Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

Happy Friday and Happy Women’s History Month, Wildcats! Over the past century, Hollywood has earned some well-warranted criticisms for its portrayals of women (among a host of other minority groups with lackluster representations, to put it incredibly lightly). While some films are outright sexist and misogynistic, others, whether intentional or not, center women’s stories around male characters and story arcs.

The Bechdel test, named after comic artist and writer Alison Bechdel, is a way to assess movies, on a pass-fail basis, for their bare-minimum portrayal of women. Passing the Bechdel test only has 3 rules: the film must feature (1) two named female characters (2) that talk with each other (3) about anything other than a man/men. These exchanges between female characters do not have to be long (or even positive).

With such a low-bar, it would seem nearly impossible to not pass the Bechdel test, and yet, movies, new and old, still manage to fail. In celebration of Women’s History Month, this weekend’s recs dive into the Bechdel test and shares some of my personal favorite Bechdel-passing content.

If you have 12 seconds…and need some humor in your day, watch the TikTok poking fun at how easy passing the Bechdel test is.

Photo by Mason Kimbarovsky on Unsplash

If you have 1 minute and 30 seconds…and want a surprising list of stereotypical “film bro” movies that pass the test (and why they pass), watch this TikTok.

If you have 1 minute and 45 seconds…and want a first-hand look at how silly the test can sometimes get, especially when filmmakers are purposely adding in dialogue simply to pass the test, watch this Rick and Morty clip.

If you have 12 minutes…and don’t know much about the Bechdel test, read this Backstage article. This article gives the basic rundown of the Bechdel Test and its limitations (and even explains some similar tests to score your favorite films on).

If you have 16 minutes…watch this video essay on why the Bechdel Test isn’t solving sexism in film.

If you have 1 hour and 38 minutes…and need to decompress from midterms with a good laugh, go see 80 for Brady in theaters. The film is a surprisingly funny film about a group of four women in their 80s (composed of some of the most iconic women in Hollywood, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Lily Tomlin), who embark on a journey to get tickets to the Super Bowl. Although it features some pretty heavy Tom-Brady-centric conversations, at its core, it is a heartwarming narrative about female friendships and growing older.

If you have 1 hour and 54 minutes…and like campy, colorful action flicks, watch Gunpowder Milkshake. Featuring actresses such as Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh, and Angela Bassett, Gunpowder Milkshake is a visually stunning, female-led film perfect for those who like ridiculous action.

Photo by cottonbro studio

Bonus: If you prefer more traditional action movies, watch Black Widow. Although it is an MCU film, Black Widow can act as a stand-alone film that centers the story of two sisters who set out to topple an empire of corrupt men in power.

If you have 2 hours and 5 minutes…and want to watch a biopic about one of the bravest women in American history, watch Harriet. A perfect bridge from Black History Month to Women’s History Month, as she was absolutely pivotal to both, this film follows Harriet Tubman’s fight for her freedom and the freedom of hundreds of other Black people in the South. Harriet boasts an amazing performance from Cynthia Erivo (and, as with every film she’s in, Janelle Monae) and beautiful cinematography.

Bonus: If historical action-dramas are your thing, watch The Woman King. Starring the astounding Viola Davis, this based-on-a-true-story film follows General Nanisca, leader of the Agojie, an all-female group of warriors in the West African kingdom of Dahomey.

If you have 2 hours and 8 minutes…and haven’t seen this absolute classic yet, watch A League of Their Own, available in Falvey’s DVD Collection. Set during World War II, this film follows a team of female baseball players as they set out to boost morale during the war through an American past time while combating sexism.

If you have 11 hours…and prefer books to movies (and love period pieces), read Little Women, available at Falvey. Written by Louisa May Alcott, this absolute coming-of-age classic follows the story of four sisters, Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth, living during the Civil War. Although the novel contains its fair share of romance, at its heart, the story is of the March sisters and their (sometimes very chaotic) love for each other.

