Oscar Wilde: "If a book isn't worth reading over and over again, it isn't worth reading at all"
A NYT op-ed piece that THB feels captures a lot of the questions surrounding the value of audiobooks
THB’s Annual Essay
Oh what a year 2025 was. The year IRL was filled with revenge and vengeance (not the books). Compassion was soooo 2020 to 2024. THB listened to a lot of his favorite books, and that was a good thing. THB also listened to a lot of recommendations from friends (who mostly read these books) and this turned out well.
THB also found that he wasn’t finishing near as many books as in past years. Mostly it was because THB felt:
he had read or listened to this type of book/topic before multiple times; THB believes that if a topic hasn’t been covered more recently than 25 years, it is okay to publish a similar book all over again
the book was was farcical
more likely targeted at young adults
He was getting so old that he just couldn’t see wasting his time on what he felt was non-authentic fiction (let alone non-fiction!)
For you faithful followers, the fact that THB has cut the annual list to just highly recommended audiobooks is a blessing, right? OOPS, there are over 50 Highly Recommended books, and that means about one a week.
RECO’s by Friends get double **
Non-fiction (24)
Peace Is A Shy Thing, the Life and Art of Tim O’briend, Alex Vernon (read by Shawn Compton): For those of you near the same age as THB, this book will make you relive the anguish of the American War in Viet Nam all over again, plus give everyone a terrific overview of O’Brien, author of one of the great books that came out of the war, The Things They Carried. THB has some experience with what an author’s life is like: revision, revision, revision, hard work, dedication, endless anxiety, and if you have success, living with the pressure of how to deliver another gem, over and over.
The Tragedy Of True Crime, Four Guilty Men and the Stories That Define Us**, John J. Lennon (read by Will Damon): THB believes this one of those books that shines because the narrator is terrific. Maybe some of you have read the book yourself and have something to say about the difference between listening and reading.
Committed**, Suzanne Scanlon (read by the author): A memoir about women, reading, and mental illness. THB has read many of these types of memoirs (as has Sanlon), and this one is a very thorough and intense discussion of how Scanolon spent several years in a NY state hospital just after moving to Manhattan to attend Barnard, and after a few years got Barnard and the State hospital to agree to let her re-enter college, taking one class on a provisional basis. Now, in her early 50s, she is a college professor blending literature and women studies as well as an author.
Reconstruction, America's Unfinished Revolution, 1867 - 1873, Eric Foner** (pub'd 1988, read by Norman Dietz): Did 600,000 Americans have to die in the bloodiest USA war ever to have things end up right back where they were before the war? Booth's bullet pretty much decided the issue. It is incomprehensible how inclusion and equity can still be major issues all these many years later…until you listen to this book. Inherent to human nature? All those lives lost, to be replaced by immense corruption, very little progress in civil rights, and an ever-lasting hatred of integration. White privilege will just not go away. Ever. To get a more complete view of the aftermath of the Civil War, consider listening to Team Of Rivals, The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Doris Kearns Goodwin (pub'd 2005, read by Richard Thomas). Warning: the two books combined equal about 50 hours of listening time.
Our Man, Richard Holbrooke and the end of the American Century**, George Packer (read by Joe Barrett, pub’d 2019): Told in Packer’s quirky style, Holbrooke stretched his unique personality as a State Department foreign service “fixer” from VietNam to Afghanistan, from the 1960s to 2010, dying,“in the saddle”, so-to-speak. How irritating can a guy be? Want to better understand US history in the recent past (i.e., overlapping most of THB’s life)? This is Your Book!
An Unfinished Love Story, a Personal History of the 1960s**, Doris Kearns Goodwin (read by the author and Bryan Cranston - THB skipped Cranston’s small parts, painful to listen to), : Richard (Dick) Goodwin and Kearns both had long writing careers that intertwined with the big names of of 60’s (e.g., JFK, LBJ, Gene McCarthy, Bobby, Jackie, etc.) and Dick was a packrat, collecting ephemera in large quantities. During the last 5+ years of Dick’s life, they decided to go through Dick’s 60’s boxes and then Doris crafted this book. The big takeaway: LBJ believed he had to continue the American War in VietNam or lose the votes in Congress to pass civil rights legislation (i.e., the Great Society). The legislation largely passed, the lack of full civil rights for minorities haunts the US to this day, and the country continues to wage needless wars.
