A few weeks ago, Law & Order: SVU ran an episode starring Danielle Macdonald as a woman who experiences a medical emergency while a doula is helping her with a birth. The story, from there, goes to a bunch of very unexpected places, and I didn't know it was based on anything real. I assume now that it must have been based at least in part on the story told in the CBC/BBC World Service podcast The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby, which has sort of a sensational title but tells a really heartbreaking story about a woman who exploited the care from a lot of people who care deeply about their work. I recommend it to you, with the caution that it's pretty upsetting. – Linda Homes
Great Performances: Twelfth Night premieres Friday on PBS and I'm waiting with bated breath. It's a recording of The Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park of my favorite Shakespearian comedy (thanks to She’s The Man and my own experience playing the not-so titular role, Sir Toby Belch, in high school). Twelfth Night follows Viola (played here by Lupita Nyong'o) who disguises herself as a man whom people can’t stop falling in love with (surprise, surprise). With an all-star cast including Sandra Oh and Peter Dinklage, I can't wait to be charmed by mistaken identity hijinks and big, broad comedy. – Producer Liz Metzger
The band Geese has taken over the hearts and minds of Brooklyn 20-somethings (and now the world) with their new album Getting Killed. Though often compared to Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen, the band’s lead singer Cameron Winter has a voice unlike any I’ve heard — which I find deeply refreshing in today’s music scene. Throw this album on, take a walk before the sun sets at 4:00 p.m. and transport yourself to a grimy, sweaty Williamsburg basement. – Producer Carly Rubin |