Bonus: If you haven’t already seen it, watch Greta Gerwig’s Little Women adaptation, a film that centers complex (albeit white) female characters that feel real. (Plus, it features some outstanding women in Hollywood including Laura Dern, Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan, Eliza Scanlen, Meryl Streep, and Emma Watson).

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Library.

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

As most of us are aware, homelessness is a humanitarian crisis that has existed for decades (and centuries) in the U.S., and the incredibly high rent and real estate prices have not made things any easier. In addition to the economic and logistical hardships, people who experience homelessness can often be dehumanized in society. This weekend’s recs will share some pieces that shine light on the diverse stories and experiences of homeless people.

If you have 10 minutes…and want to debunk some of the common misconceptions about homeless people, read this NYU piece.

Photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash

If you have 15 minutes…and aren’t aware of how inefficient the system is, read this New York Times piece chronicling a college student’s struggle to find an apartment that would accept her Section 8 housing voucher.

If you have another 15 minutes…and want to learn about a potential solution to high housing prices, read this article about tiny homes, as an alternative to large, exorbitantly priced houses.

Bonus: if you want to learn about another solution to the housing crisis, check out this article that details the Marcy Lab School program spearheaded by Restoration, an organization with goals of aiding and developing low-income areas in New York.

If you have 20 minutes…and want to hear from homeless people, read this New York Times profile of 30 people who have experienced homelessness. This piece follows a Q&A format to share the diverse experiences of people without homes.

If you have 40 minutes…and want to watch a recent documentary on homelessness, watch Lead Me Home. This Netflix documentary shares the stories of homeless people living on the West Coast.

If you have 1 hour and 48 minutes…and are interested in the trials and tribulations of van-life, watch Nomadland. Directed by Chloe Zhao, this film follows the adventures of a 60-year-old woman who travels across America in a van after her life is upended by the 2008 recession.

Bonus: listen to the book the movie is based on, available as an audiobook through Falvey.

If you have 8 hours…and want to read one of the most popular books that shares the stories and shines humanity on homeless women, read Elliot Liebow’s Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women, available at Falvey.

If you have 9 hours and 5 minutes…and want to watch an emotional series that grapples with homelessness and domestic abuse, watch Maid on Netflix. This series, following young mother Alex who escapes an abusive boyfriend with her 3-year-old daughter Maddie, balances the heart-wrenching hardships that come from domestic abuse and homelessness with moments of finding joy in unsuspecting places.

Bonus: if you want to read the memoir that this series is based on, read Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive, available through Inter-Library Loan.

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library.

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

What makes you feel loved? Maybe it’s when your partner gives you their devoted attention. Maybe it’s when your best friend sends you a considerate text. Maybe it’s when your parent fills your gas tank up when it’s running low. The things that make you feel the most loved might point to your love language, a concept introduced by Dr. Gary Chapman that has become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon akin to MBTI types and astrology. The five love languages are: acts of service, physical touch, quality time, receiving gifts, and words of affirmation.

Love languages were originally theorized (and not empirically validated) in order to help couple’s better understand the needs of their partner, but they can apply to any type of relationship in your life. So, coming off the heels of a love-themed week, this weekend’s recs will focus on love languages.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

If you have 3 minutes…and haven’t heard of the potential 6th love language, watch this TikTok. It’s definitely an interesting contender.

If you have 7 minutes…and aren’t familiar with the 5 love languages and what they entail, read this Forbes Health article. This will give an explanation of each love language and some other key info.

If you have 10 minutes…and want more information on the love languages, including some criticisms, read this New York Times article.

If you have 20 minutes…and want to figure out what your love language is, take the quiz. The quiz will also rank your love languages, so you can gauge which might be most and least important to you. (For example, quality time is the most important to me, and receiving gifts the least important).

If you have 30 minutes…and enjoy some healthy skepticism in your life, watch this video essay on Youtube breaking down some of the biggest flaws in Dr. Chapman’s work (and manages to tie Shakespeare into it).

If you have 1 hour and 37 minutes…and want to watch something only tangentially related to love languages, watch 10 Things I Hate About You, available in Falvey’s DVD Collection. It is one of the only romance films that arguably manages to pull off the bet/dare trope (and also one of my favorite rom-coms of all time).

