Weekly Rec: Met Opera Radio

Okay, so this is sort of a niche recommendation this week. I suppose many of you aren't interested in opera. (Though maybe try it? You might like it! I don't know!) If you ARE at all interested in trying opera AND have SiriusXM radio, I highly recommend Met Opera Radio, which I'd sort of forgotten about for a while until I recently started listening a lot. They broadcast live performances from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as well as a ton of archival performances, all the way back into the 1940s at least. This comes out to six or seven full operas a day, played from beginning to end, and in between they run an interesting assortment of shorter vocal pieces - arias, art songs, and the like. And their hosts are quite good at providing enough information at the beginning and at breaks so you have some idea what's going on in the story, without it being so much that it gets annoying or takes away from the music.

Plus, turning it on in the car in the morning makes me feel like I'm in Morse's Oxford, and I arrive at work very ready to solve some murders. (Which is, ah, not my job. Alas.)

Morning Coffee (6/2/17)

Time for our traditional happy Friday links!

Aaah, we have a Murder on the Orient Express trailer! It's so gorgeous!

Victoria & Abdul also looks very pretty! JUDI DENCH EVERYWHERE.

Oh good - Hottest Heads of State has addressed Emmanuel Macron.

British GQ has a very cute new picture of Will and Kate and kids, and William is doing a really nice job of speaking out about mental health and his mother's death.

!!! Rainbow Rowell to write Marvel's new Runaways series (I don't have any particular Runaways feelings but yay Rainbow!)

In other exciting superhero news: The Flash and Supergirl to get middle-grade novels

This week in things I wish were relevant to my life right now: The best afternoon teas in London

Take a Long Walk Through the British Countyside With “Slow Radio” on the BBC

Wow: Architects have identified the 10 most beautiful gas stations in the world

! Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Professional Cat Cuddler?

Morning Coffee (4/2/16)

"First, the Sanders campaign needs to stop feeding the right-wing disinformation machine. Engaging in innuendo suggesting, without evidence, that Clinton is corrupt is, at this point, basically campaigning on behalf of the RNC. If Sanders really believes, as he says, that it’s all-important to keep the White House out of Republican hands, he should stop all that – and tell his staff to stop it too.

Second, it’s time for Sanders to engage in some citizenship. The presidency isn’t the only office on the line; down-ballot races for the Senate and even the House are going to be crucial. Clinton has been raising money for other races; Sanders hasn’t, and is still being evasive on whether he will ever do so. Not acceptable."

Because: It’s Really Hard To Get Bernie Sanders 988 More Delegates

Donald Trump’s fragile machismo would make him a terrible president

The Shocking Sexualization Of Female Politicians In Porn

This is great: Authors Pen Letter of Support to NC Youth

Warning: This is an April Fools joke BUT IT IS CUTE AND FUNNY AND HARMLESS, which is the only kind I'll tolerate.

Hmm: A Loaded Gun: The Real Emily Dickinson

Nicole Cliffe's piece made me want to read Faye Resnick's book.

It will be interesting if one of the effects of Serial is a radio drama renaissance.

Alyssa Rosenberg transcribed her Batman v Superman notes and it's hilarious.

The Cold War: A Pop-Culture Timeline

Things I Have Mistaken For A Personality Trait Or Love Over The Years, Both In Others And In Myself, Usually To My Own Detriment

Morning Coffee (1/7/15)

Ooooh: Tomb of unknown queen discovered in Egypt

Here's What Earth Looked Like at the Start of the New Year

BBC Radio 4 is doing a Magna Carta series hosted by Melvyn Bragg!!

Saudi Arabia’s Succession Time Bomb

This Is The Video CNN Will Play When The World Ends

Sarah MacLean, the Romance Writer Who Will Surprise You Every Time

This Is The Mad Tea Party Of Disney-Themed Weddings

i know im not wearing any pants
im a GOD
like from OLYMPUS
you think i cant tell if ive got pants on me?
dont be stuck up

Morning Coffee (5/16/14)

First, some Jill Abramson links, because it's important:

Ken Auletta keeps having the best scoops.

I Sort of Hope We Find Out That Jill Abramson Was Robbing the Cash Register

Woman at the Top of the Masthead

Exclusive: New York Times Internal Report Painted Dire Digital Picture

And now your regularly scheduled happy Friday:

My friend Faythe has some good recommendations for YA novels with diversity.

Um: Morrissey invited to take guest role in BBC Radio 4's The Archers

If We Talked About Architecture Like We Talk About Writing

This early and accidental baseball picture is awesome.

I Just Ate Fruit for the First Time and It Kind of Sucked

I love reading about what people read. Here's Mallory Ortberg.

Observations From My Dad Upon Finally Watching The Devil Wears Prada Last Night

Morning Coffee (3/25/14)

Okay, this story is amazing: 'Flat Stanley' home after decade in soldier's wallet

Ooh, Damian Lewis is playing Machiavelli for BBC Radio 4.

Huh: Slate to Introduce a Membership Plan

Is There Hope for the Survivors of the Drug Wars?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is Irreplaceable

This interview with Anne Helen Peterson about leaving academia for BuzzFeed is fascinating.

A Censored History of Ladies in YA Fiction

Awesome: Sorting 19th Century British Novelists Into Hogwarts

Morning Coffee (12/2/13)

Make sure you check out today's Maria Callas Google doodle.

How the U.S. Media Would Cover Thanksgiving If It Were in Another Country

The BBC is making a Borgen radio spinoff!!!

Prince William sang with Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift. Heeee.

Here are the Times's 100 Notable Books of 2013. I've read . . . one so far. Oops. I do have another three on my Christmas list already . . .

To go along with the reverse one a few days ago: Americans Try to Place European Countries on a Map

Are You My Mother?

2013 Gift Guide for TV Lovers

Morning Coffee (10/16/13)

Yay: Amy Poehler and Tina Fey have signed on to host the Golden Globes through 2015.

Important: What This Cruel War Was Over

The BBC has commissioned a whole bunch of WWI programming for the centenary.

Sondheim is working on a new version of Company.

Fascinating: Inside Fujitsu's cloud-powered farm of the future

Here's a great story of a knitting miracle.

Is Harvey Milk Really the First LGBT Person to Get a Stamp? (No.)

30 Super Adorable Behind The Scenes Photos from the 'Harry Potter' Series

Morning Coffee (5/10/13)

Happy Friday! More of this than usual is TV-related, because it's a big TV news week. Sorry!

Foyle's War is coming back on September 15!!!!!!!!!!! I do not have enough exclamation points to express my feelings about this. (That link is to a press release that has a lot of other interesting PBS fall programming announcements, too.)

The CW picked up four new shows (including the one about sexy young Mary, Queen of Scots!) and NBC picked up four (here and here). Here are pictures from the NBC pickups.

In case you were also startled by your radio yesterday, yes, Sirius XM changed its lineup.

Yay: Neil Patrick Harris is hosting the Tonys again.

The Bletchley Circle was renewed! This was a really good postwar feminist crime drama - definitely worth a look.

Brittany villages blazing a trail in energy self-sufficiency

Why F. Scott Fitzgerald Is All Over the Dictionary

Two Lifelong Peas in a Pod