🚨BIG NEWS
I saw a bear. It was giant and mere feet away from me.
Science Found The Perfect Amount Of Time To Hang Out With Friends Down To The Minute 84 minutes is the ideal time. So basically one dinner, one drink, and leave before anyone starts showing vacation pictures.
Your Dog Knows When You’re Angry Or Sad Just By Looking At Your Face Which means my dog has been ignoring my mental state this whole time.
Stolen Picasso Found By Landlord Cleaning A Milwaukee Apartment Imagine stealing something this valuable and then forgetting it when you move. It’s giving ADHD.
Meet Jenni Liu, World’s Ugliest Dog 2026 She’s perfect.
📺 TV WORTH WATCHING
I like to think this annual slow down is designed to make everyone savor the last drops of summer.
Reacher (Prime)
I completely forgot to talk about Reacher last week. Reacher is back ready to break bones and make smart-ass comments. This time, Reacher, the giant former military policed turned vigilante crime-solver, is riding on a New York City subway when he notices a rider giving off signs that they might be a suicide bomber. This leads Reacher on the search to uncover what he’s stumbled upon and how to stop it.
Outer Banks (Netflix)
I’m sad this is the final season of this treasure-hunting teenage drama. I will miss The Pogues. If you want to see the show that birthed some of today’s brightest stars like Madeline Cline and Drew Starkey this is where to see them effervescent and seeking revenge.
Conan O’Brien Must Go (HBOMax)
The funniest, and most joyful travel show goes to India, Amsterdam, the Philippines and Morocco.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FXX/Hulu)
Still committed to making its characters irredeemable and unlikable 18 seasons in.
Blood Sacrifice (Netflix)
A new crime thriller from the guy behind Hijack and Lupin where a father-son cop duo take on a serial killer of fellow cops.
Love is Blind UK (Netflix)
Same pods, better accents.
Double Lives of Suburban Wives (HBOMax)
Follows the Missouri teachers who were fired for being on OnlyFans and their “group of friends.” But don’t go into this expecting Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. This looks and feels very TLC, the home of Sister Wives, 90 Day Fiance, and MILF Manor.
Lion (Disney+)
Imagine if The Lion King was a doc. You follow a lion cub through his adventures and life threatening challenges until he becomes a leader.
STILL WATCHING
Furious (Hulu)
Steve Way, the actor who plays Alden, the secret weapon of the show, is on the cover of Esquire
The Shards (FX/Hulu)
FX put out a guide to being hot and rich
Monsters of God (Netflix)
Last week I mentioned that Slash from Guns and Roses is an EP and provided the music to this Tiger Chimp/Chimp Crazy treatment of the guys who brought reptiles to the US. Well, I’ve confirmed that Slash is indeed a reptile guy. They’ve just named a new snake species after him.
RHOC
I am shocked those women made it out of the Grand Canyon in one piece. They can barely walk straight on flat land.
FINALES
Married At First Sight
I’m glad Devin put us all out of our misery. I can’t wait until this reunion.
RHOA Reunion
I think Cynthia Bailey’s EDM song “Peach Life” might be the best song to come out of the housewives universe. Don’t be Tardy for the Party, and Money Can’t Buy You Class are iconic parts of the lore but just musically I think this song is the best of it’s genre.
WATCH PLAN
Sunday Novak, Lanterns, Lioness
Monday RHOA reunion, RHUGT
Tuesday Below Deck Med
Wednesday Reacher, Ted Lasso
Thursday 1000th episode of Big Brother, MAFS finale
Friday RHOC
🎬 MOVIES WORTH WATCHING
Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter (Amazon)
A sports doc that’s really about unresolved trauma. If you have no idea who Novak Djokovic is: he’s a tennis superstar who grew up in a war zone, whose family sacrificed everything so he could go on to win 24 Grand Slam titles, the most in men’s history, and an Olympic gold medal. And yet, this man does not get the respect of other great tennis champions like Rafa and Federer. Yes, he’s got a chip on his shoulder. So would you if you were this good and no one ever gave you your flowers.
But what happens when you’ve conquered every title, when you’ve won every medal, but you’re still playing? And what does it mean to be truly free? I haven’t stopped thinking about what it means to strive for something you want desperately and how that wanting can become its own kind of prison. Whether anger is fuel for greatness or just a cage you built for yourself. What it actually means to heal. You don’t have to be an athlete to ask yourself what you’re living for, what you’re trying to prove, and when is enough enough.
📚 BOOKS WORTH READING
NYTimes 50 Best Thrillers and the 21st Century
I’m using the end of summer as an excuse to go through the New York Times mystery and thriller recommendations. There is something specifically satisfying about reading a murder mystery while lying somewhere pleasant.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was #1. I love this book. If you haven’t read it, do yourself a favor. The twist is still one of the greatest.
🎧 PODCASTS WORTH HEARING
Murder at the Vicarage (Audible)
In honor of the NY Times list, an audio mystery. Toni Collette plays Miss Marple opposite Kit Harrington in this Agatha Christie classic.
Wirecutter: Do eye creams actually work? It made me buy this $13 Cerave cream with peptides, niacinamide and caffeine. Research!
