Are you ok? Has the news worn you out? Did you watch the video, of the thing, at a red light? Like I did? Did it ruin your entire day, your whole week? 

Many, many years ago, I used to cover breaking news. I was on the ground reporting after a lot of shootings. And one thing I learned very quickly in that role is that at some point, you must always take a break. Whether you’re covering the terrible news or just ingesting it. If you are like me, this week your smartphone has been as much of a curse as a blessing. Everything inside it seems to be screaming louder than ever. And yet. It’s harder than ever to set it all down. 

I’d like to make a small offering to you, in the midst of all that. An hour of discussion that doesn’t involve any mention of the news or politics at all. This week, I brought on Anna Sale, host of the award-winning podcast Death, Sex & Money. It’s a show all about having hard conversations on topics we need to discuss more. But it’s not heavy-handed. “We do it with just a light touch of the scalpel,” Anna told me. “We want it to feel like a clubhouse where you can let your shoulders down and be like, ‘This is what I'm holding.” 

Anna and I took turns sharing our favorite pop culture — movies, TV, books, music — that deal with themes of death, sex, and money. Turns out, this was an incredibly fun exercise. It allowed me to talk about not just The Lion King, but also the collected works of Bonnie Raitt. 

Here are our picks:

Anna on death: Season 2 of the Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters, and A Christmas Carol
Anna on sex and love: the 1978 film An Unmarried Woman, and the 2025 film The Baltimorons, and the Aretha Franklin classic (You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman
Anna on money: the Ruman Alam novel Entitlement, and the Lucinda Williams song Passionate Kisses

Sam on death: The Lion King, specifically its song He Lives In You, and The Land Before Time
Sam on love and sex: Every single thing Bonnie Raitt has ever written
Sam on money: the 2021 film Hustlers. Yes, the one where JLo and Constance Wu play strippers fleecing rich businessmen at the height of the financial crisis. 

Actually, I’m not done yet with Hustlers! It is SO good, and says so much about the way capitalism works in America. My favorite line? JLo, near the end of the film: “Everybody’s hustling… This whole country is a strip club. You got people tossing the money, and you got people doing the dance.” 

I wish you well this weekend, and hope you get some time away from all the headlines.

— Sam

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