Mother Mary Comes To Me, Arimdhati Roy (read by the author): A memoir, Roy and her brother were raised by their mother in Kerala, India. Mom was unusual: a strong-willed woman who divorced her drunk of a husband, moved to Kerala and established a successful Christian school, which was clearly her primary lifelong motivation, enough so that her kids called her Mrs. Roy for most of their lives. Roy did her undergraduate work in architecture, briefly became an actress, then then a screenwriter, followed by a successful career as a liberal political journalist. At the age of 37 (in 1997) she became a best selling author after her first book, The God Of Small Things, ended up selling over 6 million copies and winning the Booker Prize. Between the idea and the reality falls the shadow: she and her mother had a very difficult relationship!
Careless People, a Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism**, Sarah Wynn-Williams (read by the author): A highly-ranked ex-Facebook (now Meta) employee pulls the curtain back on the senior manager wizards that helped make Facebook another one of the mega-sized tech companies run by growth-at-all-costs types, steamrollers full speed ahead. Wynn-Williams was fired in 2016, so not a lot of current “fake” news to bring the public up-to-date except we know Mark Z and DJT have been keeping close company since the election (and helped DJT get elected in 2016).
Palo Alto, a History of California Capitalism, and the World**, Malcolm Harris (read by Patrick Harrison): Really long (23+ hours at 1.3x) and very well researched, styled in a POV that gives Herbert Hoover and Stanford University a lot of credit for animating capitalism's capturing of the world's economic growth and domination.
Where Tyranny Begins, the Justice Department, the FBI, and the War on Democracy**, David Rohde (read by Eric Jackson Martin): overwhelmed by DJT’s second term? Here’s a well documented view of the first term and the aftermath from the perspective of how unprepared the DOJ and FBI were in dealing with a guy like DJT. THB likes this quote from somewhere: it’s like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Or this one: he poisons the well and then gets you to drink the water. Or, if he accuses someone of something, he’s either done it himself or planning to do it. Or, go ahead with your gut instincts and then ask for forgiveness later…oops, not this one, DJT never asks for forgiveness.
Everything Is Tuberculosis, the History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection**, John Green (read by the author): 1.25 million people die every year from this slow growing disease that has plagued humans since the beginning of the species. With the appropriate treatment, that number can be dropped to almost no one dying. Of course, that comes with a cost, one that cannot be raised because this is a poor person’s disease, so it mostly occurs in poor countries, and remains mostly non-existent in the wealthier parts of most countries. And to think illnesses like measles used to be eliminated…not anymore, thanks to DJT and RFK Jr.
Dark Wire, the Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever**, Joseph Cox (read by Peter Ganim): Want to learn how expansive the illegal drug industry is? This is the tale of how the FBI created a start-up selling phones that “supposedly” encrypted information and then used the crooks’ own conversations to follow their activities. Did it make a dent in the illegal drug trade? Nope, because the criminals are not the ones creating the demand.
The Devil At His Elbow, Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty**, Valerie Bauerlein (read by Maggi-Med Reed): How many generations of lawyers does it take for a family to end in disgrace? Not that many are given the right set of conditions: entitlement, concentration of power, opioid abuse, inbreeding in a small community, and the ability to bully and cow the local citizens into submission.
Istanbul, Memoirs and the City, Orhabn Pamuk (read by John Lee, pub’d in English 2006): a bit younger than THB, this memoir by Panuk mirrors Andre Aciman’s Out Of Egypt, especially when Panuk is relating his experiences of wandering Istanbul and feeling the melancholy of his late teen years (Aciman was in Rome, their families were mirror images). There is another decent book, Istanbul, a Tale of Three Cities, relating in detail the history of Istanbul up to the point where Panuk’s starts.
Stop-Time, Frank Conroy (read by Robert Fass, pub’d 1967): the long-time endeared head of the Iowa Writers Workshop (1987 - 2005), this is an acclaimed memoir of Conroy’s unconventional early life, up to his entering Haverford College in 1953. Maybe factual, maybe not.
Letters**, Oliver Sacha (read by James Langton): Sachs’ life is told through these (edited) letters, spanning 50 years. He was a prolific correspondent, and though this audiobook consumes over 24 hours, it is somehow mesmerizing. THB can’t explain it, maybe it is because Sacks was a polymath, an insightful analyst and clinician, and (especially after he became famous for The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat) knew some of the most fascinating people in the second half of his life. Note: back-to-back with Lonesome Dove, these 2 audiobooks consumed well over a month of listening.