If you have 7 hours…and want to take a deeper dive into love languages, read Dr. Chapman’s book, also available through Inter-Library Loan.

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Library.

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

Whether it’s nuclear fallout, zombie outbreak, pandemic, creature mutation, alien invasion, or environmental decay, the apocalypse looms large in our cultural consciousness. Thus, it comes as no surprise that apocalyptic fiction is such an enduring and imaginative staple in media and literature. Most recently, the popular apocalyptic video game turned HBO series The Last of Us has been garnering praise from hardened TLOU fans and new audiences alike. Inspired by this recent resurgence, this weekend’s recs will dive into the apocalyptic fiction genre.

Photo by Daniel Lincoln on Unsplash

If you have you have 3 minutes and 20 seconds…and need an epic score to accompany your apocalyptic survivor fantasy, listen to this song.

If you have 12 minutes…and need some quick apocalypse survival tips, check out this New York Times article.

If you have 24 minutes and 25 seconds…and are a fan of the horror-comedy apocalyptic classic Shaun of the Dead, watch Dead Meat’s “Shaun of the Dead (2004) KILL COUNT.” Ever wonder just how many people died in your favorite scary movies? Dead Meat’s got you covered with meticulous counting and plenty of fun facts.

Bonus: If you haven’t already seen it, watch Shaun of the Dead, available in Falvey’s DVD Collection.

If you have 1 hour and 48 minutes…and are looking for an upbeat apocalypse movie, watch Love and Monsters, a film that follows Joel Dawson, played by Dylan O’Brien, as he travels across California to reunite with his pre-apocalypse girlfriend. An end-of-the-world movie perhaps suitable for the faint-of-heart (and not so much horror fans), this movie blends elements of rom-coms and coming-of-age movies with an apocalyptic twist: the world’s cold-blooded creatures have mutated into giant, grotesque monsters.

If you have 1 hour and 58 minutes…and are looking for a classic zombie apocalypse horror, watch Train to Busan. This South Korean zombie flick became an instant classic for horror fans, as it is relatively simple but effective.

Photo by cottonbro studio from Pexels

If you have 4 hours and 12 minutes…and haven’t already tuned in, watch the first four episodes of HBO’s newest series, The Last of Us, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. The series takes place in the U.S. 20 years after a fungal mutation turns people into zombies and follows grumpy dad Joel Miller as he is begrudgingly tasked with taking care of Ellie, a tenacious 14-year-old with a gift.

Bonus: if you have a free weekend and want to experience the emotional roller coaster for yourself, play (or watch a playthrough of) The Last of Us, the story-driven video game the series is based on. Warning: there will (obviously) be spoilers for the series, and it might emotionally crush you.

If you have 7 hours…and want to get well versed in apocalyptic fiction classics, read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. This novel depicts a father’s love and desperation for his son on the backdrop of nuclear holocaust and environmental ruin.

Bonus: check out this list of some of the best apocalyptic novels for more recs.

If you have 8 hours…and want to read (or re-read) one of the most iconic (and genuinely good) young adult dystopian novels of the 2010s, read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, available at Falvey. Although it’s easy to forget, The Hunger Games takes place in post-apocalyptic America, in the dystopian nation of Panem. It may be a nontraditional choice for apocalyptic fiction, but the series is well deserving of its acclaim. (And, the love triangle is pretty easily ignored, if that’s a trope you dislike).

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Library.

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

Wednesday marked the beginning of February, or Black History Month, a month dedicated to sharing and honoring the histories of Black Americans and the African diaspora. One such history is that of Black independent film in the United States.

Photo by Matt Moloney on Unsplash

Movies are a large and enduring cultural staple in the U.S., and Black filmmakers have been a vital yet underrepresented (and underappreciated) force in the film industry. In fact, Black independent film companies have been driving forces since the 1920s, a history that is often overshadowed by the (very white) studio system images of early Hollywood. This weekend’s recs will shed some light on some key moments in Black independent film history.

