Monday, November 03, 2025 |
Where editors share their weekly musings on pop culture—and recommend what to watch, read, and listen to right now. This week, we discuss Rachel Sennott and Hedda. |
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| Erica Gonzales, deputy editor, culture: Now that spooky season is over, I'm ready to dive into a new comedy. So it's perfect timing that HBO just premiered I Love LA, created by everyone's favorite It girl, Rachel Sennott. Lauren, you moderated a conversation between Rachel and her co-star Jordan Firstman for our latest digital cover. What was that like? |
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| Lauren Puckett-Pope, culture writer: Well, I'm always intimidated when interviewing comedians because they are funny for a living, and I am funny…sometimes? But Rachel and Jordan have such an effortless rapport with each other that it was equally effortless to riff along with them. |
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Erica: I have FOMO. I can't believe her viral video of "the trailer for any movie set in L.A." was just six years ago, and look at her now! Do you have a favorite Rachel Sennott project? I think mine's Bottoms. I love her and Ayo Edebiri together.
Lauren: Same. But I am very curious to see audience reactions to I Love LA, if only because it's such a pleasure watching the cast together, including Josh Hutcherson, True Whitaker, Odessa A'zion, and Leighton Meester. It's a fascinating lineup. Plus, if you read Sennott and Firstman's interview, you'll learn all the celebrities they want to cast in a (potential) second season.
Erica: I'm personally crossing my fingers for a Charli XCX cameo. If you want to know more about I Love LA and other can't-miss news in pop culture, keep reading below.
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Hollywood can't resist a remake these days, so it's refreshing to see one that actually breathes significant new life into its source material. That's what Tessa Thompson and director Nia DaCosta did here with Hedda, a thrilling, biting take on Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler that imagines the titular leading lady as a Black bisexual woman. As DaCosta told Thompson in an interview for ELLE, the change was a natural choice rather than an attempt to make a statement. "I wasn't like, 'This story would be really interesting if she was Black.' I was like, 'She's going to be Black. So, now what?'" she explained. Come for the refreshed story; stay for Thompson's unmissable dramatic performance.—EG |
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We're big fans of Bottoms star Rachel Sennott around here (and we have been for a while!). So I'm pleased to inform you her new HBO series—her first as a solo creator—has her fingerprints on every frame. I Love LA, which Sennott has labeled her "Entourage for internet It girls," pays homage to the modern era of internet fame as Sennott's character, Maia, attempts to steer her frenemy Tallulah's (Odessa A'zion) growing influencer career. Episode 1 dropped last night, and I already can't wait for the next one.—LPP |
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Palaver by Bryan Washington |
Bryan Washington writes about queer relationships and parent-child tensions like he's working with a fine-toothed comb. The emotion he manages to convey in a single line of dialogue? Incredible. His latest novel, Palaver, a finalist for the National Book Award (NBA) for Fiction, is out this week, and it follows an unnamed "mother" and "son" wrestling with their estranged relationship when the mother unexpectedly visits the son in Tokyo, where he's purposefully put distance between himself and his family in Houston. This is a beautiful, beautiful book. Read it ahead of the NBA ceremony later this month!—LPP |
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WHAT YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO: |
You've probably never heard a song like this before. "Berghain"—yes, named after the famous Berlin club—is a mind-blowing exhibition of Rosalía's range. It combines big orchestral arrangements and operatic melodies with alternative pop sounds. She sings in German, Spanish, and English, and even collaborates with Björk and Yves Tumor. All these seemingly dissonant elements shouldn't work all together, but Rosalía somehow makes it sing, proving she's evolving way beyond her Flamenco roots. While you wait for her next album, Lux, on Friday, revisit her ELLE September cover story.—EG |
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As a Midwesterner myself (who has, yes, orchestrated an Instagram wedding photo rollout), I cackled at this line read from Firstman in I Love LA's pilot episode. His character, Charlie, is meant to be insulting influencer Tallulah's rollout for her Marc Jacobs Heaven campaign…but he ends up falling in love with her style like the rest of us. Hilarious.—LPP |
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