Diane, Katie, Patrick, and I have seen several of the Broadway shows nominated for Tonys in 2025. Here are the contenders:

Early Favorites and Potential Winners:

Best Actor in a Play: Cole Escola (Oh, Mary!), George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck), and Denzel Washington (Othello) are potential winners. 

Best Musical: Death Becomes Her is a strong contender, with Maybe Happy Ending, Operation Mincemeat, and Dead Outlaw also in the mix. 

Best Play:.Oh, Mary! and The Hills of California are leading the pack, with English and Good Night, and Good Luck as potential contenders. 

Best Musical Revival: Gypsy and Sunset Boulevard are among the favorites, with Floyd Collins and The Last Five Years also in the running. 

Best Play Revival: Othello, Glengarry Glen Ross, Eureka Day, and Our Town are potential winners in this category. 

Best Actress in a Musical: Audra McDonald (Gypsy), Nicole Scherzinger (Sunset Boulevard), Megan Hilty (Death Becomes Her), and Jennifer Simard (Death Becomes Her) are being predicted. 

Best Actor in a Musical: Darren Criss (Maybe Happy Ending), Tom Francis (Sunset Boulevard), Jeremy Jordan (Floyd Collins), and Jonathan Groff (Just in Time) are among the early favorites. 

Best Actress in a Play: Sarah Snook (The Picture of Dorian Gray), Laura Donnelly (The Hills of California), Mia Farrow (The Roommate), and Sadie Sink (John Proctor Is the Villain) are being considered for this award. 

We are big fans of Maybe Happy Ending, Operation Mincemeat, and The Roommate. Will you be watching THE TONYS on CBS and Paramount+?

Diane and I saw the movie version of Good Night, and Good Luck back in 2005. We enjoyed the drama of the Press going after a demagogue like Senator McCarthy. We’re looking forward to seeing this stage version tonight at 7:00 ET on CNN.

“Good Night, and Good Luck is a historical drama play written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov. It is adapted from their 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck and focuses on the conflict between veteran CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. The play’s Broadway premiere in March 2025, directed by David Cromer, stars Clooney as Murrow, making his Broadway debut.

The play has enjoyed strong box office grosses, setting the historical Broadway weekly record. For the week ending May 4, 2025, the play’s gross of $4,003,481.50, made it the first Broadway play to surpass $4 million in a week.” That number doesn’t seem surprising with tickets to Good Night, and Good Luck going for over $1000. Will you be watching Good Night, and Good Luck tonight?

I’m a huge H. P. Lovecraft fan and At The Mountains of Madness may be his best known work. Gou Tanabe’s brilliant graphic novel blends incredible artwork with Lovecraft’s disturbing visions.

The book opens with this warning: Gou Tanabe’s manga adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft was drawn in the traditional Japanese comics style, whose page and panel order reads the opposite of the Western order, right-to-left. Please turn the book around and begin reading.

The English translation brings Lovecraft back to life. At the Mountains of Madness  was written in February/March 1931 and published in 1936. It was rejected that year by Weird Tales editor Farnsworth Wright on the grounds of its length. Then it was originally serialized in the February, March, and April 1936 issues of Astounding Stories.

Lovecraft’s novel records the events of a disastrous expedition to Antarctica in September 1930, and what is found there by a group of explorers led by the narrator, Dr. William Dyer of Miskatonic University. Throughout the story, Dyer details a series of previously untold events in the hope of deterring another group of explorers who wish to return to the continent. These events include the discovery of an ancient civilization older than the human race. And you know what that means in Lovecraft Land…

If you’re an H.P. Lovecraft fan, this incredible graphic novel version of At the Mountains of Madness is a must-read. It doesn’t get much better than this! GRADE: A

Around the mid-1990s, there was a brief musical infatuation with reggae music. A number of groups and solo artists attempted to sing reggae songs with mixed results. My favorite song on The Roots of Rock: Rock ‘N’ Reggae is Joe Cocker’s version of “Many Rivers to Cross.” The best known single of this collection is Blondie’s hit “The Tide is High.” Why Eric Clapton’s cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” is on this CD is baffling…but I like the song so…okay.

Rock On: 1994, which came out in 1996, provides a snapshot of where musical tastes were 30 years ago. R. Kelly (no relation) was still a Big Star. Big Mountain had a hit with “Baby, I Love Your Way.” Boston was still active with “I Need Your Love.” Richard Marx was still crooning songs like “Now and Forever.”

The musical tenor of the 1990s is apparent on these compilation CDs. You can hear the drop-off from the music of the 1980s. It might be cause by the decline of MTV and the rise of online music streaming services. GRADE: B- (for both)

TRACK LIST:

TRACK LIST:

I’ve been reading Lois McMaster Bujold’s short stories and novels for over 30 years. Bujold Is a born story-teller and her tales are clever and fun.