The Island At The Center Of The World, The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America, Russell Shorto, pub’d 2005, read by the author): everything we were taught in school about the beginning of the 13 colonies was bushwa, especially for the northern colonies. Shorto wrote a great book on Amsterdam and, when new material was found related to New Amsterdam (predecessor name for New York), there was an entirely different origin story waiting to be told.
The Bookseller Of Florence, the Story of the Manuscripts that Illuminated the Renaissance, Ross King (read by James Cameron Stewart, pub’d 2021): the story of how mass-produced production of books in the 1400s evolved is focussed on a Florentinian publisher and “fixer” with a high reputation. The history of books changed dramatically with the invention of the Gutenberg press mid-century, and Italy was at the hub of change. Perfect if you are planning a trip to Florence, you’ll be able to visit the site of the book store (spoiler alert, it is now a pizza parlor).
A Time Of Gifts, On Foot to Constantinople (Book 1), and Between The Woods And The Water, from the Hook of Holland to the Iron Gates (Book 2), Patrick Leigh Fermor (read by Crispin Redman, book 1 pub'd 1977, Book 2 pub’d 1986): A privileged 18 year old in some sort of tailspin decides to walk across Europe, creating an idiosyncratic picture of the pre-WW2 landscape. Fermor had great connections and made the most of them as he (inadvertently) documented the end of Europe’s aristocracy and borders.
The Free World, Art and Thought in the Cold World**, Louis (Lou-ee) Menand (read by David Colaci, pub’d 2022): a kind of greatest hits of the post WWII era. If you are a contemporary of THB then you will enjoy these vignettes of famous people (a few facts will stun you) and famous events.
Having And Being Had, Eilat Biss (read by Alex McKenna): a series of interconnected essays about Biss’ philosophy of life (feminist, capitalism, gifting, doing good work/labor), just up THB’s alley.
The Dry Season, A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex, Melissa Febos (read by the author): A hard to describe book. The author is telling a coming-of-age story, focused on age 30 to 36 (pretty old for a coming of age story). She’s a recovering heroin addict; a serial monogamist, mostly with women, many women; mostly challenged in keeping ex-lovers as friends; going through a spiritual awakening (not quite attaining a belief in a specific god); describing the inner turmoil of constantly churning to find relief from her needs and desires in partners; and a serial memoirist and writing teacher. Too much about herself? Too repetitive? Too much about writing about herself? A year without sex allows much room for other the pleasures of life. Do many lesbians find this analyzed life similar to their own?
The Fort Bragg Cartel, Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces**, Seth Harp (narrated by Dan John Miller): Since coming of age in the era of the American War in Viet Nam, THB has always thought that spending money on defense was a huge waste. Nothing has changed, except now the military is spreading death and destruction while also turning soldiers into druggies and drug runners. So sad. And, these highly trained soldiers are also killing each other at home now.
Mother Emanuel, Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charlotte Church, Kevin Sack (read by William DeMerit): the sub-title says it all, a summary of how race relations has held back the colonized by the colonizers. Very little focus on Dylan Roof, the man who showed up at the church one night ten years ago and killed 9 people attending an evening bible study group.
Fiction (27, almost all oldies)
Only Son**, Kevin Moffett (read by Patrick Lawlor): short, funny, a small college professor looks back at growing up raised by a single mom (his father died when he was seven) while in current time he is raising his own single son, culminating in a car trip father and son take up the coast from LA to San Francisco (with stops at places THB has stopped at himself). How is THB recommending a humorous book? THB does not have a sense of humor. This is one of those books where the narrator turns words on the page into audiobook magic.
Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (read by Lee Horsley, pub'd 1985): A terrific book, a terrific audiobook, and the mini-series was great also, and while it takes a long time to get through this mammoth novel, it is so well done you end up wishing it went on much longer. Two retired Texas Ranges are living in the barely populated town of Lonesome Dove, situated on the north side of the Rio Grande. A former Ranger tells them that Montana is a virgin territory that would make a great place to run a cattle ranch. So they agree to round up a herd of cattle, gather up some cowboys and horses, and traipse due north in search of the spot to plunk down.