If you have 10 minutes…and want the sparknotes on Black independent film history, read this article.

If you have 15 minutes…and want to learn about an anti-Hollywood Black film movement from history, read Ntongela Masilela’s “The Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers,” the seventh chapter in Black American Cinema, available at Falvey. This 1970s movement dubbed the “L.A. Rebellion” was heavily inspired by Third Cinema and largely utilized black and white film.

Bonus: if you’re into indie and art-house cinema, watch Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep from the L.A. Rebellion movement, available in Falvey’s DVD Collection.

If you have 18 minutes…and are asking yourself what counts as a “Black film,” read Tommy L. Lott’s “A No-Theory Theory of Contemporary Black Cinema,” available online through Falvey. It brings up some thought-provoking dilemmas on how scholars conceptualize and study Black films.

If you have 30 minutes…and want to read about one of the earliest films to tackle racism and lynching, in response to the horrific Birth of a Nation, read Jane Gaines’s “Fire and Desire: Race, Melodrama, and Oscar Micheaux,” the third chapter in Black American Cinema, available at Falvey.

Bonus: if you want to check out one of the earliest Black independent feature-length films, watch Oscar Micheaux’s Within Our Gates, available through inter-library loan.

Photo from Pamela Ferrell on Wikimedia Commons

If you have 1 hour and 30 minutes…and enjoy the mockumentary style, watch Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman, available online through Falvey. The film follows Cheryl, who plays a version of herself, as she makes a documentary film trying to find the identity of a Black queer actress from the 1930s, dubbed “The Watermelon Woman.” This Black queer classic is genuinely enjoyable and, as a bonus, is even set and filmed in Philadelphia.

If you have 1 hour and 52 minutes…and are a fan of artsy period pieces, watch Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust. This film, the first film (ever) directed by a Black women to get a general theatrical release in the U.S. in 1991, dedicated by Dash to Black women in particular, tells the story of a Gullah family during the Great Migration who is faced with the choice to stay on Saint Helena Island, their familial home, or leave for mainland America. Daughters of the Dust also features non-Western storytelling techniques, Gullah culture and language (I would recommend subtitles to get the full experience), and absolutely gorgeous cinematography.

Bonus: If you’re a fan of one of the most iconic Black independent filmmakers of all time, Spike Lee, watch Do the Right Thing (a personal favorite of mine) and BlacKkKlansman, both available online through Falvey.

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Library. 

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

Today, Jan. 27, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day dedicated to remembering the appalling human rights atrocities of the Nazis and genocide against Jewish people during World War II. With Jewish hate, Holocaust denial, and antisemitic conspiracy theories gaining a recent (and celebrity) upsurgence, it is important to remember the Holocaust as a very, very real and horrifying historical event that still has impacts to this day. In dedication to Holocaust Remembrance Day, this weekend’s recs will help bring this topic into focus.

Photo by J. Amill Santiago on Unsplash

If you have 8 minutes…and get depressed by the horrific realities of the Holocaust, read this article from the New York Times. Although the Holocaust is never a light-hearted topic, this article profiles the actions of Adolfo Kaminsky, a forger who was able to save thousands of Jewish people living in France during World War II.

If you have 10 minutes…and want to learn more about antisemitism, read this article. It provides working definitions and examples of antisemitism and Holocaust denial and distortion.

If you have 12 minutes…and want to learn about some of the non-Jewish targets of the Holocaust and Nazi regime, read this article from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). Groups such as Romani people, gay people, disabled people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Slavic people, among others, were all targeted and persecuted to varying degrees. A late Ukrainian family friend of mine was actually a survivor of a Nazi work camp as a teenager before coming to the U.S.

If you have 14 minutes…and need to brush up on your Holocaust history (thank you, American education system), watch this Crash Course video. It recaps the details of what is widely considered to be the worst and most horrific genocide and human rights crisis in human history.

Photo by Ann Buht

If you have 15 minutes…and want to learn about the Roma Holocaust, read this article from USHMM. Romani people were horribly impacted by the Nazi regime and subject to racial genocide.