Miles, Mystery & Mayhem (2003) collects a variety of stories full of action and wit. Cetaganda (1996) takes Lieutenant Lord Miles Vorkosigan and his cousin Ivan to the home world of the Cetagandan Empire to represent Barrayar at the state funeral of the dowager Empress Lisbet, mother of the current emperor, the haut Fletchir Giaja. Miles and Ivan quickly become entangled in an internal Cetagandan plot when they arrive at a nearly deserted docking bay, much to their puzzlement. After a fight with a stranger, Miles and Ivan find a strange device.

Suspecting a political plot to implicate their home planet of Barrayar, Miles and Ivan conduct their own secret investigation. “I stopped the Cetagandian Empire from breaking up into eight aggressively expanding units. I derailed plans for a war by some of them with Barrayar. I survived an assassination attempt, and helped catch three high-ranking traitors.” (p. 245-246) That pretty much sums up the action in Cetaganda. GRADE: B

Ethan of Athos (1986) features  Dr. Ethan Urquhart, Chief of Biology at the Sevarin District Reproduction Centre on the planet Athos. When a medical shipment arrives in botched condition, Dr. Ethan is sent to find out what happened to the original shipment of vital ovarian tissue cultures. He encounters a twisty plot and plenty of mayhem! GRADE: B+

“Labyrinth” (1989) has Lord Miles Vorkosigan, (aka Admiral Naismith) traveling with Captain Bel Thorne in the Dendarii cruiser Ariel on a mission to Jackson’s Whole. They were ostensibly at Jackson’s Whole to buy weapons, but the actual purpose of the mission was to smuggle House Bharaputra‘s top geneticist, Dr. Hugh Canaba, away from his employer and into Barrayaran hands. But, of course, things go wrong… GRADE: B

“Author’s Afterword” (2001) presents Lois McMaster Bujold’s reflections on how she wrote the stories in this omnibus volume. If you’re interested in the background and Bujold’s writing method, this short essay is worth reading. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Cetaganda — 1

Ethan of Athos — 263

“Labyrinth” — 461

Author’s Afterword — 553

Vorkosigan Saga Timeline — 557

Yes, this is another Guy Ritchie project. The Fountain Of Youth blends aspects of a caper movie with a dollop of Indiana Jones. In this movie (2 hours, 5 minutes) there really is a Fountain of Youth, but it’s protected by a secret society called Protectors of the Path.

John Krasinski plays Luke Purdue, dealer in rare antiquities. Purdue’s little sister, Charlotte (played by Natalie Portman), is facing an acrimonious divorce and has settled into a routine as a mom and art curator. When Purdue shows up at her museum and steals a priceless Rembrandt, Charlotte finds herself dragged into trouble: losing her job and risking custody of her son Thomas (Benjamin Chivers).

To solve Charlotte’s problems, Purdue presents his sister with a billion-dollar solution: join him and their father’s team of researchers and explorers, and the group’s cancer-stricken, ultra-wealthy benefactor, Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson), who will bankroll her and any impending legal battle against her ex-husband. The only catch? Their task is to locate the legendary Fountain of Youth.

Silly and mildly entertaining. GRADE: C+

Marc Dunkelman, a fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, attempts to explain why nothing works today. The United States started out as a republic with a small government. Over time, the Government grew and grew. And, as we all know, power tends to corrupt.

Trump and Elon Musk are busy slashing Government expenditures and the results are likely to be dismal. The American voter has come to rely on Social Security, Medicare, and all the other social programs that make up the “safety net.” Sure, there’s waste, fraud, and abuse in a Government that spent $6.8 trillion in 2024. But it’s just not the money, it’s the politics. Wait until current Medicaid recipients have their benefits cut or eliminated.

Dunkelman analyzes the affects of Thomas Jefferson’s notions of democracy with Alexander Hamilton’s economic plans for the new nation. That debate continues today between the Democrats and the Republicans. Right now, the GOP is winning but the consequences might show up in 2026 mid-term Elections.

The current system of Government is not sustainable over time. Social Security will run out of money in a decade. The soaring costs of Medicare and Medicaid will bankrupt us if not altered. The “kick the can down the road” political approach of both Parties has resulted in the monetary quagmire we’re in now. How are you coping with this mess? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION — 1

1. Servant or Master of the Public? — 25
2. The Price of Progress — 59
3. Bodies on the Machine — 93
4. Manacling the Octopus — 125
5. More Harm Than Good — 163
6. No Place to Call Home — 201
7. The Bridge to Nowhere — 239
8. A Tragedy of the Commons in Reverse — 279

CONCLUSION: Full-Circle Progressivism — 321

Acknowledgements — 335

Notes — 339

Index — 387

Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa had a grim message for her constituents furious over proposed cuts to Medicaid that could end health coverage for millions of Americans.

