Content Consumed: Madison Beer, fall lists, Pay Pigs, Carrie Bradshaw, and more

Published in

Content Consumed

6 min readSep 20, 2023

Hey, hey! Welcome to another edition of Content Consumed.
Today, we’re talking about:

🍂 Content Consumed’s fall playlist and fall watchlist
💌 Madison Beer’s album, more thoughts on GUTS, and Zack Bia
📣 I have no sympathy for Carrie Bradshaw
🇮🇪 Book review: Trouble the Living
🐷 Podcast rec: Pay Pigs

P.S. I’m seeing the Arctic Monkeys—finally, as I’ve been thinking about it for maybe 12 years now—on Sunday. Shaking!!!! Quaking!!! Puking, screaming!!! Will be back on Monday to gush.

Content Consumed’s fall watchlist and playlist

Let me start by saying these are both *incomplete* and totally open to suggestions!

First, the watchlist. On Content Consumed’s Cozy Fall Watchlist, you’ll find all your favorite fall television episodes and a handful of your favorite seasonal movies. Some of them, probably at least half, are Halloween-themed. My personal favorites:

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia — “Who Got Dee Pregnant?” (S6E7)
The Office — “Here Comes Treble” (S9E5)
New Girl—“Keaton” (S3E6)
Modern Family— “Halloween” (S2E6)
Knives Out
Coco

Second, the playlist. Let’s be real: right now, this is mostly a collection of trending autumnal TikTok songs. You know, “Oh Klahoma” and “Season of the Witch” and such. But it’s getting added to, I promise! Send all your suggestions. This is the kind of playlist I want to blast on my way to the pumpkin patch, if you’re looking for a specific vibe.

Madison Beer, GUTS, and Zack Bia

If you read last week’s edition, you’ll know that I’m a fan of Olivia Rodrigo’s new album GUTS. If you follow the Content Consumed Instagram, you’ll know I’m an even bigger fan a week later.

I’d like to think of Madison Beer’s sophomore album Silence Between Songs as something of a companion piece. Beer and Rodrigo have completely different sounds, but have many similarities in their personal lives. The #1 being my new enemy (move down the list, Joe Jonas): Zack Bia.

Zack Bia is, of course, trying to reclaim his image after both his exes released sophomore albums back-to-back with songs about him. But we, the people, know the truth about the DJ/producer/hype man/party boy. The now-27-year-old dated both girls when they were in their teens and he was in his twenties, and supposedly cheated on both of them repeatedly while riding their social status coattails.

I thought it was funny and sweet when Beer tweeted her support for Rodrigo’s “Vampire” for possibly boosting Beer’s song “Selfish”—both (likely, certainly) about Bia.

Silence Between Songs is beautiful, poetic, and heartbreaking. I’m not usually huge on ballads, but no one’s doing it with such fresh and original sound like Beer right now. Supremely underrated. “Reckless”, specifically, will always make me feel like my own heart’s being torn out of my chest. “Spinnin”, “17”, and “Envy the Leaves” are also fantastic.

I finished Sex and the City!

Yup, nearly two months later, I have watched (for the first time!) all six seasons of Sex and the City.

I get it now: the cultural impact of this show. It’s iconic. Filled with memorable characters, insane plotlines, and stupid men.

And I asked myself… which of these women do I identify with most? I’m a writer like Carrie but she makes the worst decisions of nearly any television character I’ve ever seen—hard to respect that. I’m independent like Miranda, but she can be so uptight. I can be a bit prissy but kindhearted like Charlotte, but she’s way too optimistic for me. I relate to Samantha’s ambition, but not really anything else. I think everyone’s storylines wrapped up well…

… except f*cking Carrie!!!

Were we supposed to feel bad for Carrie, in the last two episodes of the series? Where she waddles around Paris in various montages, having quit her job and moved across the pond to really dial in on all her daddy issues with the Russian? Then get “rescued” by Mr. Big?!

Ugh. It’s all so gross.

Mr. Big is gross, the Russian is gross, Jack Berger is gross, and even Aidan is gross. Carrie might have the worst taste in men of any female character I’ve ever seen on television. She constantly tosses away her friendships and career opportunities for these nasty men. I didn’t even feel bad for her when she got to the French party celebrating her and they were all gone! She deserves it! She stood them up in order to treat a sixty-something-year-old man like a baby! What the hell?!

My conclusion: Carrie Bradshaw is an idiot, Sex and the City is very fun and will be rewatched soon, and I need a break before the movies and And Just Like That.

Book review: Trouble The Living

I just read another book about the Troubles, a nice follow-up to Close to Home. This one, Trouble The Living, follows women’s issues more than men’s. This fictional novel also touches on themes of escape, family tragedy, generational trauma, migration, mistakes, and legacy. Big trigger warning for abortion here.

In Trouble the Living, we follow two storylines until they connect with each other at the end. One is Bríd, a one-time IRA volunteer deadset on escaping her past by moving to America. The other is Bernie, her daughter who is deeply affected by her mother’s trauma. They’re forced to finally return to the Emerald Isle when Bríd’s horrible father dies. At last, Bernie learns (nearly) all of her mother’s secrets while going through a personal hell of her own.

This novel is strongest in its deep analysis of the intensity of mother-daughter relationships—especially when mental illness and generational secrets are at the forefront. Bríd and Bernie’s relationship is exceptional and develops beautifully, which can be a challenge with multiple timelines and POVs.

This may sound idiotic… but I thought Bríd’s IRA involvement was pretty lightweight for how much it was magnified in the story. It was a case of “oh, I did something once, it might’ve had some domino effect, but it’s not something I could ever actually be held accountable for”. Therefore, the stakes didn’t seem as big as they could’ve been.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read more of my reviews on my Goodreads profile!

Podcast rec: Pay Pigs

Remember Trillionaire Mindset? Well, their studio dropped them a couple of months ago, and now they’re Pay Pigs. Their pod’s pitch:

Hosted by Ben Cahn and Emil DeRosa — a licensed Wall Street trader and his skeptical best friend — Pay Pigs highlights the funnier side of the business, political, and financial world.

And it’s goofy. It’s gross. It’s funny, and it’s informational. It’s almost the same as their old podcast. Their first guest—a repeat, actually, from Trillionaire Mindset—is Kyla Scanlon, my favorite (and only) female financial educator.

Topics I’ve been listening to on the new feed include car bloat, the Heritage Foundation, tech billionaires, big pharma, Mr. Beast, and credit card points. Ben knows what he’s talking about… and Emil’s getting there. Gotta give him credit for his interest and research.

Anyway, give it a shot. Don’t say I didn’t warn you about it being frequently goofy and gross.