Film

Abby Singer Songwriter: Amazing how much engaging authenticity can be created with small handhelds and license to improvise. The song videos are the bee’s knees. No hipsters were emotionally injured during the making of this film but some might be injured from watching it.

Putney Swope: Oh, if only, if only, if only . . .

Books

Pudd’nhead Wilson, by Mark Twain: It takes a special kind of genius to write so entertainingly while so skillfully ripping class, racial, and gender prejudice to shreds.

Music

Is it just me or does winter and a failed election create a hankering for rousing music? On repeat: “Sing, Sing, Sing,” everything by the Blind Boys of Alabama, anything by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and “Take the Long Way Home,” by Supertramp.