This week’s installment of To Watch and Watch For is riding in on the coattails of our first warm-weather days on campus. As spring revealed its hand early, students took to Keyser Quad with picnic blankets, friends and, of course, open laptops reviewing material for their upcoming midterms.
It feels wrong to be recommending media typically enjoyed inside when — given this small-talk-worthy weather — everyone should be outside. Considering this, I encourage you to indulge in this media outside: Watch TV on a picnic blanket, read under a tree or listen to music while taking a walk on the sky bridge. If your midterms only let you loose for a limited amount of time, then where better to start than with these personal arts and entertainment recommendations curated for Hopkins students like you?
How many of you — the pre-med Molecular and Cellular Biology majors, Public Health majors, and so on — first decided to become a doctor after watching Grey’s Anatomy? There’s no shame in it. And, if that description doesn’t fit the bill, then how many of you pre-med students can find joy in hate-watching Grey’s Anatomy, pointing out all the inaccuracies as they come? Regardless of which camp you belong to, there’s something for everyone in the mid-season premiere of Shonda Rhimes’ Grey’s Anatomy as it chugs along through its historic 21st season. To avoid spoilers, be sure to tune in on March 6 at 10 p.m.
“The farmer is dead. He is dead and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.” Does this sound like the next book on your To Be Read list? Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall begins with Beth’s brother-in-law shooting a dog to protect their sheep, which leads to the reintroduction of Beth’s old love Gabriel in her and her husband’s lives. Gabriel comes to invade Beth’s new life of her marriage with many secrets and her dead son Bobby, though Gabriel’s son Leo reminds her terribly of Bobby. As her old and new lives are forced to blend into one narrative, who will Beth choose: the old her or the new her?
My childhood is stained with the timeless tunes of Lady Gaga: fifth graders learning “Bad Romance” on their new violins, “Poker Face” at my middle school dance. For those of you who feel similarly nostalgic for Lady Gaga’s music and have ever wondered what she’s up to now, I recommend keeping an ear out for her March 7 album Mayhem.
If you’re already dreading spring allergies and need an excuse to stay indoors, then I have the perfect live event for you. The beloved Bird in Hand coffeeshop-bookstore hybrid is hosting a conversation between author Maylis de Kerangal and Hopkins Professor Derek Schilling. Kerangal, who won the 2010 Prix Médicis for her novel The Bridge, a novel about the construction of a suspension bridge, is sure to be a speaker who can make any topic fascinating.
Finally, for the overachievers I know this campus is chock-full of, here are some extra (not extra credit, unfortunately) pieces of media and events for your consumption:
To watch...
Grey’s Anatomy: Season 21 mid-season premiere, created by Shonda Rhimes — March 6, 10 p.m.
The Leopard, directed by Tom Shankland, Giuseppe Capotondi and Laura Luchetti — March 5
Delicious, directed by Nele Mueller-Stӧfen — March 7
F*** Marry Kill, directed by Laura Murphy — March 7
To read...
Broken Country, by Clare Leslie Hall — March 4
Dream Count, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — March 4
Firstborn Girls, by Bernice L. McFadden — March 4
Guatemalan Rhapsody, by Jared Lemus — March 4
How to Feed the World, by Vaclav Smil — March 4
To listen...
Mayhem, by Lady Gaga — March 7
Blood On the Silver Screen, by SASAMI — March 7
Curious Ruminant, by Jethro Tull — March 7
Foxes In The Snow, by Jason Isbell — March 7
Ruby, by Jennie — March 7
Live events...
Maylis de Kerangal in conversation with Derek Schilling — March 5, 6 p.m. at Bird in Hand Coffee & Bookstore
- This event is free with registration.
Illuminating Homewood: Understanding the 19th-Century Lighting Revolution — March 6, 6–7 p.m. at Homewood Museum
- Tickets are free for Hopkins students. $5 tickets for J-Card holders and Friends of JHU Museums, and $7 tickets for general admission. Registration is required.
Peabody Chamber Orchestra — March 7, 12:30–1:30 p.m. at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington D.C.
- This event is free with registration, and it will be livestreamed.
Hot L Poets Series: Featuring Hayes Davis and Chris Nealon — March 9, 4–5:30 p.m. at Bird in Hand Coffee & Bookstore
- This event is free with registration.
