Vox Quick Hits

We’re going to make this goodbye short and sweet: Vox Quick Hits is ending.  All of us from the Vox Culture Desk and the team at The Goods want to thank you for following our work and tuning in to Tell Me More, Ask a Book Critic, The Best Money I Ever Spent and What to Watch. You can still keep up with us on vox.com. Vox Quick Hits was made by... Hosts: Constance Grady Meredith Haggerty Rebecca Jennings Alanna Okun Emily Stewart Emily VanDerWerff Alissa Wilkinson Producers: Sofi Lalonde and Schuyler Swenson Senior Producer: Taylor Maycan Engineers: Paul Robert Mounsey Editors: Julia Rubin and Jen Trolio Executive Producer: Liz Kelly Nelson Thanks so much for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Everything you should have watched this summer as recommended — for the final time — by Vox's film critic Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie) and critic at large Emily VanDerWerff (@emilyvdw). Thanks for listening to What to Watch. If you enjoyed the show, please rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Hosts: Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie) and Emily VanDerWerff (@emilyvdw) Producer: Taylor Maycan (@taylormaycan) Engineer: Melissa Pons (Hemlock Creek Productions) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writer Gray Chapman tells us why a dinner of oysters, caviar, and champagne the night before she gave birth was the best $298 she ever spent.  Link to essay: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22456529/best-money-birth-c-section-oysters-cocktail  Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.   Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. This episode was made by:  - Editor: Alanna Okun (@alanna) - Producer: Sofi LaLonde (@sofilalonde) - Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey Support Vox Quick Hits by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For our very last episode, a listener asked for books with disabled protagonists. Specifically, characters whose disability is not their defining trait. Ask a Book Critic will continue in text form, so don’t stop sending your requests! Check out vox.com/ask-a-book-critic. Thank you for listening!  Constance recommends:  The Cormoran Strike books by Robert Galbraith Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo The Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles   If you’re looking for a book recommendation, you can email constance.grady@vox.com — and be sure to use the subject line “Ask a Book Critic.”    Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.   Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Ask a Book Critic on Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Quick Hits by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writer Mae Rice goes to Starbucks every day. She tells us why she has no plans to stop. Link to essay: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/4/9/18296792/starbucks-habit-millennials-money  Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.   Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. This episode was made by:  Editor: Alanna Okun (@alanna) Producers: Sofi LaLonde (@sofilalonde) Engineer: Cristian Ayala Support Vox Quick Hits by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

HBO’s hit series The White Lotus takes the darkly comedic mind of creator Mike White and turns it loose on an elite resort in Hawaii. It’s a very funny, very engrossing look at the global mega-rich, with phenomenal performances up and down the cast list. And you can watch all six episodes right now. Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. What to Watch has new episodes every Friday. Support the show by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Episode by:  - Hosts: Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie) and Emily VanDerWerff (@emilyvdw) - Producer: Taylor Maycan (@taylormaycan) - Engineer: Melissa Pons (Hemlock Creek Productions) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A listener asks for help with getting out of a reading rut. A voracious reader as a child, they now need some help falling in love with reading again. Vox Book Critic Constance Grady recommends big, grab-you-by-the-throat books to help us all rediscover our love of reading. Plus, hear some of Constance’s conversation with Tamsyn Muir from their Vox Book Club Zoom event. Constance recommends: The Carry On series by Rainbow Rowell Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi The Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo Sorcery and Cecilia: Or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Caroline Stevermer and Patricia Wrede Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth of the Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir If you’re looking for a book recommendation, you can email constance.grady@vox.com –  Be sure to use the subject line “Ask a Book Critic.”    Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.   Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Ask a Book Critic on Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Quick Hits by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Three movies and a TV show perfect for back-to-school season.  Alissa’s picks: ‘Legally Blonde’  ‘Approaching the Elephant’ Emily’s picks:  ‘Community’  ‘To Have and To Be’ Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. What to Watch has new episodes every Friday. Support the show by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Episode by:  - Hosts: Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie) and Emily VanDerWerff (@emilyvdw) - Producer: Taylor Maycan (@taylormaycan) - Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writer Doree Shafrir explains why she and her husband spent $3,000 on dog training for their unruly yet deeply loved dog, Beau.  Link to essay: https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/7/9/20677946/doree-shafrir-dog-training-best-money Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.   Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. This episode was made by:  - Editor: Alanna Okun (@alanna) - Producers: Sofi LaLonde and Schuyler Swenson  - Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey Support Vox Quick Hits by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

