Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

When we show up, we win.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Petty moves from a petty man.

We are learning that “working class” means “white” for way too many people.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

The National Guard is not Batman.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

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Medium Cool – National Poetry Month

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Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in. We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered. We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

Did you know that it’s National Poetry Month?

Well, it is, so tonight let’s talk poetry!

Poetry month even has its own poster!

I’ll bet you don’t know that April 30 is Poem In Your Pocket Day this year?  Check it out if poetry floats your boat.

Oh, growing up at my house, we did have to memorize one poem:

The Goops they lick their fingers,
The Goops they lick their knives.
They spill their soup on the tablecloth,
Oh, they lead disgusting lives!

They talk while eating,
And loud and fast they chew,
And that is why I’m glad that
I am not a Goop–
Are you?

Any violation of manners at the dinner table was met with a recitation of that poem.

📚 🎶

I am really not much of a poetry person, though the occasional poem will really grab me.  But most of my favorite musical artists are surely poets; that’s apparently as close as I get to having the poetry gene, but who can really complain about poetry set to music?

So poems as well as music/poetry are both totally fair game for this post!

 

In case you are new to Medium Cool, these are not open threads.

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Medium Cool – If Only We Knew Then What We Know Now

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Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in. We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered. We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

IF WE ONLY KNEW THEN WHAT WE KNOW NOW.

I’ve been thinking about that recently.  It’s true in life.  True in politics.  True in relationships.  True in every aspect of life.

Tonight let’s talk about how roles and characters and plots and scenes and shows play differently than they might have before.  Movies and shows that couldn’t or wouldn’t be made now.  Scenes that play totally differently, now that we know more about the reality of how American police actually work.

Can edgy shows still be made, or is even Hollywood being cautious and bowing down to the current backlash?

I tried to watch the current Law and Order.  I’m not sure they’ve gotten the memo because the current lead prosector is a self-righteous pompous ass that I would love to punch in the face (if that’s how I rolled).

Could the show 24 be made now?  Would anyone watch it?   Would anyone want to watch it?  What about Scandal?

Could there be a Will and Grace now, only with a character who is trans?

Male actors are allowed to age – see Shrinking with Harrison Ford – you can still see the gleam in his eye and he’s still cute and charming – would people watch a show with a female character like that?

I see that Timothy Hutton is in the latest season of The Night Agent – it wasn’t that long ago that he was bumped from Leverage – does that mean that it’s cool for men to use their power over women again?

This is kind of rambling for me, but I’ll leave it as it is.   With all this rambling, I guess if you have even a remotely thoughtful thing to say that’s related to popular culture, that’s fair game in this thread.

 

In case you are new to Medium Cool, these are not open threads.

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Medium Cool – Memorable Trips, Vacations, Spring Breaks!

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Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in. We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered. We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

On The Road - way2blue - Rarotonga, Cook Islands [1 of 2] 1
Photo by way2blue

Spring is springing up all around us, so I thought it might be fun for us to share our stories about spring breaks, summer vacations, and other memorable trips you’ve taken.

For me, all the best trips involve water!  (But I’m sure that comes as no surprise.)

In case you are new to Medium Cool, these are not open threads.

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Medium Cool – What Did I Miss?

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Medium Cool with BGinCHI – Backstories + Wind of Change

Tonight, let’s talk backstories.

I found this post in my drafts and as far as I can tell, I never posted it.  Even if I did, this post is from 5 years ago, so it should still be a fun conversation.

I can’t be the only person who starts watching a show and could use a primer on who the characters are.  For instance, Ovation is now airing Death in Paradise, starting with Season 5.  I watched all of Season 5 and it looks kind of fun, but I have no idea whether these characters have been on the show since day 1, or if we get a new head detective now and again.  I would love to know the backstory for the detective.  All I know so far is that he’s kind of an odd bird, and awkward, and he always solves the crime.  How big is this island in paradise?  With someone dying every week for more than 5 years, is there anyone left on the island?

And Doctor Who!  I started watching for the first time with the new doctor, and I really like it, but there’s so much I don’t know.  Like, does the Christmas episode have anything to do with the rest of the show, or are they stand-alone stories snatched out of time? I tried to start watching this year’s Christmas episode and I was totally lost before it had barely begun.

