No matter what holiday you may celebrate, winter is a season for giving. Even with a college student’s budget and time constraints, it’s possible to give great gifts. Whether for a Secret Santa or a simple exchange between friends, giving personalized gifts is a great way to make someone feel good. In return you might even make yourself feel better as the winter weather rolls in.

Here are some tips and tricks for giving gifts to the people in your life this season:

Do: Figure out your friend’s interests and make something special based on them, or make a gift based on shared interests

Do you have a friend who likes a certain band or movie, or loves Gilmore Girls too much for their own good? Tailor your gift towards whatever his or her special thing is. It will be apparent that you listen to what they have to say, and they’ll be grateful.

For example, this holiday season, get your friend a pin of her favorite musician’s face. Or if you are artistically inclined, write down some of your friends favorite quotes in a nice way and frame it. By paying attention to your friends, you are already on your way to a great gift.

Do you have a friend who loves the same movie as you or likes the same bands? Or maybe they like going to art museums just like you? Get them a gift that connects you with them whether it’s a book you want them to read or a CD of a band they would like. The best gifts are meaningful to both people because it fosters a deeper connection. Who knew giving a gift could make a friendship stronger?

Don’t: Feel the need to spend money

There are so many ways to give great gifts that don’t require spending a single penny. College students understand that not every gift has to be made from money, so when giving to other students, don’t fret. Make a mix CD or bake your friend cookies. A nice thought is nice, no matter the price.

Do: Put some thought into it

This goes with the first tip, but the gifts that have the most impact are the ones that have even the slightest bit of sentimental value. Taking the time to think about their specific interests and wants will help you in the long run. Your friend will appreciate it when they open up that wrapping paper and there’s something cool and tailored to them in there. Whether it’s a picture of the two of you or a specific reference to an inside joke, they’ll love that you know them so well.

Don’t: Rush gag gifts

If you have a gag gift in mind, put some thought into it. A poorly executed gag gift just makes a friend mad or hopefully they’ll forget about it, while one done in good taste with an eye for detail might make them laugh. Some gifts aren’t meant for everyone, so if you have a sensitive friend, maybe skip a gift based on a joke they don’t like. Go for the gag gift, but know what you are getting into. Know your surroundings.

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With the loss of legends like David Bowie and Prince among many others, 2016 has been a surreal year for music fans. Musicians paid tribute to and built on the legacies of those who passed while also crafting their own voices. 

Though it may have been a sad one, this year was also full of daring releases like Beyonce’s Lemonade and indie rock gems like Car Seat Headrest’s Teens of Denial. On Nov. 27, Childish Gambino released his newest album Awaken, My Love! to mixed reviews.

This year was chock full of great and disappointing cultural and musical touchstones, as any year is. Now that we’re rounding the corner, the question must be asked: What will 2017 music be defined by? Hopefully, instead of more death it will be more great music, as it should be.

Here are a select few releases to look forward to in early 2017.

“Dead Alive” by The Shins — New album out in mid-2017

It says something that the only original member of The Shins to stay in the band is lead singer James Mercer. The Portland-based band has been releasing music since the ‘90s and was even featured in a Gilmore Girls episode at the time. Yet, this new single representing an album to be released in 2017 doesn’t quite do the band’s previous accomplishments like Wincing the Night Away any justice.

With the drum machine intro and James Mercer’s synthesized vocals, it feels like a drawn on version of “Simple Song” off of the 2012 release, Port of Morrow. For 2017, expect establishment indie bands like The Shin’s to keep releasing different versions of the same song that their longtime fans will eat up. 

“On Hold” by The XX — I See You out Jan. 13.

The XX have been a prolific group since it burst onto the international stage in 2009, with the smoky track “Crystallized.” Drummer Jamie XX released a solo album last year and “On Hold” is the group’s first single since then. Jamie XX and Romy Madley Croft’s voices intertwine like ribbon in this release, as they do in many of the band’s others. And yet, Croft’s voice is seemingly more confident and brash in “On Hold” than ever before.

Expect this dance-pop group to continue with this newfound energy; they won’t go up in smoke just yet.

“Follow the Leader” by Foxygen — Hang out Jan. 20.

Foxygen’s music video for its new single, “Follow the Leader,” features a team of lanky adults dancing on a playground as Sam France sings over some swelling strings and horns. The band’s new album features a full symphony in every song. It’s apparent in this single and in “America” that the duo is using that symphony to its fullest extent. Foxygen has followed an upwards trajectory, and this larger sound might just bring them to the clouds.