The Mars Trilogy, Kim Stanley Robinson (each wonderfully read by Richard Ferrone, books pub’d in early 1990s): Red, Green and Blue Mars combined is comparable to the best of other masterful multi-book series - Mantel, Dunnett, O’Brian, Davies, McCarthy - and a few others THB can’t quite recall. Sic-fi set in the 2050s to the early 2250s, Mars is being colonized by a multi-national team of scientists The “first 100” have succeeded in making a cold, frozen planet inhabitable. However, they have brought all the issues found on Earth with them and revolution breaks out as the masses start arriving. Robinson has done a great job anticipating the future: wrist computers, AI, medical and scientific breakthroughs, and much more. THB couldn’t put them down.
The Ministry For The Future, Kim Stanley Robinson (read by a number of different people, pub’d 2020): Five years to listen to a book read recently doesn’t seem like a long enough gap. However, the relevancy is growing quickly over time, and this book is still one of THB’s all-time greats. Read it, listen to it, sleep with it on your nightstand, and weep as you make your way through what can best be called a cry for how to save the planet. THB does not see a Hollywood ending.
Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel (read by Kirsten Potter, pub’d 2014): preceded and predicted Covid, an extremely fast virus decimates the world population and the small number of survivors are thrown back 1000 years to a world without electricity, running water, or even an ability to grow food. THB thinks the streaming version is better than the book or audiobook.
Body & Soul, Frank Conroy (impressively read by Eric Jason Martin, pub’d 1993): Up there with a number of (similar) THB all-time greats: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Desert Solitaire, Cold Mountain, Dorothy Dunnett’s two 7 book cycles, Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy, etc. A mix of philosophy, science, historical resonance, and a compelling story. Lots of in-depth discussion of music as told through the coming-of-age story of a child prodigy. THB knows nothing of music and the intellectual constructs went right over his tuneless head. This ain’t no in-depth study of Dylan or Talking Heads, this is lyricless high-brow stuff.
The Correspondent**, Virginia Evans (read by a large cast): THB has long known that e-mail and text and anything where the words are written is basically tone-deaf, up to the reader to add the emotion, the emphasis, the essence, the meta-message. This audiobook is the prime example of reading vs. listening, much more like reading the script vs. watching the play. The plot: the main character, Sybil, is in her 70s and going blind. She’s a terrible mother and a shrew, unafraid to state her side of the story and ignorant of whatever the recipient might feel or think; she eschews using the phone. B Is For Bad Mother! However, in person she can be humorous and cheerful and generous. Ed. Note: If you only read the book, let me know your thoughts…thx, THB
Birds Without Wings, Louis de Bermiees (read by John Lee, pub'd 2004,): The story of a small village in Anatolia (now southwest Turkey) and in parallel the life of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the nation of Turkey. Much of the historical part is compressed and quite good, the fictional part needed editing and yet the rendering of the tearing of Muslim and Christian communities apart is very insightful (and repeated many times for many religions throughout history).
The Transit Of Venus**, Shirley Hazzard (read by Juliet Stevenson, pub’d in 1980, audiobook in 2024): two orphaned Aussie girls and their whining, woe-is-me older half-sister migrate from Australia to post-WW2 England. Not the usual story of class conflicts, more a tale of clever young women finding success and love and grief as the central themes. If you listen to the book, be sure to hear Hazzard read a chapter after the narrator finishes the novel.
Flashlight, Susan Choi (read by Eunice Wong): An unusual book in that the many characters are actually aggressively unlikable. Of course, most of them are related in some way to each other, thus THB pulls out a truism: every family has problems and every family’s problems are unique. In the major event (well over halfway) of the book, a father and his 10 year-old daughter are walking at night on a small Japanese beach in front of their rental house and don’t return. The daughter is found on the beach, barely alive and dad is never found. Without spoiling the mystery, this portion of the book is based on a true story (way more extensive than THB is relating here). In addition, much post WWII information about Japan, North and South Korea, China, and the US is helpful to the plot and THB can verify much of it is accurately rendered (to the best of his knowledge).
Maggie; Or, A Man And A Woman Walk Into A Bar**, Katie Yee (read by Emily Woo Zeller): A young woman takes a look back at the last year of her marriage and contracting breast cancer, without much remorse or self-pity, aided by her BFF.
