Love Notes

Fast Car, Predatory Headbands and more.

It’s been a minute since I’ve released a new Media, Darling entry, though not for lack of possible content. Moreover, the onslaught of shifting and developing stories has made it hard to pin down topics before they morph into something else.

In this post-Valentine’s Day haze, why not focus on what feels good? Please enjoy this lighthearted list of five recent moments that are the delectable desserts of my pop culture diet as of late.

Parvati’s Traitors Headbands

The true star of Traitors is unquestionably Parvati Shallow’s Predatory Headbands. No disrespect to the top-notch work being done by Phaedra, or Peter’s attempts at taking the Traitor’s down.

Every episode features additional hair accessories, and viewers have taken notice of her choices. Reddit users are on the hunt for the exact pieces she’s wearing, and I must admit, I may have added a boucle-and-pearl-adorned headband to my cart after the most recent episode.

Runner up: ALL of Alan Cumming’s looks from the show.

Tracy Chapman’s Triumphant Return

The opening notes to Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car have always inspired Pavlovian response in my tear ducts. It should be used with extreme caution in coffee shops and grocery stores if I’m expected to maintain my emotional integrity while running errands and existing in the general public.

Last year Gen Z and discovered the beauty of Fast Car through the vocals of Luke Combs. It was bittersweet to see the song enjoy a resurgence, but just made the cultural hole of Chapman’s absence all that more tangible. Chapman, notoriously private, had not performed on a public stage for nearly a decade, and before that, those performances were one-off Late Night sets.

But when the first few seconds of the simple but iconic song started during the most recent Grammy’s broadcast and the camera panned up to her familiar face, a flood of emotion washed over anyone with a shred of connection to the hopeless and hopeful ache baked into the chords and lyrics of that song.

Jodie Foster On Our Screens

Much like Tracy, in recent years Jodie Foster projects have been few and far between. But in the last few months, we’ve seen her coach and support Annette Benning’s Diana Nyad in Netflix’s Nyad and take on one of the lead roles in Issa Lopez’s turn at the True Detective series.

This is great news for me, a person who was so enraptured by Jodie’s performance in 1997’s Contact, that 11-year-old me rushed home to pen a heartfelt sequel to the Carl Sagan tale.

In True Detective: Night Country Foster is well-matched with relative newcomer Kali Reis, and while Foster’s Liz Danvers isn’t written as the most likable character, her portrayal is grounded and gritty and such a testament to the skill and lifelong commitment to the craft of acting that Foster exudes.

This Sunday concludes the mystery gripping the far north town of Ennis, Alaska and Jodie’s run on our screens outside of the upcoming Academy Awards, in which she is nominated in the Best Support Actress category.

Jon Stewart Behind The Daily Show Desk Again

I am the target age and ideal media diet to be snagged by the fishhook of Jon Stewart returning to the desk of The Daily Show (Mondays only, taking a cue from Rachel Maddow’s current on-air schedule).

After Trevor Noah’s departure and a summer and fall of guest hosts and correspondents filling in, it was announced that Stewart would be returning for this election cycle to offer his trademark comedic critique of the candidates run-up to Election 2024.

Now, did we absolutely need Jon Stewart in this current media landscape? No. There are countless political podcasts and more readily accessible content (The entire Crooked Media lineup, for starters). Additionally, Comedy Central powers-that-be fumbled the decision and lost longtime correspondent and worthy contender Roy Wood Jr., who removed himself from consideration after being pulled around for months. But for millennials of a certain ideology, Stewart is both nostalgic and trustworthy and a welcome sight.

His first show was a return to form, and as he addresses, free from some of the constraints his now canceled Apple TV+ show was subject to.

Next time: Less fawning, more deep dives. But for now, what are you loving?