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The beloved mother-daughter duo of Gilmore Girls has returned after a 10-year break. But in the third episode of the Netflix Original revival of the show, a 32-year old Rory Gilmore says that she’s “not back” in her hometown of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, for good.

With four 90-minute episodes suited for binge-watching and jokes about Amy Schumer, what more could an avid fan of the show want? Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, adjusted to the culture of 2016, feels too good to be true at most points.

The revival isn’t grounded in the fictional Connecticut town. It begins with Rory “rootless” and living between London, New York City and her hometown. Her first written piece has been published in the New Yorker and she’s trying to find her next job. Her mother, Lorelai, is living with her long-time partner, Luke, but feels that something is shifting in their relationship.

Lorelai’s father and Rory’s grandfather, Richard Gilmore, played by the late Edward Herrmann, has passed away and Emily, Richard’s wife, must cope with her new life as a widow.

Herrmann’s presence is missed throughout the show and the clearest moments of the revival are the ones surrounding Richard’s death when the three generations of Gilmore women show their vulnerability.

Emily and Lorelai continue their raging fights, but this time the fights are impactful because the acting has improved since the original series. The speedy dialogue between Lorelai and Rory as they reunite in the episode “Winter” reminds the audience of the best Gilmore episodes and their warm, fuzzy atmosphere.

Maybe it’s the self awareness presented through the long running jokes, or the way in which characters like Jess Mariano make their final exit, but the revival’s following three episodes ultimately do not deliver the same type of warmth as the original series.

As the revival progresses and Rory’s job offers fall through one by one, things become weird for Stars Hollow, an admittedly quirky town to begin with. Gilmore Girls used to thrive on its slight campiness, but there’s too much cheese in the revival to pull it off.

In a scene where Rory’s college friends from Yale appear with her former beau Logan Huntzberger to romp through the town, there are steampunk costumes and Beatles songs galore. The overly dramatic “Stars Hollow: The Musical” starring Sutton Foster and Christian Borle lasts for an unbearable ten minutes when it could have lasted five.

Those last 4 words — the ones that creator Amy Sherman-Palladino says to keep a secret — don’t help the cheesiness either.

Maybe there’s a reason for all this hullaballoo, though. Transforming a show like Gilmore Girls from a comforting binge watch to a painful long-term commitment teaches the audience a lesson that all things must change.

Rory, who always seemed too innocent and perfect in the original series, is a flawed character and horrible person in the revival. Lorelai’s selfishness shows through even more than usual in her fights with Emily. Sookie St. James, Lorelai’s best friend and coworker, doesn’t even show up until the last moments when Lorelai conveniently needs a wedding cake.

By amping up the cheesiness and showing the characters in this light, maybe Sherman-Palladino is saying something about the way the series should have ended in the first place. She wasn’t part of the previous season due to contractual problems, so she didn’t get to end the series in the way she wanted.

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life shows that beloved things aren’t always meant to be brought back from the past because in their return, they might lose their original merit.

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Family is clearly important to Dan Povenmire, co-creator of Disney’s Phineas and Ferb and Disney XD show Milo Murphy’s Law. He has created multiple characters in his shows based on people in his life.

For instance, Isabella, a side character from Phineas and Ferb, is based on his eldest daughter of the same name. A girl in his newest show, Milo Murphy’s Law, is based on his younger daughter who felt jealous of her older sister’s televised persona.

Sometimes he doesn’t realize he’s creating them, though. Tina Povenmire-Kirk, Dan’s younger sister, told the Emerald that her brother used a high-pitched voice when they played as kids. That tone eventually became the voice used for Dr. Doofenshmirtz, the evil professor on Phineas and Ferb.

Sullivan Kirk, nephew of Dan Povenmire, is in need of heart surgery. (Courtesy of Tina Povenmire-Kirk)

Family is bringing Povenmire to Eugene this Thanksgiving weekend. On Saturday, Nov. 26, from 2-4:30 p.m, Povenmire will speak at a fundraiser for his nephew Sullivan Kirk, a one-year-old with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. It will be at the First United Methodist Church in Eugene, located at 1376 Olive St.

Kirk has had two open heart surgeries because the left half of his heart was not properly developed at birth. Both surgeries were before he was seven months old.

