The Week in Recommendations 6.7.23

Delectably distracting TV shows with a side of baby prep, summer illness and the climate apocalypse.

If you live in the Boston or New York City areas, come hang out with us and see Love To See It LIVE! We’ll be recapping an iconic — and hilarious — vintage episode of “The Bachelorette” (season 8, episode 5, featuring Emily Maynard tossing the villainous Kalon from the show) with some very special guests: BIP alum Jill Chin and comedian Arden Myrin. We had the most incredible time last night in Philly with Kelsey McKinney, and we can’t wait to do it again. Get your tickets here.

This is the free edition of Rich Text, a newsletter about cultural obsessions from your Internet BFFs Emma and Claire. If you like what you see and hear, consider becoming a paid subscriber. (Sorry for no premium episode this week — we both got super sick last week!) Rich Text is a reader-supported project — no ads or sponsors!

We’ve been reading…

It’s been a reading-light week — my toddler and I got strep, and I’ve been slammed with show prep — but one thing I don’t skip are bedtime stories. Max has been getting into Dr. Seuss’s “Green Eggs and Ham,” which I hadn’t read in many, many years. And hey, the appeal is obvious: I love how playful Seuss is with language, the rhymes which, despite being basic and obvious, are musical and catchy rather than feeling rote, and the goofy sense of humor. I was also struck for the very first time with two things: “Green Eggs and Ham” is actually very long, especially if your child likes to ask 4-7 questions per page; and it is a barely fictionalized account of a parent trying to convince a child to try an unfamiliar food. I am Sam I Am every goddamn night in this house! How did I never put this together before? -Claire

Honestly, I’ve been so ill that I haven’t really read much besides the script for our live show over and over again. And it paid off, because we had the ABSOLUTE BEST TIME in Philly. Truly can’t wait to hang out with some of you guys in Boston and New York. We already knew this, but our community of friends / listeners / subscribers are just the best. -Emma

We’ve been watching…

“I Think You Should Leave,” season 3 just hit Netflix, and Greg and I are suckers for the Tim Robinson sketch show — which, if nothing else, you need to watch so you know where all the new memes are coming from. Watching this show can be a bit unnerving, as a parent; every Tim Robinson character is just a grown man acting like a toddler, in a fairly literal way, which can be deeply chilling to watch when you’ve been hanging out with an actual toddler all day. But the true genius of the show’s sketches is that they’ll take the seed of a good, straightforward comedy sketch (what if your doctor prescribed you a heart monitoring device that texted him whenever your heart rate was elevated? embarrassing possibilities ensue!) and add a layer of screwball absurdity that swiftly takes over the whole thing (your doctor is getting very annoyed that you never invite him out when you’re headed to Club Haunted House. He wants to go to Club Haunted House even more than Club Aqua!). -Claire

I was sicker than I’ve been in YEARS last week for a full week, so I had plenty of time to watch things, because I was pretty incapable of doing anything else. I watched the second season of sweet family rom-com “With Love” on Prime and was absolutely delighted by it. Truly can’t recommend this 12-episode series enough, which follows the dynamics of the Diaz family, specifically siblings Lily and Jorge. (For those who have watched, I am definitively Team Nick.)

I also completely tore through the four-part docu-series about the Duggar family and Bill Gothard, “Shiny Happy People,” also on Prime. The filmmakers do such a good job of using the Duggar family as a way in to a much larger story about right-wing Christian fundamentalism, specifically IBLP, and the ways in which these fringe groups have harnessed reality TV and social media to go mainstream with absolutely terrifying results. As one of the talking heads in the doc puts it: “Bill Gothard turned every father into a cult leader, and every home into an island.” Chilling as fuck. This one’s a must-watch. -Emma

We’ve been listening to…

I’m on a “Normal Gossip” binge right now, because I like to save up a chunk of episodes so I can listen to them one after the other. Because why have one little treat every week when you can give yourself a huge treat all at once? Hearing Samin Nosrat explain exactly why peaches are the way they are was a particular highlight this season. -Claire

The finale of this season of “Normal Gossip”!!!! Our bud Kelsey McKinney is a genius, and she always sticks the landing. This final story of the season has it all: petty community drama, inter-generational friendship, annoying-as-hell characters, and worm euthanasia. Do not miss out. -Emma

We’ve been buying…

Baby stuff! We already had a baby, and we kept basically everything. So in theory, we don’t need much. Right? But I have a host of baby gear regrets — items we skipped because I felt we didn’t have space and/or need for them, but which I came to feel could have made the first six months much more pleasant. For example, a glider. “Who needs a rocking chair?” I scoffed before baby #1. “We have chairs! I can move my body!” No. This was a mistake. Baby #2 is getting a glider. We replaced my dilapidated 12-year-old mini chair from Urban Outfitters with the Babyletto Kiwi glider/recliner, which has a power recline feature and wingbacks (for allowing my head to flop around freely) that strike me as the absolute height of baby snuggle luxury. Can’t wait to find out if it actually makes newborn life easier! -Claire

Besides a lifetime supply of Mucinex, Robitussin, cough drops and homeopathic flu remedies? That’s not a super fun recommendation, you say? Well… I know. But that’s truly what I’ve been buying. Now that the air quality is hazardous and I’m sitting at my laptop watching the putrid yellow glow of climate disaster fill my living room, I am considering panic purchasing a pair of the Sambas I’ve been lusting after for the last two months. Should I pay up a bit and get the exact pair I want from FarFetch? Should I snag a similar but pinker pair from Foot Locker UK? Or should I just stop spending money altogether and watch the world burn? None of the above? Sigh. See you next week. -Emma

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