This stressful year shows no signs of stopping, with reasons to panic so myriad we're not even gonna get into them here. One thing's clear: we all need places to put our eyes and brains that distract us, soothe us, and ready us to engage with the scary stuff more effectively. To that end, here's the stuff filling our queues atPortland Monthly this week, fromEater to Edith Bouvier.

You may not feel like picking upCasteby Isabel Wilkerson. And yes, this book documents some of the worst of human behavior, so dont expect some sweet distraction from our current ills. But if you have to read one book this year, I posit this should be it.Castebrings together so much of what we already know about the spine-chilling history of racism in America and gives us a new framework with which to examine it. From Nazis taking their cues from Americas Jim Crow laws to MLKs welcome in India as one of our countrys Untouchables, Wilkerson brings global comparisons and perspective to our national shame, reshaping the story in a way that denies resignation.

Even if you dont agree with her reframing of our racist systems as a caste structure, there is power in her nomenclature: people are not white here, they are from the dominant caste.And her crisp academic argument does not avoid the deep, human cost of the systems she describes. There is intellectual rigor here, and there is deeply empathic witness. TheNew York Timess Dwight Garner describedCasteas a book that changes the weather inside a reader. Be a reader.Fiona McCann, senior editor at-large

Maybe this is cheating, but who cares? Hulu just dropped this seven-episode series, produced by food news siteEater, which begins in Portland and expands in scope to Casablanca and beyond. Beautiful food, gorgeous landscapes, and narration by Maya Rudolphwhat more could a girl ask for. The showkicks off with a day in the life of PoMo's own Karen Brooks, and it winds around the world to satisfy both our collective wanderlust and our yearning for a time when bars were not a potential death sentence. Top-shelf escapism.Conner Reed, arts & culture editor

To celebrate this very strange and relieving week of 2020, I give you something stranger: the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens (now streaming on HBO Max),which follows the lives of Jackie Kennedys aunt and sister, who have willingly quarantined themselves in their decaying mansion. Follow it up with Fred Armisen and Bill Haders version in Documentary Now!on Netflixseason 1, episode 1.Ainslee Dicken, editorial intern

Im only midway through the first season, but already the show has provided some compelling looks into how gender, age, and disability can very differently shape our experiences of the same world. And from a food writers perspective, Im also in awe of how Ramys mother churns out plates of koshary and baklava night after nightand how Ramy continues to snub her home cooking in favor of scrambled eggs and burgers at his friends diner.Katherine Chew Hamilton, food editor

Continue reading here:
What to Read, Watch, and Listen to This Week: Nov 12 - Portland Monthly