Povenmire and his family are aiming to raise funds for the cost of Sullivan’s upcoming surgery and subsequent recovery.

“He’s the happiest and sweetest child in the world,” Povenmire said of his nephew.

Even just a few years ago, medical science was not capable of keeping someone with this condition alive, said Povenmire. Prenatal screenings and other tests can now detect a condition like HLHS.

“It’s a small miracle that he lived after birth,” Povenmire said. “We’re hoping that he can come through this with flying colors.”

Povenmire will sign autographs, answer questions about his work and even do the voice of Phineas and Ferb’s infamous Dr. Doofenshmirtz, all for a suggested $10 donation.

Povenmire spoke fondly of his childhood in Mobile, Alabama — where his wild summers formed the basis for Phineas and Ferb’s endless school vacation.

His time in television also includes work on Family Guy and Rocko’s Modern Life.

But Povenmire said the work he’s most proud of is Phineas and Ferb because it’s a show that appealed to adults as easily as children.

Dan Povenmire speaks to a fan. (Sue Lukenbaugh/ Creative Commons)

“Forty percent of our audience on Phineas were adults,” Povenmire said. “It was the first time that had ever happened on a Disney Channel show.”

When Disney executives would question his jokes, Povenmire argued that as long as they didn’t make the audience change the channel, the jokes would be fine.

One episode that exemplifies this sense of humor is “Tip of the Day.” Povenmire said that not many people on the show’s production team knew what the tip of a shoelace was called. (It’s called an aglet.) This turned into an episode where Phineas and Ferb raise “aglet awareness.”

“Everybody looked at me like I was an idiot,” Povenmire said of the meeting. “And I said, ‘No, no we should absolutely do that.’ Everyone asked how that would work and I said, ‘I don’t know. We’ll figure it out.’ That became a lot of people’s favorite episode.”

The “Aglet Song” featured in the episode is a fan favorite.

There’s an undercurrent of humor and positivity that runs through Povenmire’s work, whether it means coming up with new characters or helping his family out during hard times.

His new show, Milo Murphy’s Law, developed accidentally. Povenmire was creating a character for another pitch, but found himself thinking about the character (who later became Milo Murphy) more than the pitch itself.

“I drew him to look like a friend of ours that’s super positive all the time and I was like, ‘What would Noah look like when he was in middle school?’ ” Povenmire said. “I drew this little caricature of what I thought Noah would look like and I just liked it so much that I wrote ‘indescribably positive’ next to it.”

When asked how the Eugene community can support his nephew, Povenmire said his family would appreciate any help people are able to give. Whether that means raising awareness for Kirk’s heart condition or coming to the event this Saturday, anything counts.

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The weeks leading up to finals can be very stressful. With tests and essays on the horizon, it’s important to practice self care at times like these. Why not escape the crazy stressful world of college for a moment with a book? These picks by Emerald writers Sararosa Davies and Patience Greene will help you power through the weeks ahead, even if they catch your attention for just a moment.

The Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind

There’s nothing like losing yourself in an epic fantasy novel, and Goodkind’s have it all; magic, adventure, war, love, discovery, fantastical creatures and spirits from behind the veil. In a classic hero’s journey, the main character is thrown into unknown magic lands with a quest to save the world. He falters along the way and gets captured a few times, but by the end, his kind spirit, fierce intellect and warrior skills leave you asking, “What can’t Richard do?” Sure his character can feel a little unrealistically amazing towards the end, but when you want escape from an imperfect world, sometimes a true hero is what you need. This series also has a badass female lead, comic relief in the form of a wise old wizard, interesting examinations of societal philosophies and fluid prose to move you seamlessly through the fantastic tale.

-Patience Greene

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

On days when adult life is too constricting, overwhelming and dark, diving back into childhood with this classic might be exactly what you need. Anne’s colorful imagination reminds readers to put the spark of curiosity and life into dull moments. Her temper reminds us no matter how significant and terrible life feels in the moment, it is only a small part of the much larger story.

Most of all, Anne’s childish abandon brings back nostalgia for the innocence and freedom of youth spent frolicking with friends. Fans of classic literature and dreamers alike should try skipping away from the adult world with Anne of Green Gables.

