With all of the ugliness online at the moment, I thought I would try and send out some positive vibes into the world by sharing some things that I have really been enjoying recently.

Podcasts:

• Presidential–This is a FANTASTIC podcast by the Washington Post and I absolutely love it. They cover one president each week, all leading up to the election next month. Lillian Cunningham (who runs the podcast) does great interviews with each episode. For the one on Abraham Lincoln, she interviewed Doris Kearns Goodwin, and if that doesn’t make you want to listen to it, I don’t know what will. I only found out about this a couple of weeks ago and I have already listened to 18 episodes (I just finished the USS Grant one). I can’t recommend it highly enough!
• The Pollsters–This is an awesome podcast that one Democratic pollster and one Republican pollster do together. Much of it is about the election (so, you know, fair warning), but they also cover other issues related to recent polls. If you haven’t been able to find a news or political podcast that you like, definitely give this one a try!

Movies:

• Pocahontas–I have been rewatching many of the Disney princess movies lately for a blog series I may or may not end up doing, and this is probably the one that has surprised me the most (at least so far). I hadn’t seen most of them since I was very young, and I don’t remember particularly loving Pocahontas. But watching it this time around, I was pleasantly surprised. I still think it doesn’t handle culture very well, but there’s a lot to appreciate about it. Pocahontas herself has some of the most admirable characteristics of any Disney princess. If you haven’t seen it in a while, you may be pleasantly surprised, too.
• Love and Friendship–This is an absolutely hilarious adaptation of Jane Austen’s Lady Susan. If you never got to see it when it came out earlier this year, I definitely recommend giving it a try. It is so funny and clever. In the last month or so, I have watched it probably four or five times and there are a few points in the movie that make me laugh out loud every single time. It definitely makes me want to read the book soon.

Books:

• Presence by Amy Cuddy–I won’t say a ton about this, because I may be writing more about it soon, but this post was inspired by the book.
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness–I wrote about this in my roundup of recent reads. It was an absolutely beautiful book and I am so glad I read it. The film adaptation of it is coming out shortly, so if you want to read the book first, you’ll want to get on that ASAP! (And you should, because it’s very quick and totally worthwhile!)

What have you been enjoying recently?