Over a chorus of groans from the crowd at a town hall in Butler County on Friday morning, Ernst said her Republican colleagues were making “corrections” to the federal healthcare program to stop “overpayments” and prevent “illegals” from receiving benefits.

“People are going to die,” one person shouted out.

“Well, we’re all going to die,” Ernst snarkily replied.

When she was greeted with a mixture of stunned groans and shout-backs, the senator exasperatedly added: “For heaven’s sakes, folks.”

Democratic officials and advocacy groups pounced on the moment, accusing Ernst of airing what the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee called a “stunningly callous” remark that points to a wider failure among Republican members of Congress to face criticism over threats to a program that supports millions of lower-income Americans.

“Joni Ernst said the quiet part out loud: Republicans don’t give a shit about whether their own constituents live or die as long as the richest few get richer,” according to Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin.

Patrick saw Operation Mincemeat–a musical based on the true story of a British deception operation during World War II–when he was in London earlier this year. He recommended we see it during the Mother’s Day Weekend trip. And, we did.

When Diane, Katie, and I saw the musical on Broadway a few weeks ago, it was already a hit after a successful rain in the West End of London. Operation Mincemeat has positive reviews for its humor and compelling story.  The musical is based on the 2011 film of the same name starring Colin Firth and Kelly Macdonald. 

The fun part of Operation Mincemeat for me is the caper aspects of the plot. “Operation Mincemeat was a World War II deception operation where British intelligence planted a corpse, dressed as a British officer, with false intelligence documents in Nazi territory to mislead German forces about the location of the planned Allied invasion of Sicily. The operation was successful in fooling the Germans into believing the Allies would invade Greece, allowing the actual invasion of Sicily to proceed without significant German resistance.”

Operation Mincemeat has been nominated for four Tony Awards:  Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts), Best Original Score (David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts), and Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical (Jak Malone).  We loved it! GRADE: B+

“I think I might burn all these diaries. What if I died and people get hold of them and read them? Their endless self-obsession, anecdotes, self-exiles, rationalizations. Meanness about others.” (p. 412)

I’m usually not that attracted to reading diaries. But Helen Garner’s How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978-1998 (2025) doesn’t sugar-coat Garner’s feelings and thoughts. Helen Garner is a successful Australian writer who has won the Melbourne Prize for Literature and the Windham Campbell Literature Prize for nonfiction. In 2019, Garner was honored with the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature.  She has written an intimate chronicle of life, love, family, and the frustrations of writing and aging.

Helen Garner’s collected diaries span 20 years, with the first volume beginning in the late 1970s just after the publication of her debut novel Monkey Grip. The second volume begins in 1987 as she embarks on an affair that she knows will be all-consuming (and possibly a huge mistake). The final volume begins in 1995, as she fights to hold on to a marriage that is disintegrating around her. Garner’s husband tells her he wants a “girl friend.” As you might suspect, this does not go well.

I found these diaries of the inner life of a woman in love and a great writer at work compelling reading. Helen Garner doesn’t cover up the messy, painful, dark side of love. She doesn’t hide the sheer force of her anger and her judgements of others. Here’s a couple of her judgements:

“Melvyn Bragg interviewed Saul Bellow on TV about The Dean’s December. Bellow grandly puts shit on sociologists, psychologists and criminologists for their failure to cure what’s wrong with society. …I am disappointed and say little. ‘I think,’ says V. ‘you weren’t very interested in what he was talking about.’ …So I say, ‘I’ll tell you what I think. I think he’s a windbag.” (p. 401)

“Read The Aspern Papers [Henry James] with joy. Its beauty, its drive, its seriousness but its lightness of touch.” (p. 452)

“Janet Malcolm has reviewed The First Stone [1995] in the New Yorker. Exhilarating, a critique by someone who wouldn’t know me from a bar of soap. …Then I felt thrilled to bits: she has read me. …(Also, she used the expression, ‘this extraordinary book’.) (p. 672)

Helen Garner is 82 years old now and writes little. But these diaries capture the energy, excitement, disappointments, heartbreak, and thrills of her active Life. It’s quite a roller-coaster ride! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Foreword by Leslie Jamison — ix

Yellow Notebook: Diaries Volume 1 1978-1987 — 1

One Day I’ll Remember This: Diaries Volume II 1987-1995 — 257

How to End a Story: Diaries Volume III 1995-1998 — 559