: Slow Horsed (Season 4)
The show simply never fails, and season 4 was the first where I was legitimately mad there weren’t more episodes. It also has some of the funniest mid-action sequence moments which serve as a reminder that these are characters who experience bad luck and pain.
TV: How To Die Alone
Did I write about this already. If not - why not?! Fantastic show with one of the best pilot episodes I’ve ever seen. It honestly could’ve been an award-winning short film.
DOC: Carville: Winning Is Everything
James Carville is a weird, flawed, funny man. He’s like David Letterman and every King of the Hill character wrapped into one. The documentary tracks his rise as a political consultant as well as the various oddities of the 2024 election circus. I like that it doesn’t paint Carville as some sort of saint. He’s definitely an old man with dated views who likes to complain about “woke” culture, but he’s still pretty sharp when it comes to what it takes to win, which often requires setting ethics aside.
TV: K Street
Behold! A Steven Soderbergh created HBO series that you cannot find on HBO Max but has luckily been uploaded by someone on YouTube. I never would have heard about this were it not for the above documentary about James Carville. Everything about this is fascinating, and disturbing, and funny (if only because it somehow ever managed to exist). It’s a faux behind-the-scenes documentary about DC politics in the improvisational style of Curb Your Enthusiasm that somehow starred actual in-the-moment DC power players.
FILM: 5-25-77
I’d been meaning to watch this for a while and finally did last month via Paramount+. It’s a love letter to the art of movie special effects as well as the time leading up to and immediately following the 1977 release of the original Star Wars film. It’s based on the life of its director, Patrick Read Johnson, who was obsessed with movie effects as a kid, weaseled his way into meeting Steven Spielberg and the original Industrial Light & Magic crew before the release of Star Wars, and remained passionate enough about filmmaking to become a professional visual effects artist and director. The opening sequence immediately drew me in, and it captures the 70s with the authenticity of lived experiemces. It’s imperfect, and sappy in certain moments — but by simply having a genuine, beating heart, those flaws hardly matter.
TRAILER: The Studio
I LOVE movies and shows that give us a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes world of media — so this trailer immediately stood out as something that’ll be on my watch list.
TV: The Franchise
Speaking of behind-the-scenes media, The Franchise has slowly become one of my favorite new comedies. It took me a while to warm up the characters and circumstances — but as I stuck with it, its world expanded, allowing for some compelling character moments, plot points and story arcs. For a number of totally understandable reasons, it feels like the show has to dance in vagueness to avoid razor-sharp parallels with Marvel and DC. Because of this, it shined most when exploring the interpersonal turmoil among its behind-the-scenes characters more than taking jabs at the bloated superhero film machine that has defined the past few decades. Ultimately, I’m glad that I gave it time to become one of my favorite new shows. Sitcoms need time to blossom into greatness, and we so rarely grant them the opportunity. I hope it gets a season 2 (and… you know… that maybe I can write on it or something).
DOC: Music By John Williams
I found this to be a surprisingly substantive documentary about one of the most iconic composers of music.
READS:
SUBSTACK: Urgency & Drive vs The Opposite by
The first few paragraphs of this made me say “damn.”
somethin’ else
A throwback to my interview with Zach Cherry (Severance)!
song of the month
I’d never heard this song until my dear radio played it for me. By some bizarre fluke, the actual lyrics don’t seem to be available online (at the moment) — which only makes the song even cooler. It sums up the end-of-year vibe of just… you know… wanting to cool out.
🎶 🎶
Until next time, remember YOU ARE THE GENRE!