What are you reading? What are you watching?

If you like to relax with a book, movie or TV show, you know there are many long lists of recommendations out there. It can be hard to know what’s really worth your time.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks with a bookseller and a pop culture critic to hear what they’re reading and watching.

Guests:

• Neal Justin is the pop culture critic for the Minnesota Star Tribune. 

  Kristen Nilsen is a bookseller at Big Hill Books in Minneapolis and is a former children’s librarian. She is the co-host of the podcast, “Pop Culture Preservation Society”, and the author of the middle grade novel, “Worldwide Crush.” Her next book, “The Scott Fenwick Diaries” will be published in July 2025.  
  

  

Here’s a list of books, movies and shows from today’s conversation:

Books

• “Cher: The Memoir: Part One” by Cher

• “Big in Sweden” by Sally Franson

• “We’ll Prescribe You a Cat” by Syou Ishida

• “Love Letters to a Serial Killer” by Tasha Coryell

• “His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life” by Jonathan Alter

• “Connie: A Memoir” by Connie Chung

• “Fat Girls Hiking: An Inclusive Guide to Getting Outdoors at Any Size or Ability” by Summer Michaud-Skog

• “Out of Blue Comes Green” by M.E. Corey

• “The Book Eaters” by Sunyi Dean

• “Panic Proof: The New Holistic Solution to End Your Anxiety Forever” by Nicole Cain

• “Taste: My Life Through Food” by Stanley Tucci

• “On Freedom” and “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century” by Timothy Snyder

• “Coming Home” by Brittney Griner

Movies

• Wicked

• A Complete Unknown

• His Three Daughters

• Joker: Folie à Deux

• Conclave

Shows

• Allt för Sverige

• Bad Sisters

• Hacks

• Shogun

• Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy  

For more recommendations, check out: The 41 best books MPR News staff read in 2024

Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.     

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.