CODA is a heartwarming coming-of-age story about a teen, her dreams, and her deaf family. In theaters now and streaming on Apple TV+. What to Watch has new episodes every Friday. Support the show by rating Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, or by making a financial contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts     Episode by:  Hosts: Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie) and Emily VanDerWerff (@emilyvdw) Producer: Taylor Maycan (@taylormaycan) Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A listener asked for books that are mysterious, intriguing, and may or may not involve a murder. More specifically, books like The Secret History. Vox book critic Constance Grady gives four recommendations this week, including an entire genre. Plus, hear part of last year’s Vox Book Club Zoom event about The Secret History with writer Nicole Cliffe. Constance recommends:  If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio The Likeness by Tana French Tam Lin by Pamela Dean Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo If you’re looking for a book recommendation, you can email constance.grady@vox.com — and be sure to use the subject line “Ask a Book Critic.”    Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.   Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Ask a Book Critic on Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Quick Hits by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summer vacation is top of mind here at What to Watch. Grab your flip flops, some popcorn (or perhaps a piña colada?) and pretend you're on holiday with one of these four fantastic films.  Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. What to Watch has new episodes every Friday. Support the show by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Episode by:  Hosts: Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie) and Emily VanDerWerff (@emilyvdw) Producer: Taylor Maycan (@taylormaycan) Engineer: Paul Mounsey  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writer Deepa Lakshmin explains how spending $29 on a concert ticket – for a show she didn’t even attend – taught her to love doing things alone. Link to essay: https://www.vox.com/2019/12/3/20991951/best-money-concert-ticket-solo-activities  Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.   Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. This episode was made by:  - Editor: Alanna Okun (@alanna) - Producers: Sofi LaLonde and Schuyler Swenson  - Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey Support Vox Quick Hits by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A swashbuckling tale of adventure that feels dragged out of the mists of time, the new A24 film stars Dev Patel and is based on one of the most famous and important works of English literature: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a 14th-century Arthurian tale penned in Middle English that has inspired centuries of study, contemplation, and scholarly bickering.  Vox film critic Alissa Wilkinson explains why you should spend time in Gawain’s world this weekend. The Green Knight is in select theaters starting July 30.  Read more about The Green Knight:  Alissa’s review The magic, sex, and violence of the 14th-century poem behind The Green Knight by Vox’s Constance Grady. Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. What to Watch has new episodes every Friday. Support the show by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Episode by:  Hosts: Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie) and Emily VanDerWerff (@emilyvdw) Producer: Taylor Maycan (@taylormaycan) Engineer: Paul Mounsey  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A caller asks for books that feel like The Wonder Years. Vox book critic Constance Grady recommends three books that are perfect for summer nostalgia. Plus, Constance discusses the “free narrative” of The Princess Bride in a clip from the Vox Book Club Zoom event. Constance recommends:  All Adults Here by Emma Straub Summer Sisters by Judy Blume The Princess Bride by William Goldman If you’re looking for a book recommendation, you can email constance.grady@vox.com — and be sure to use the subject line “Ask A Book Critic.”    Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.   Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of “Ask a Book Critic” on Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Quick Hits by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week: Sports! You had to know we were going to talk about sports, right? Yes, the long-overdue 2020 Tokyo Olympics are here. Get in the competitive spirit with these movies, TV shows, and episodes.  Fake It So Real  The Rookie  Nimrod Nation  Brockmire The Office - season 4, episodes 1 and 2  Battlestar Galactica - season 3, episode 9  Did you love something we recommended? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and tell us about it in a review on Apple Podcasts. Looking for a new show or movie? We can help! No request is too vague or too specific. We’ll pair you with something perfect. Contact taylor.maycan@voxmedia.com. We read every email!  Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. What to Watch has new episodes every Friday. Support the show by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Episode by:  Hosts: Alissa Wilkinson (@alissamarie) and Emily VanDerWerff (@emilyvdw) Producer: Taylor Maycan (@taylormaycan) Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It seems reasonable to assume that food packaging saying the contents are expired indicates inedible food. You can trust the labels on what you buy in the grocery store, can't you? Except America’s food label system isn’t standardized, and it has very little to do with food safety. In other words, you could be tossing eggs and milk and other goods that are perfectly fine to eat. Vox’s Alissa Wilkinson explains. Learn More:  Read Alissa’s story here. This episode of Tell Me More was made by Host: Emily Stewart (@emilystewartm) Producer: Sofi LaLonde (@sofilalonde) Engineer: Melissa Pons (Hemlock Creek Productions)  Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Or, even better, tell a friend!    What do you want to learn on Tell Me More? Send your requests and questions to tellmemore@voxmedia.com. We read every email!    Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Tell Me More by subscribing to Vox Quick Hits in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Quick Hits by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

K-pop is hugely popular worldwide, and boy band BTS’s “Dynamite” was virtually inescapable in 2020. And yet, the genre is hard to find on American radio. Despite K-pop’s takeoff online in the US and all over the globe, radio DJs still find most of it too risky to play for a Top 40 audience. Aja Romano, a culture writer at Vox, explains why. Learn more:  Read Aja’s story about K-pop and American radio here. While you’re at it, check out Aja’s BTS explainer.  And they made a K-pop playlist! Check it out on Spotify. Also, Explained has a Netflix episode on K-Pop!  This episode of Tell Me More was made by Host: Emily Stewart (@emilystewartm) Producer: Sofi LaLonde (@sofilalonde) Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Or, even better, tell a friend!    What do you want to learn on Tell Me More? Send your requests and questions to tellmemore@voxmedia.com. We read every email!    Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Tell Me More by subscribing to Vox Quick Hits in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Quick Hits by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just like teen getting famous on TikTok over night, products are now going viral on the platform. Vox’s in-house TikTok expert Rebecca Jennings explain how this phenomenon works, the relationship between influencers and brands, plus the inevitable pitfalls that come with a rapid rise to recognition. Learn More:  Read Rebecca’s story here.  This episode of Tell Me More was made by:  Hosts: Rebecca Jennings(@rebexxxxa) Meredith Haggerty (@manymanywords) Producer: Schuyler Swenson Engineer: Paul Mounsey Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Or, even better, tell a friend!  Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Tell Me More by subscribing to Vox Quick Hits in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Quick Hits by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Katherine Oung’s mother says “I love you” with plates of cut fruit. Katherine say it with cups of coffee. The Best Money I Ever Spent is a personal essay series from The Goods about the purchases that changed our lives in ways big and small. This episode was produced by Schuyler Swenson, edited by Alanna Okun and mixed by Paul Mounsey. You can read Katherine's essay here. Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Quick Hits ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Best Money I Ever Spent on Vox Quick Hits by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Quick Hits by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices