A Summer Quarantine Binge Guide

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We all will have a lot of time to kill this summer as we continue to hunker down. To help keep you busy, the Index staff have compiled some of our favorite binge-worthy content to keep us all occupied and entertained as we continue to ride out the COVID storm…

“Jon Bois is the best storyteller currently alive. If you didn’t discover his incredible writing and his mind-blowing use of Google Earth from his first two magnum opuses, the mind-bending “17776” or the all-encompassing “The Bob Emergency”, now’s a great time to watch his third. “The History of the Seattle Mariners” is a 3-hour documentary YouTube series that turns baseball—the most boring sport—into a historical epic, full of grand characters, massive highs and extreme lows. I don’t even like sports, much less baseball, but Bois’ storytelling style—perfectly paced, full of details placed just where they need to be, packed with statistics that scope out to build images of real people—enraptures me without fail. And for sports fans, I’d bet it’s much more interesting than watching the Limers lose another marble race from the sidelines.” – Quint Iverson

“A lot of what I’ve been watching recently are light-hearted shows that don’t dwell on struggles too much because I have enough to worry about right now. One of my favorite shows is Schitt’s Creek which is about a rich family losing all of their money and having to adapt to living out in the country. It’s a little hard to get into at first, but by the latest season on Netflix, I was crying (in a good way). Another great show is Community, a comedy about a group of community students from young to old managing friendship and a shitty college. It’s pretty relieving to see people struggle with college more than you are, especially in this current situation. The Good Place is a comedy about a bunch of people who have died and gone to heaven, or the good place, and it has a lot of unexpected twists and turns that will keep you hooked throughout each season. All of these TV shows are available on Netflix, so check them out while you’re sitting around this summer with nothing to do.” – Grace Perrine

“Netflix’s Tiger King is a knock out docu-series. In terms of sheer obscurity, and ability to grab the viewer’s attention, it’s one of the best documentaries in recent years. Every episode ends with a plot twist that comes so far out of left field it makes it almost impossible not to binge the whole series in a day. Every character is outlandish and incredibly captivating in some pretty despicable ways. Recently, Netflix greenlit a follow up episode that’s composed of short interviews with some of the characters. It sheds an interesting light on how they feel they were portrayed in the documentary and is a very worthy follow up to a legendary series.” – Nic Stevens

BEASTARS is a neo-noir furry anime on Netflix. If that sounds wild to you, wait until you see the show. The first season spends the first nine of its 12 episodes building its world: one where anthropomorphic carnivorous animals have the ability to speak to herbivores, but the urge to eat them, too. The series focuses on a drama club shaken by the murder of one of its members. The show, to me (trust me when I say there are a lot of ways to interpret BEASTARS), is about the way members of society react to and fight against the boxes they’re placed in daily. Manga writer Paru Itagaki and adapting studio Orange manage to find a perfect blend between deep characters, moral questions and interesting worldbuilding that add up to my favorite final 90 minutes of any TV show when the train finally leaves the station. BEASTARS produces something interesting for everyone—even if they’re not interested in neo-noir, furries, anime, or Netflix—provided they’re willing to let their media challenge them more than usual.” – Quint Iverson

“I might be an outlier here, but it personally takes a lot for me to really get into a TV show enough to binge it. I’m more of a movie person myself, but I’ve found you can get the same binge experience with a good double feature of films. I’ve been turning to Letterboxd for suggestions lately. The film-focused social networking site features an abundance of themed lists of films to choose from. If you’re looking for a bit of an escape, turn to this “Comfort Movies” list, which includes such films as Lady Bird and Booksmart. Or if–like me–you still love to be held in a state of tension by your films, you could pull some picks from this “Anxiety-Inducing Cinema” list, where you’ll find such experiences as Sicario and Suspiria. No matter your taste, there’s an endless amount of films out there. So make some popcorn, get comfortable, and settle down for a good double (or triple) feature night.” – Brendan Swogger

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