Bonus: check out this blog from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust explaining the debates surrounding commemorating the Roma Holocaust and how it has largely remained unrecognized.

If you have 30 minutes…and want to hear first-person accounts of the Holocaust, check out USHMM’s “Meet Holocaust Survivors” profiles. This page features dozens of profiles of Holocaust survivors and their stories of survival, loss, grief, horror, and hope.

If you have 2 hours and 7 minutes…and are a movie person (or a fan of Jessica Chastain), watch The Zookeeper’s Wife, a based-on-a-true-story film about a Polish woman who hid hundreds of Jewish people fleeing from the Nazis in her family’s zoo during World War II.

Bonus: check out this list of film recs from the Jewish Heritage Center of Western Canada for more.

If you have 6 hours…and want to read something that is both an autobiographical account of Holocaust survival and a practical self-help book, read Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy by Viktor E. Frankl, available at Falvey. This book provides a powerful lesson in finding meaning in your life and, on a personal note, is also one of my mom’s favorite books of all time.

If you have 10 hours…and want to read arguably the most iconic Holocaust autobiography, read The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank, available at Falvey.

Bonus: if you’re more of a movie person, watch The Diary of Anne Frank film, available online in 4-parts through Falvey.

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Library. 

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

As we embark into the new year, film awards season is upon us in full swing, a time of the year where the “best” movies and all the talented people who made them happen are publicly recognized. By now, several of the major award shows have aired, but one of the most highly anticipated and prolific award looms ahead, the Oscars. This weekend’s recs will help you get caught up on some of this year’s winners and upcoming nominees.

If you have 5 minutes…and think awards season is a bit over-hyped or kooky, read the first part of this New York Times opinion piece. It’s a short yet interesting read on how the Oscars are, in the author Frank Bruni’s own words, “insanity.”

Photo by Mirko Fabian on Unsplash

If you have 7 minutes…and want to scroll through a list of the Golden Globe awardees this year, check out this Vanity Fair article. (I’m personally elated that Angela Bassett was recognized for her emotional role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but as an MCU fan, I am a bit biased).

If you have 15 minutes…and are more interested in the celebrity fashion, check out this Elle slideshow of some of the looks from the 2023 Critics Choice Awards. My personal favorite looks came from Janelle Monáe, Jenny Slate, Kate Hudson, and Angela Bassett.

If you have 20 minutes…and are an avid IMDB-appreciator, check out this collection of the IMDB staff’s favorite films and series of 2022. It has some more underrated additions that will likely get overlooked for awards.

If you have 2 hours and 19 minutes…and are into endearingly and comedically corny sci-fi action adventure films (or just into Michelle Yeoh), watch Everything Everywhere All at Once. This movie is practically the darling of this award season (and, as I argue, rightfully so).

If you have 5 hours…and are a diehard fan of shows like The Office, Parks and Rec, and Brooklyn Nine Nine, watch the first season of Abbott Elementary. The show’s second season and its lead Quinta Brunson and supporting Tyler James Williams (yes, Chris) won Golden Globes and Critics Choice awards for this Philadelphia-set sitcom about the highs and lows of being an elementary school teacher, including incompetent administrators, crippling under-funding, and awkward yet well-meaning coworkers.

Bonus: if you were ever a fan of Shameless, check out Jeremy Allen White (yes, Lip Gallagher), who picked up the Male Actor in a Comedy or Musical award, in The Bear, a raunchy dramedy series set in Chicago.

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Library. 

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

Photo by Woubishet Z. Taffese on Unsplash

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is without a doubt the most remembered and revered Civil Rights activist in the United States. From his rise to prominence with his activism and work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to his horrific assassination, and with an entire day dedicated to his life, his modern acclaim is unsurprising.