-Patience Greene

Edgar Allan Poe and the Jukebox: Uncollected Poems, Drafts and Fragments by Elizabeth Bishop, edited by Alice Quinn

When unfinished homework is piling up and writing full sentences becomes overwhelming, turn to this book of poems by Elizabeth Bishop to get you through a stressful creative slog. Her poetry is intimate and familiar in its subjects. She makes a simple image like a fish on a hook bloom. Edgar Allan Poe and the Jukebox is made up of excerpts from Bishop’s notebooks throughout the years and includes multiple drafts of her most famous poem, “One Art.”

When you are scared of unfinished work, flip through this book of poems to remind yourself that your work, even in it’s earliest form, is interesting to someone. In the end, Bishop’s poetry is a reminder of the little victories and what they are worth. 

-Sararosa Davies

M Train by Patti Smith

Famous musician, performance artist and writer are all jobs that Patti Smith has held in her 69 years. M Train, a book that lies somewhere on the spectrum between prose and poetry, details the places Smith has haunted in her life from European cafes to her apartment in New York City. M Train is a fleeting one and it passes right through you and it’s the perfect read for a long train or plane ride in that way. M Train is for those who never quite feel at home when they are in one place. Though heavy at times, Smith’s book is a great and beautiful tour of someone’s life and the places that are important to them. Reading it is like finding home in the passage of time.

-Sararosa Davies

The post Emerald Recommends: Books to comfort you appeared first on Emerald Media.

On the Banks of the Tigris: The Hidden Story of Iraqi Music is a film about cultural ties and the ways in which history can hide them, according to director Marsha Emerman. It features musicians like the Iraqi-Israeli Yair Dalal, Maqam singer Farida and Ahmed Mukhtar. The Emerald sat down with Emerman this past Tuesday to talk about her third film and the importance of making cross cultural connections. On the Banks of the Tigris will screen at Temple Beth Israel Nov. 20 at 5 p.m. with a Q&A after the screening.

Emerald: How did you get into documentary filmmaking? Where did that start for you?

Marsha Emerman: It started with an interest in photography, which I did at university. I’ve always loved film and I also had a background in sociology, so I suppose it was my interest in visual media and my sociology orientation that came together in documentary filmmaking.

E: Why is cultural identity so interesting to you? Why talk about refugees, especially now?

ME: Especially now, I think refugee issues are important. I mean, we know what’s going on in this country and around the world. There’s not enough understanding of and empathy for refugees. They have been driven out of places and kept out rather than welcomed.  Australia, where I live, has that problem, has that huge problem with refugees and asylum seekers. America has that problem and it might get worse.

Our film [On the Banks of the Tigris] is a counterpoint to that. It explores issues that relate to refugees and to cultural connection, rather than separation. Understanding that people can have that connection across religions, across cultural boundaries, across other boundaries. So basically, it’s about finding, recognizing and celebrating our common humanity rather than dividing people.

E: You shot in Israel for part of the film with the Iraqi Israeli community there and in Europe, Iraq and other places. Can you speak a little bit about your experiences in each place? I’m wondering if it was different than you originally expected it to be.

ME:  Well, I can’t really speak about filming in Iraq, because in all honesty, I didn’t go to Iraq. We hired a crew. Majid was going. Majid has family there still, so we hired an Iraqi crew who worked with him. And I didn’t go.

I went to the other places. We filmed in Israel. We met mainly Iraqi Jewish people. We were in the Iraqi Jewish community in Tel Aviv, a section of Tel Aviv in particular, Ramat Gan, and the amazing thing was how well Majid connected with the people there. He’s an Iraqi from a Muslim background and from an Arab country and they embraced him completely. He felt completely comfortable. It was this immediate connection.

They spoke Arabic. The older Iraqi Jews had not lost their language or their culture. In fact, they were very attached to their culture, very nostalgic about their time in Baghdad. They spoke about the beauty of Baghdad and what they remembered.

There were some very beautiful quotes, very beautiful things that they said in the film. In fact one of the older men in the film Eliya Shasha, an oud player, says when he thinks of Baghdad he might start to cry. He said, “I remember the beautiful hours, beautiful places, the Tigris, the boats, the fish. I can’t forget that I was born in Iraq and I am an Iraqi. Or that “I was born in Baghdad and I am an Iraqi.” He’s still so connected to that identity.

E:Yeah, there’s that longing. Refugees are in-between, that longing for home that they have. You want to go back to the place you are from but you can’t.