💻 RABBIT HOLES
NEW SLANG: Polyester means you’re low quality or generic.
The New York Times looked into the most used emojis by age. 😭 is now the now the most popular emoji, and the most used by teenagers. Gen Alpha likes 🗿and 🥀. Gen X is still on 😂, millennials like 🤣. I hope they do another SNL Weekend Update bit about emojis.
INTERNET STAR OF THE WEEK: Chanty Beluga
If you somehow missed this meteoric rise thai week, Chanty Beluga is a character created by comedian Courtney O’Donnell. The set-up is always some version of “A woman named Chanty Beluga…” followed by an activity like ordering coffee, or getting served court papers. And that’s kind of it. But if you’ve ever doubted the power of TikTok please take this as proof that you can literally become famous and get brand deals, opportunities, and a whole new life in one week. So if you have an idea. Do it. What do you have to lose?
TRENDS
Postcard from Portofino, a 1992 Vogue spread went massively viral this week after being posted on an X account lamenting the death of good magazine editorials. This spread was a Hall of Fame of talent with Arthur Elgort as the photographer, CCD as the stylist, Oribe on hair, and Sonia Kashuk doing make-up. If you want more of this vibe The Talented Mr. Ripley is streaming on Paramount+ and Hulu.
Kinda chic to…This is everywhere. There’s not a brand or influencer who hasn’t posted this trend to the point where it’s no longer chic to post about what’s kinda chic.
Corgis are leading hiking trails
Jason Kelce Wants Your Pee to cool down data centers and save water.
ARTICLES
Warrior Cut After years of the Tik Tok swoosh and broccoli cut we have a new trendy men’s haircut. Think Austin Butler via Tyler Durden from Fight Club
The Wayward Forehead Curl Is Also Having A Moment A particular weakness of mine
Meet the Basement Girls Who Secretly Run Sorority Rush Weeks
He Spent 65k on a Matchmaker There was a lot of talk about this article this week. I hope the exposure finds him love.
Creator U: Inside the Influencer Frat Countdown to the announcement of this reality show. Someone tell Amazon that this would be a great companion for their delightful young adult content.
TO DO
LinkedIn Cringe Bot 3000 Transform any topic into cringeworthy LinkedIn “thought leadership”
Take on a robot at Badminton I wish our malls were as fun as the ones in China.
👠 THINGS WORTH BUYING
J.Crew Vintage J.Crew dropped over 200 vintage J Crew items for men and women including barn jackets, anoraks, rugby shorts and other faves.
Devil Wears Prada 2 costumes are being auctioned for charity on 9/1. Lots of designer goods including those controversial red Valentino rock studs from the trailer.
Forme Arch Booster Socks My posture is getting worse by the day, and I have a tech neck that I complain about constantly now. My friend, Brooke, told me about Forme and I got some of these arch booster socks. How do socks help your posture you ask? There’s compression around your arch, so they stabilize your foot and align your ankle, which then aligns your leg and so on, all the way up. It’s only been a week and I can tell it’s working because my back feels better even after standing for hours and walking 20k steps a day. I just went back and got the Posture starter bundle.
These soft leather mules are a great color for fall and have a very Toteme-esque toe
People are buying diamonds on TikTok shop. You can also buy a pool. Truly a modern day QVC. If I was smart I’d change careers and start live selling figurines and perfume. I think I would be good at it.
Here’s a $50 lookalike for the Chloe jelly mules
🍔 FOOD WORTH EATING
It’s been brought to my attention that last week’s link to cacio e Pepe eggs went to a tik tok of a cute dog splashing in water. Here’s the actual link to delicious Cacio e Pepe eggs-this one adds extra egg whites for more protein.
Cheeseburger Salads Cheeseburger salad is having a moment online. Some with crispy potatoes, some without. A natural summer progression from the sweet potato/cottage cheese/ground beef/hot honey bowl.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream Ben & Jerry’s is bringing back what fans say is “the greatest flavor of all time”
Calafia Farms has a banana flavored creamer. Foam it and put it on top of your iced matcha. Delicious.
Cheetos and horror studio BlumHouse have partnered for “Flavor of Fear” sweet heat puffed Cheetos which have “a touch of fizz.” Sounds terrifying.
A Puff Cheetos hack I learned from Kate the Chief Stew on Below Deck: let them get a teeny bit stale.
Ragu pasta sauce x Chillhouse nails. I bought the red ones with pasta shapes for a future pasta themed dinner party.
✅ EXTREMELY HELPFUL TIP OF THE WEEK
🔚 AND FINALLY
When I RSVP and say I’m coming
👋 BEFORE YOU GO
Thank you for your patience on this Sunday edition, and your support. Every time you like or share Extremely Helpful with someone it helps more than you realize.
So if there was one thing in here that made you laugh, made you watch something, made you try something, send this to one person who would get it.
Now, tell me in the comments: How are you spending the last drops of summer? What are you doing, watching, reading, eating or scrolling?
Coming up: the best of the year so far, and a post-summer beauty reset from the person who wrote the literal book on it. We’re going to enter the fall as our best selves!
That bear looks like it’s a redhead. Have you watched The Dink? Mary Steenburgen is fantastic.