Consequently, as Civil rights and racial justice have progressed (although the progress is sometimes very meager and disappointing), the radical nature of Dr. King has largely been replaced with a liberalized image, a man seeking moderate change. Yet, in the 1950s and 60s, Dr. King was anything but a liberal or moderate figure, he was directly challenging the U.S. government, a government that very much needed to be challenged. Many of the choices he made were not just moral, but strategic and trailblazing. In honor of MLK Day this upcoming Monday, this weekend’s recs will hopefully shine a slightly different light on Martin Luther King Jr. and his philosophy, politics, and activism.

If you have 12 minutes…and want to focus less on the past and more on the future, read this article in Counter Punch. Meyer, Jeffers, and Ragland place an emphasis on learning from organizers and activists of the past to combat racial hate and violence today, and they push back against the modern oppositional dichotomization of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

If you have 13 minutes…and need to brush up on your Civil Rights history, watch this Crash Course video on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC.

If you have 17 minutes…and want to read one of his most famous works, read “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” available at Falvey. This open letter was written by Dr. King after he was arrested during the nonviolent Birmingham protest campaign in 1963 and offers his guiding beliefs, arguments, and principles.

Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash

If you have 20 minutes…and only plan to read one thing from this list, read “MLK Now” by Brandon Terry, available online through Falvey. This piece is truly a standout work that revisits and offers a reconsideration of Dr. King and his work in today’s age and what we can and should learn from him.

If you have 26 minutes…and want to hear from Dr. King himself, watch this NBC interview with Dr. King. This interview really sheds light on Dr. King’s perspective on his Civil Rights work and where he saw the movement heading 11 months before his assassination.

If you have 30 minutes…and are interested in learning about King’s dedication to strategic nonviolence, read Karuna Mantena’s essay, “Showdown for Nonviolence: The Theory and Practice of Nonviolent Politics” by Karuna Mantena, available (in the 4th chapter of To Shape a New World) at Falvey.

If you have 2 hours and 8 minutes…and still haven’t seen it, watch Ava DuVernay’s Selma, available in Falvey’s DVD Collection. Although the film’s sole focus is not on Dr. King, it shows his efforts to get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed and puts his courage and the violence with which he and other Civil Rights activists were met into perspective.

If you have 11 hours…and want to read essays exploring Dr. King and his work from a variety of different perspectives, read Shelby and Terry’s To Shape a New World: Essays on the Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr, available in Falvey. This book has some great essays that look at King through diverse and interesting lenses.

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Library.

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

Photo by joshua herrera on Unsplash

Christmas is a little over a week away, and this means that Christmas specials will begin (if they already haven’t) filling the airtime of most cable channels and streaming recommendation lists. In the spirit of the season, or simply as a way to bring some merriness into the bleak week of finals, this weekend’s recs will share some Christmas specials for festive enthusiasts and Grinches alike.

If you have 4 minutes and 18 seconds…and need some (violent) humor in your day, watch this SNL “A Christmas Carol” sketch. If you’re a fan of old SNL, you’ll be happy to know it features prior cast members, Steve Martin and Martin Short.

If you have 22 minutes…and need some Michael Scott cringe (or hilarity), watch “Christmas Party” from The Office‘s 2nd season, available in Falvey’s DVD Collection. Although The Office has quite a few Christmas episodes, “Christmas Party” was the first and, arguably, one of the best.

If you have another 22 minutes…and look forward to another Belcher family Christmas each year, watch the most recent Bob’s Burgers holiday special, “The Plight Before Christmas.”

If you have 51 minutes…and are a fan of the family-friendly classics, watch The Year Without a Santa Claus. If you have cable, you will likely have ample opportunities to catch this old-timey Christmas special, and it is, in my opinion, one of the bests. (I mean, the Snow Miser and Heat Miser songs earn their iconic status).

If you have 1 hour and 28 minutes…and have a chaotic family that keeps the holidays interesting, watch Four Christmases. An ode to children of divorce and emotionally immature parental figures, this Reese Witherspoon/Vince Vaughn comedy might just make you feel a bit better (or at the very least, validated) about your Christmas-time family antics and woes.