ME: And they have that longing because when they lived there, for the most part, people were living harmoniously. There was a real rift that started to happen in the 1940s. And you know, the political situation changed for a number of reasons, but prior to that, Baghdad was a very cosmopolitan city, very multicultural, very multi religious. And people were getting along pretty well.

E:Why feature these specific musicians in the film? What is it about them?

ME: They are peacemakers. They are involved in lot of initiatives for peace. The others, also, they were people who were sympathetic to the purpose of the film. You know, we picked them because they were great musicians and because they understood what we were trying to do.

E: So what is it about music that connects people besides the act of the people coming together? Is music inherently political, too?

ME: Music is one of the strongest possible ways people connect and [that’s] probably because music is so emotional. People can connect with it, they sort of dispense with a lot of the cerebral stuff and tune into it. I think people connect with music in that way. I think music overlaps a lot. Music of different places often have a lot in common with each other, too. Just as people do.

E: Do you think this film then aims to uncover this music then or bring it out?

ME: It’s doing a few different things. The film is called On the Banks of the Tigris: The Hidden Story of Iraqi Music. It’s a movie about how certain things were suppressed very deliberately, so people in Iraq didn’t really know the origins of their own music, which is Majid’s story.  

E: Why screen it here of all places?

ME: Well, we want to screen everywhere. The film has a role to play in helping people understand and open their minds a bit, hopefully. Maybe shatter some stereotypes people have. Maybe shatter some stereotypes of Muslims which is a big issue at the moment. [We have] some serious problems going on there. I think the film has a role to play. We want as many people to see it as possible. Why not, Eugene?

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Riley Mulvihill, director of Pocket Playhouse’s most recent production, Dark Knight: The Musical, says it’s Batman’s time to shine. Pocket Playhouse is a student-run theatre company, and as Mulvihill told the Emerald in an interview at the green room of Villard Hall, “Spiderman already has his musical. It’s time for someone else.”

That “someone else” is Gotham City’s superhero vigilante, or as Mulvihill says, “a man dressed up as a bat, punching criminals.”

“It’s ridiculous,” Mulvihill continued. “Musicals have a way of making the ridiculousness part of the world.”

Mulvihill, who started writing the show in middle school with the help of his choir director, Josh Rist, is capitalizing on the current “superhero hysteria” seen on the silver screen with Marvel and DC. His favorite actor to play the Joker is Mark Hamill, but he says the others who have played him — most notably Heath Ledger and Cesar Romero — are also fantastic.

As a senior, Mulvihill hopes to mount a production of the show on a larger scale someday, but is excited to be producing it with Pocket Playhouse because it’s an organization he’s been involved with since his freshman year.

“My first audition, I got a lead role in a Pocket show,” Mulvihill said. “What I love about Pocket is that it is original content. The directors are normally the playwrights … There’s room for creativity and imagination, but this is the first time I have seen where an original musical is being done.”

Pocket Playhouse sponsors four to six student-created plays per term and has a board of students who select pitches given by directors. This is Mulvihill’s first time directing and writing a theatrical script, but he has acted since middle school when his mom made him try out for Romeo and Juliet. He hated the process, but fell in love with performing.

“We performed and I got that applause from the audience and I felt the love,” Mulvihill said. “And I’ve done it ever since.”

Recently, he has enjoyed the change from acting to directing.

“Moving toward directing instead of acting has really shown me another side of theatre, and it’s a little less egotistical,” Mulvihill said.

With 11 songs, Dark Knight is a full-length musical. Mulvihill has had help from many people, both during the five-week rehearsal process and before rehearsals had officially begun. Mulvihill noted his production team as essential helpers during the rehearsal process.

It hasn’t been easy though, according to Mulvihill. For now, the space only allows for a piano accompanist, Kevin Dempsey, but Mulvihill hopes to one day feature a full orchestra.

“That was a big step for us to be able to get live accompaniment,” Mulvihill said.

His favorite song in the show is called “Kill the Bat.” Audiences should look out for the Joker’s big reveal, which according to Mulvihill features three-part harmonies reminiscent of scenes from Les Miserables like “One Day More” and “The Confrontation Scene.”

Michael Malek Najjar, an assistant professor in the UO theatre department, noted that his students are excited for Pocket’s first original musical, despite its short rehearsal process.

As Mulvihill said of the piece, “It’s going to make you laugh, going to make you cry and going to make you want to come back for more.”

