Choices, choices: Binge the best shows of the year so far, sit on the sex chair, or listen to a controversial new album. Or! All of the above? |
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Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Netflix, Mike Judge/Disney, HBO (Simon Ridgway, Theo Whiteman), FX
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Vulture has updated its list of the best shows so far in 2026, and I’m shook. As a person who references 30 Rock in every other therapy session, how is it possible that I haven’t seen a single episode of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, which Kathryn VanArendonk describes as “the most Tina Fey–Robert Carlock show to exist since Girls5Eva”? I loved Orphan Black and yet I didn’t even know there was such a thing as Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, which Kathryn describes as both “Apple’s latest mom thriller” and “a showcase for Tatiana Maslany.” Sold! And I know I talked a big game about how excited I was to sink into the bubble bath of The Five Star Weekend, but somehow I have not yet done so — thank you, Jackson McHenry, for reminding me that it exists and for reassuring me that no one gets murdered. I also plan to watch Furious and Bait and Riot Women.
But if you take nothing else away from this list, please heed Jackson’s advice and catch up with Elsbeth, which (as you know) is my ultimate comfort watch. “Three seasons in, the Good Wife spinoff procedural holds down the fort for well-crafted, long-running, and always satisfying network television.” That sentence, to me, is basically the “saying all your dog’s favorite words on a fake phone call” meme.
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I requested a tester on a whim, giving it a 50-50 chance of addressing my problem. It has since become the only place I work, outside of reluctantly taking meetings from an office chair. It pains me to put sex and emails in the same sentence, but the same things that sex experts like about this tool also avail it to laptop laborers who can’t sit still. The foam is supportive, the sections are easy to move, and the cushions are angled to fit the human body better than any lumbar pillow I’ve tried. Per Liberator, the ramp will help you discover “adventurous positions you never thought possible,” which is true. I never thought I’d write an article while reclining like a Roman emperor, yet here I am.
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The Liberator also has a washable microfiber cover in case you want to use it for its intended pervy purposes. Or if you spill coffee on it. |
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Photo: Ariana Grande via YouTube |
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The discourse around Ariana Grande is frankly insane right now, so let’s focus on the music. Craig Jenkins finds much to admire about her eighth studio album, which he says “feels like it exists because Grande had a lot to say rather than just an advantageous stretch of months available to whisk into the studio with her team.” |
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“Petal” makes us linger in the disapproval for the star’s current body and the bustier ideal people point to when they express concern that she is suffering very publicly from an eating disorder. This play is about us, and it suggests that life on the business end of the public’s nonstop conjecture must feel the same year on year — like never getting free of unsolicited advice from strangers on how to look, dress, speak, and even eat. The “Petal” video is difficult to watch; it’s a swift study of everything people object to about her appearance now that asks us to take stock of her evolution and watch her read a suggestion that she “could lose a few lbs.” There’s an unspoken message of “Fuck off and die” in this song for people who believe they’ve diagnosed Grande with all sorts of medical and mental-health crises. It sharpens the album’s annoyances to a point, setting up shop right in the middle of the chilling summerlong discourse.
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No zinger for this one, I am really just hoping for the best for her. |
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Someday I will make that list of my favorite Elsbeth guest stars, ranked. |
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A weekly dispatch on the cultural discourse. |
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https://link.nymag.com/oc/60bf85689b7a136e4b473b24rwefg.8z1/51bc5276
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