My Education, Susan Choi (pub’d 2013, read by Tavia Gilbert): There were some dicey moments: long hot female sex scenes, an overlong sidebar of two drunks avoiding life, and much intrigue among the main characters (6? 7?), along with a Hollywood ending. Oh, an annoying narrator - until somehow THB got used to her whining voice (which ultimately made sense as the main character was a shining 20 year old when the book starts. This book reco came from author Melissa Febos (The Dry Season) and THB at times thought Choi was doing a fictional biography of Febos’ life.
Veronica**, Mary Gaitsskill (pub’d 2005, read by Kathe Mazur): set in the time of AIDS, a young naive girl goes off to Paris to become a fashion model. She makes friends and suffers indignities, ultimately returning to the US and a shaky future. She befriends an odd woman (Veronica) and nurtures her as the woman dies of AIDS, reunites with her family, and can’t seem to adjust to life. Not a Hollywood ending. On the NYT’s list of top 100 books of the first 25 years of the 21st C.
Matrix**, Lauren Groff (pub’d 2021, read by Adjioa Andoh): Set in the 12th C., a young woman is sent to run a failing convent and over the next 50 years turns the place into a powerhouse, a fortress, money-maker, and empowering the nuns who join into able, energized women. The characters are 100% women.
Sacred Hunger, Barry Unsworth (read by David Rintoul, pub’d in 1992, Booker Prize Winner): THB read this one 30+ years ago and this listening was nothing like he remembered. Now it is a mash-up of the Lord Of The Flies, man does not sit quietly in the room, and how the slave trade and colonization harms everyone. A British entrepreneur in the1770s tries to save himself from bankruptcy by building a ship to transport captives living in Africa to the Americas. His son then sets himself on a course to pay off his father’s debts and seek revenge for a non-slight “done” to him by his older, much kinder cousin.
Rising Sun, Michael Crichton (read by Maccleod Andrews, pub’d 1992): A thriller set in West LA (THB’s early years neighborhood), showing the strength and reach of Japanese business power in the 1980s as well as the essence of Japanese culture. 30+ years later it seemed biased and emphasizes the stereotypes of the times.
The Road, Cormac McCarthy (read by Tom Stechschute, pub’d 2006): Another of THB’s favorite authors tells an apocalyptic tale of a father and son (nameless) trying to outrun the death (cause unnamed) of the planet. Only a few things are left alive.
The Border Trilogy (All The Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities Of The Plains), Cormac McCarthy (read respectfully by Frank Muller, Richard Poe, and Frank Muller): Three stories from the late 1940s to the mid 1950s in chronological order with some characters reappearing, with the last of the cowboys making journeys into Mexico from Texas. There are a few stretches of overlong philosophical meanderings, overwhelmed by terrific tellings of adversarial situations. It helps to know a bit of Spanish, most of you will be able to get the gist even if you don’t understand Spanish. Note: these are three separate books and you don’t have to listen to all three, they each stand on their own.
Augustus, John Williams (read by Robin Field, pub’d 1972): THB must have read this one long ago, it was vaguely familiar. The life of Julius Caesar’s nephew and successor, Caesar Octavious, as told through letters of his contemporaries and a few journal entries. Not always easy to understand as the Roman names of the writer are long and sparingly used, the listener uses the context of the epistles to make sense of them. Williams wrote two other books: Butcher’s Crossing (recommended, the vanishing of the buffalo) and Stoner (highly recommended, a “campus” novel).
To The Lighthouse**, Virginia Woolf (read by Gabrielle de Cuir, pub'd in 1927, recorded 2023): THB had to start over 3 times to try and keep the characters straight (the main group was a family of 10 plus assorted house guests) and glad he was to keep listening as the book is an excellent exploration of the inner dialogue we all have coursing through our heads as life moves on.
Heartwood, Amity Gaige: a 42 year old woman goes missing in Maine while doing a long-range walk of the Appalachia Trail. One sub-plot THB thought particularly personal: a 76 year-old woman (just THB's age) living in a senior residence facility (THB and DB have been looking at these in the East Bay) provides the clue that leads to the Hollywood ending. Two other novels by Gaige on THB's highly recommended lists: Sea Wife (pub'd 2020) and Schroder (pub'd 2013).