What if you’re watching Endeavor, but you never watched Inspector Morse?  (My situation.)  What should we know about the characters or their relationships from the future?

I started watching Better Call Saul without having seen Breaking Bad.  I started watching The Flash, and Arrow and Marvel’s Agents of Shield, without ever having read a single comic book.  I know a lot of stuff flies right over my head, but they are still enjoyable.

Do you have any questions about any shows you are picking up midstream?  Are there some shows that a person just shouldn’t try to pick up midstream?  Are there any shows you like where a person can start anywhere, and it doesn’t matter?

Update: I just wrote this post a week ago, and when i watched Death in Paradise last night, I discovered that they had traded out the head detective, just like that, with no warning, in the middle of a season! Wow.  But even though he has fallen in love and has gone off to London for the woman he loves, I would still love to know what his backstory was.

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Medium Cool – Whatever Floats Your Boat

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Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in. We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered. We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

Taking a Break from the News 21
Photo of a riverboat by (1/12/26)

Let’s try something new tonight.

Tell us about anything culture-related that makes you happy.  And post a link to it, if you can.

But please don’t just list something or a bunch of somethings.  Talk to us about whatever it is., please.

That’s it!  Ready, set, go!

Any Oscar watchers?  Feel free to talk about that, too.  Personally, I’m usually only interested in the In Memoriam part.  Anyone know whether that’s usually at the end of the show?  Or partway through?  I hope it will be available later, also.

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TGIFriday Morning Open Thread

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BBC News – Lost Doctor Who and the Daleks episodes discovered in 'ramshackle' collection – BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article…

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— Andrew-Mark Thompson (@andydrewz.bsky.social) March 12, 2026 at 8:16 PM

******

Republicans approach the midterms with a doomed play for unity
www.semafor.com/article/03/1…

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— Semafor (@semafor.com) March 11, 2026 at 4:35 PM

… Most GOP lawmakers who gathered at President Donald Trump’s resort this week for their annual policy retreat said they doubted that the party could get another huge filibuster-proof bill to his desk, even as their leaders called for one. Several Republicans made clear that a new party-line bill would struggle to even get through the House.

And some of Speaker Mike Johnson’s members called for a different message ahead of the election, one that’s more focused on the economic goals Democrats are touting…

After Trump delivered a mixed message Monday night about when the escalating US-Israel war with Iran would end, the rest of the Republican retreat focused on putting an optimistic face forward. House GOP leaders don’t describe the midterms as lost, even though some of their members privately see a Democratic takeover as almost inevitable.

But maintaining that optimism through spring won’t be easy for the party’s leaders. Trump is expected to send Congress a request for more money for his war, while threatening to stop signing bills until Republicans pass a voter ID and citizenship law that faces serious hurdles. Republicans’ doubts about their ability to pass another megabill only adds to their problems.

Notably, even major players in last year’s huge tax-cut bill are joining in the skepticism. House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith of Missouri, whose tax-writing committee helped make the “big, beautiful bill” happen, isn’t backing off his past views of a follow-up.

“I would absolutely love a second reconciliation bill. I would love that, but I just don’t think it will ever happen,” Smith told reporters, citing the immense difficulty Hill Republicans had last year, with a bigger majority than they currently hold….

******

This might be the greatest split-screen ever broadcast.
They’ll play this in museums in future.
(🎥 LCI 🇫🇷)

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— News Eye (@newseye.bsky.social) March 12, 2026 at 11:11 AM

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Medium Cool – All the Women!

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Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in. We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered. We’re here every Sunday at 7 pm.

Medium Cool – All the Women!

In honor of International Women’s Day, let’s talk about women and culture.

Writers.  Directors.  Dancers.  Singers.  Producers.  Musicians.

Actors.  Stars.  Poets.  Cowgirls.  Performers.  First Ladies.  (and more)

Moms who taught us a lot about culture.  Female characters in books and movies.

Women who were ahead of their time.  Women who paved the way for other women.

And especially women who have inspired you!

In case you are new to Medium Cool, these are not open threads.

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