You’re not imagining things. This is a new edition of the Daily Skimm hitting your inbox Friday afternoon. Every week at this time, we’ll send you our Weekend Non-Negotiables, a carefully skimmed list of what to watch, see, listen to, and do over the weekend. Think of it as a head start on the best part of the week. You’re welcome.
You worked hard enough this week. Let us plan your weekend…
1.
Claire Danes is back to doing what she does best: Yes, unleashing her epic cry face. But also, playing a volatile, self-destructive woman independently investigating a suspicious man. In Netflix’s The Beast in Me, Danes stars as Aggie, a famous author paralyzed by writer’s block since her son’s tragic death. That changes when Nile (Matthew Rhys) — a real estate mogul who may or may not have killed his wife — moves in next door. It came out Thursday, and you can watch (sorry, binge) all eight episodes now.
Call your girlfriend(s) — Robyn’s first solo single in seven years is here. “Dopamine” is the kind of synth-pop fever dream that hits just as hard in your headphones during a Target run as “Dancing on My Own” did blasting at your postgrad pregames. We needed this.
4.
Nxivm, the nightmarish sex cult led by real-life gnome Keith Raniere, has been documented to death. But the new podcast Allison After NXIVM offers something different: the story from Allison Mack herself. The Smallville actress turned cult lieutenant is publicly opening up for the first time since her prison release, and the first two episodes are already out. Is this a redemption arc? A calculated PR move? TBD, but we’re absolutely tuning in each week.
Happy (almost) weekend. Outside of work, I’m currently focused on two things: prepping for a trip to Paris I’m taking in December with my dad (all recommendations welcome), and planning Thanksgiving dinner for a crew with many different dietary needs and preferences. That basically looks like combing through my notes app for recipes I know I saved and yet can’t find — while brushing up on my French and thinking about how to get around the City of Light with an 87-year-old man who thinks he can still hop on a city bus. (No.) That said, here are my non-negotiables this weekend:
Buying a tote that looks good, travels well, and will help me blend in a bit in France. I’m leaning toward the medium Longchamp Le Pliage in navy, which I’ve purchased before. It zips, it’s packable, the straps are the perfect length, and it remains a staple for actual French women.
Rewatching Call My Agent!, the very funny Netflix show about a Parisian talent agency that gets me thinking in French. I enjoy the Devil Wears Prada-meets-The Office vibe, plus it was my introduction to Nicolas Maury, whose Hervé is one of my favorite assistant characters ever.
Packing Ian McEwan’s What We Can Know. It came out in September, but I don’t have a ton of time to read for pleasure. I plan to use the trip to dig into this new novel from one of my favorite authors. (Atonementis his most famous, but don’t sleep on Saturday. A tour de force.)
— Margaret Wheeler Johnson / SVP, Content / New York, NY
Skimm’d by: Jamie Feldman and Melissa Goldberg. Fact-checked by Jordan Mamone.
Photos by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic via Getty Images, Mike Marsland/WireImage via Getty Images, MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images, Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images, Knopf, Brand Partners
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