The Compound**, Aisling Rawle (read by Lucy Boynton): clearly based on these “competition” reality shows. THB is a big fan of Survivor and has watched all 49 seasons. If you don’t watch this genre, THB doubts you will enjoy the book all that much.
The Andalucian Friend**, Alexander Soderberg (read by Gildart Jackson, pub’d 2013): A longish Scandinavian noir thriller with lots of interweaving characters. It starts with a nurse becoming involved with a patient in the hospital recovering from a hit-and-run pedestrian accident. Its basic plot is similar to Slow Horses, this time with a sinister leader of misfits.
In The Something Else Category (10)
Station Eleven, 10 episodes streaming on HBO/MAX. THB thinks the streaming version is better than the book or audiobook though it is highly probable that listening and reading the original enhanced the viewing. Or even more likely, the streaming version embedded the play within the play, with Hamlet streaming through the streaming version. Does Hamlet forgive Gertrude and Claudius? Can an unusually Hollywood ending make up for a destroyer playing Hamlet attaching landmines to 5 year olds and sending them to kill the guy running a peaceful enclave of survivors?
The Greatest Baseball Game Ever Played By a Single Player: “There are stars. There are rock stars. And then there’s whatever supernatural phenomenon that Shohei Otani is.” (quote from NYT article). Find clips of Game 4 of 2025 NLCS, or find the entire game. THB is on a first name basis with lots of baseball fans (many in their 60s, 70s and 80s) and all are in agreement: this was the best single game ever played by any of the 20,00+ players who have made it to the show. Right behind that statement: is Otani the GOAT? THB thinks careers have to be longer than Otani’s (now just over 1,000 games, and that doesn’t count the ones where he both hit and pitched in the same game) to be at the top of the all-time charts, others think he is already there.
Severance, Season 1, 2022, 9 episodes on Apple TV: if you make it even half-way through, this is a mind-crushing statement on the nature of working at a terminal for 8.5 hours each day, going home to your shitty little life while holding no memory of the work, then getting up the next day and doing it all over again. THB thought this was also a referendum on the Mormon Church, or maybe it is just the nature of any patriarchal cult that is still going strong after starting up in the 1860s.
Stevie Van Zandt, Disciple, HBO/MAX documentary on the many successful careers of a guy who started out playing rock and roll in New Jersey with Bruce Springsteen. Sort of the soundtrack of our lives: music, activism, TV, producer, singer (sounds just like the boss), humanist.
Grand Theft Auto presents Hamlet (streaming on MUBI): THB knows el zippo about these multi-player graphic video games. Two out of work Covid victims are looking for a project while shut down and decide to build a performance of Hamlet on-line. Let’s just say that when someone joins the game and wastes the other combatants, it can set a projected opening date back a little, or when a “company” member gets a job in IRL (in real life) and no longer has much free time to devote to memorizing soliloquies. Not to worry, the whole thing takes about 90 minutes.
Hamnet: The movie is based on a terrific book by Maggie O’Farrell. About 2 hours long, the last 20+ minutes is absolutely scintillating (well, of course THB thought so because he thinks Hamlet is the best play ever written).
Don’t Save Anything: Uncollected Essay, Articles, and Profiles, James Salter (read by Michael Kramer, pub’d various): Salter was a great writer and Kramer a great reader, and these short pieces are terrific, many of which were pub’d in magazines including the NY’er. He spent his 20s as a fighter pilot, seeing action in Korea. After that, he committed to writing, became an above average skier, mountain climber, scriptwriting and movie director.
Adolescence, 4 part drama streaming on Netflix: Episode 3 is the most powerful dramatic thing THB and DB have seen in a long time. A 13 year old boy is accused of killing a classmate; the story is told in chronological order with straightforward cinematography (long, continuous shots) and sometimes without music (very theatrical staging). Not for the faint of heart though the killing is not really shown.
The Pitt (season 1, streaming on HBO/Max): 15 gutwrenching episodes of one day in a Pittsburgh hospital’s emergency room. The star, Noah Wyle, was in the cast of ER oh those many years ago (starting in 1994; he holds the record for number of TV episodes playing a doctor). Season 2 is coming in January.
The Barkley Marathons, a Race That Eats Its Young: Documentary of the 2012 annual event where 40 contestants try and finish 100 miles of non-stop loops in the Tennessee hills. Pretty much nobody finishes, and the race organizer is an eccentric, chain smoking, blue eyed assassin.
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