Author: Gina Watters

The JV Club: Not-Too-Girlish Glee

1 Comment
Image of The JV Club

Courtesy: Nerdist Industries

I listen to an absurd number of podcasts. I love everything from highly polished scientific and political shows, all the way down to the over-caffeinated ramblings of comedy dudes furiously scrambling to out-riff each other. Many of my favorite podcasts have made me laugh so hard that strangers on the train have switched seats to avoid me. Others have left me so engrossed in the subject matter that I’ve actually walked past my own apartment building.

But there’s only one that caused me, on a gorgeous summer day, to stop dead in the middle of a crowded sidewalk and burst into tears.

[Read more…]

Christmas with a Twist: David Sedaris’s Holidays on Ice

Leave a Comment
Image of Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

Image courtesy of Hachette Book Group

Like most families, mine has many treasured holiday traditions. One of the most sacred is unpacking our fuzzy-haired and completely deranged-looking angel from the 1970s Jack Daniels box in which she resides during the offseason. We then attempt (and usually fail) to reattach the one tiny plastic arm that constantly falls off before we place her atop the tree. My mom and dad bought the angel before I was born, and as homely as she is, I’m pretty sure she’s the only item my siblings and I will fight over when the time comes to divvy up my parents’ things.

[Read more…]

Top Ten Under-the-Radar Documentaries Streaming Online

Leave a Comment
Image of Kathleen Hanna in The Punk Singer

Kathleen Hanna in The Punk Singer (Allison Michael Orenstein/Opening Band Films)

If you’re a voracious documentary consumer like me, you’ve long since burned through the top-tier, can’t-miss films streaming online. You’ve seen all the hits, like Thin Blue Line, Hoop Dreams and Restrepo and are ready for the deep cuts. HuluPlus and Netflix are ever-growing repositories of documentary goodness, offering everything from Justin Bieber to genocide at the click of a button. But sorting through the huge selection of movies available can be daunting. And let me be frank: there’s a lot of crap out there. Never fear, I’ve done the work for you. Without further ado, here are the ten best under-the-radar documentaries currently streaming.

[Read more…]

Not Background Noise: An Overview of Serial

Leave a Comment

This is a guest post by Gina Watters. Gina lives in Chicago where she writes stories and listens to podcasts (usually instead of whatever it is she’s actually supposed to be doing).

Image of the logo from the podcast Serial

On February 9, 1999, high-school senior Hae Min Lee was found strangled to death in a wooded park in Baltimore County, Maryland. Her ex-boyfriend and classmate Adnan Syed was convicted of her murder and has spent the last 15 years in prison for the crime. Lee’s murder, and the subsequent investigation, is the subject of Serial, a new podcast from the producers of This American Life. 

[Read more…]