If you have 1 hour and 45 minutes…and want to watch a slightly newer “classic,” check out the ultimate Jim Carey holiday film, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, available in Falvey’s DVD Collection. In all honesty, this is my favorite Christmas movie of all time, so I might be a bit biased when I say it is worth a watch, but…it’s worth a watch.

Photo by Samira Rahi on Unsplash

Bonus: this recommendation practically goes without saying, but watch Elf this holiday season, also available in Falvey’s DVD Collection.

If you have 2 hours and 7 minutes…and are tired of re-watching old Christmas films, watch Spirited. Released over Thanksgiving, this film updates Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with a comedic twist. Plus, as a bonus, it stars Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell.

Bonus: For all the MCU fans, Iron Man 3 and Hawkeye are both set around Christmas time and are perfect for those who want something only tangentially related to the holidays.

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Library.

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

With games having started Nov. 20, Qatar is currently hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where 32 of the best national soccer (or football) teams compete tournament-style for the title of champion and global recognition. (Typically, the tournament is held during the summer, but due to the extremely high temperatures it would reach in Qatar, the decision was made to hold it now, when the weather is more favorable to play). Today, with only 8 teams remaining (Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, England, France, Morocco, Netherlands, and Portugal), the Quarter-finals begin.

Unlike the U.S. Women’s Team, which currently holds the world record for national team with the most FIFA Women’s World Cup wins (with a whopping 4 wins, including the 2 most recent), the U.S. Men’s Team has never taken home the title. Last Saturday, the U.S. Men’s Team got knocked out by the Netherlands in the Round of 16, so if you were (somewhat naively) dreaming of rooting for the U.S., you’ll have to choose another team.

Still, even with the U.S. team not progressing to the Quarter-finals, watching the World Cup is truly a fun and worthwhile experience (though, as a former soccer kid, I might be a bit biased), especially if you have passionate company. This weekend’s recs will give you some of the background and highlights of the tournament so far and what to expect in the coming weeks, leading up to the ultimate game on Dec. 18.

Photo by Fauzan Saari on Unsplash

If you have 3 minutes and 22 seconds…and need the perfect game-day song, listen to “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” by Shakira. This song is not only an absolute bop, it was also the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

If you have 5 minutes…and want to find out which teams will be going head-to-head, check out the current bracket, courtesy of the New York Times. Today’s games will be Croatia v. Brazil at 10:00 a.m. and Netherlands v. Argentina at 2 p.m.

Bonus: if you’re not sure how to pronounce the name of the host country, Qatar, check out this article. (Spoiler: you’re definitely not the only one, as it is somewhat difficult for English-speakers with no experience speaking Semitic languages).

If you have 10 minutes…and want live updates, check out the 2022 FIFA page on the New York Times.

If you have 15 minutes…and are looking for a rundown on all the teams that made it to the tournament and which “groups” they were/are in, read this article from the New York Times.

If you have another 15 minutes…and don’t know about the human rights abuse controversy Qatar found itself in, read this NPR article. In preparing to host the World Cup, namely building stadiums and other important infrastructure, Qatar has exploited migrant workers and, although the numbers are disputed, directly lead to the deaths of (at least) 3 people.

If you have 38 minutes…and want to see all the goals scored during the Group Stage, watch this highlight reel from Fox Soccer. Many of the comments and sports commentators, cite Richarlison’s (Brazil) goal at 28:00 as being the most impressive, but I personally also liked Cho Gue-sung’s (South Korea) header at 34:50.

Bonus: if you want to see an interactive model of 3 of the most impressive goals, including Richarlison’s, as they happened, check out this New York Times article.

Photo by Matthieu Joannon on Unsplash

If you have 1 hour and 30 minutes…and want to see the action for yourself, tune into a game. For those who have cable, all World Cup matches will be broadcast on Fox Sports in English and Telemundo in Spanish. For those without cable, check out this article to find out how you can stream games.

If you have 8 hours…and want to learn about the U.S.’s history with soccer (and why it’s not as big as American football or basketball), read Gregory G. Reck and Bruce Allen Dick’s American Soccer: History, Culture, Class.

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Library.