Read: “I Will Bear Witness” by Victor Klemperer is one of the most unsettling and essential books I have ever read about life under totalitarianism. Unlike histories written after the fact, Klemperer’s diaries were composed in real time by a German Jewish intellectual watching the Nazis close in, day by day. What makes the book extraordinary is its attention to the banal: the language of propaganda, the small humiliations, the slow normalization of cruelty. – Riley
Watch: “Doubt” directed by John Patrick Shanley. Set around a Bronx Catholic school in 1964, the film follows the mounting ideological and administrative conflict between the no-nonsense Sister Aloysius (played by Meryl Streep) and the charismatic Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in a battle for the soul of the school’s first and only black student. A little bit “Spotlight” and a little bit “Conclave”, the whole cast delivers stellar performances, including Viola Davis who earned an Oscar nomination for her mere 8-minutes of screen-time. – Ted
Watch: “Heated Rivalry.” Can you imagine if Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were secretly having a relationship? Well that’s the central premise of Crave’s hit show, except the lead characters/lovers are hockey stars. Texas native Connor Storrie does a superb Russian accent as Ilya Rosanov – save for when he’s giving his teammates a heated pep talk – while Hudson Williams is excellent as the bumbling and sensitive Shane Hollander. It’s the talk of the town, and for good reason. – Zac
