I posted my first story for Hello Giggles today, and it’s one that’s close to my heart in a lot of ways. Agent Carter is a TV show about a woman kicking ass in the 1940s, but it’s also, in its first season, a show about confronting grief. “What Agent Carter Gets Right About Grief” is a personal essay about television that finally presents something I’ve lived with for many years in a realistic way — and makes it the protagonist’s greatest journey.
The second season just premiered last night, but you can stream the first season right now. It’s only eight episodes, and even if you’re not familiar with Captain America, it stands well enough on its own that I can’t recommend it enough.
- Given the seeming avalanche of beloved celebrity deaths over the past week or so, everyone has been trying to understand both public and personal grief. Three very useful links:
- Despite the above, Agent Carter is also a fantastic, heart-clutchingly wonderful technicolor spy noir, with more than a little excellent comedy thrown in. It’s not the only genre show I’m keeping an eye on; thank goodness for io9‘s exhaustive list of what’s to come across the networks.
- If you’re looking for another exhaustive list of excellence, the 2016 National Magazine Award finalists were just announced, and there are links.
- This week saw a conversation in the publishing industry about the value or gatekeeping effects of workshops such as the prestigious six-week Clarion program for sci-fi and fantasy writers. It led to some good conversations about what “makes” a writer, but disability activists have also spoken out forcefully about the privilege baked into the structure of such events. Applicable throughout society, not just the SFF world.
- I loved this Huffington Post video about using shipping crates as portable, sustainable gardens, especially since I also just listened to 99% Invisible‘s “Reefer Madness” episode (it makes sense once you dive in, but trust me, Roman Mars is giggling too).
Esther Bergdahl 