Dark Knight: The Musical runs Thursday through Saturday at 5 p.m. in Villard 102, and entry is first-come, first-serve. Although tickets are free, there is a suggested donation to support student-made theatre.

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James Joyce’s The Dead, the first of five University Theatre shows this season, is not simply a musical, according to director Michael Malek Najjar. Instead, it lives in a world between a play with music where the plot is portrayed mainly through dialogue, and a musical like Cats where the music dictates the plot.

The Dead is based on the short story from James Joyce’s “The Dubliners.” It features a cast of 15 University of Oregon students performing heartfelt, intimate Irish folk songs to tell the story of a family Christmas in the mid-1900s where death, love and the ties between generations are tested. The script is by Richard Nelson and music is by Sean Davey.

Watching this play is like sitting in on another family’s celebration; like being an insider to how someone else connects with their mother or aunt.

The Dead follows married couple Gabriel Conroy and Gretta Conroy, played by Alex Mentzel and Kelsey Tidball, as they attend their Aunt Julia’s Christmas party. When Gretta remembers a poignant moment from her youth, the couple has to reckon with its past on a deeper level. Unfortunately, due to the conversational nature of the show, the most developed moments between the couple were in the background rather than the center stage ballads between the two.

The show floats from one scene to the next powered by Irish ballads, pub songs and jigs, but there is a dark thread throughout that it can’t quite shake. Maybe it was the imminent snow talked about in the plot or Aunt Julia’s cough that made it clear — not all is light in the world of The Dead.

Scenic artist Katie Dumolt and costume designer Jeanette deJong’s rendering of this period piece provide the audience just enough space between themselves and the characters’ experiences. With its dark green walls, brown furniture and delicate decorations, the set provided just enough historical context for the characters’ elaborate mid-1900‘s costumes of maroon, deep purple and brown.

The Dead is about a family of a certain social class whose mannerisms and habits may seem distant, but their fondness for one another shines like any family’s interactions today. What made their interactions so relatable was the reason for the gathering: celebrating Christmas.

The best scenes relied on the full cast’s energy to tell a story. With warm harmonies and Irish dancing, the festivity of the holiday season rang throughout the room. Although the choreography was messy at times, it was authentic to the show because no one at a dinner party actually dances that well, especially after that much wine. 

In one particularly raucous song, “Naughty Girls,” the cast streamed into the audience and for a moment broke the fourth wall by dancing with audience members. The Dead is first and foremost an intimate and intense rendering of a family’s Christmas party, but moments like “Naughty Girls” lifted the mood. After all, it’s hard to be with any individual family member for too long.

By the time the second act arrives, the Christmas party is slowing down. The cast sits around a piano and after a few songs, the characters leave one by one. Only in the last two songs does the drama of the story fully reveal itself. In the penultimate song beautifully titled “Michael Fury,” that dark thread finally unravels and Gretta and Gabriel must figure out how to move on. But in some ways, that’s the point of The Dead: There’s a depth beneath the surface that reveals itself at the most peculiar times.

The show has two performances left on Nov. 18 and 19 at 8 p.m. at the Robinson Theatre. Tickets are free for students with a UO I.D.

Editor’s note: Kelsey Tidball is an Emerald employee. 

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Note: There is explicit language in this podcast and post.

In honor of the 2016 election results, this installment of Emerald Recommends looks to songs about rage and politics. Emerald staffers Craig Wright, Sararosa Davies and Emerson Malone discuss the response on campus and the difference between hope and rage in music, from the all-American sounds of Lou Reed and Simon and Garfunkel to the Canadian industrial noise-rock band Holy Fuck, whose hometown of Toronto is a likely destination for anyone baffled by the events of Tuesday night.

Listen to the podcast and check out our Spotify playlist below.

(By the way, did you know you can subscribe to Emerald podcasts on iTunes?)

Songs include:

“Dirty Blvd.” by Lou Reed

“I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts” by X

“Yihye Tov” by David Broza

“Monstro” by Downtown Boys

“Rise Above” by Black Flag

“Nobody Speak” by DJ Shadow (featuring Run the Jewels)

“Modern Girl” by Sleater-Kinney

“Stay Positive” by The Hold Steady

“No Future” by Titus Andronicus

“Eisler on the Go” by Billy Bragg and Wilco

“America” by Simon and Garfunkel

“Acidic” by Holy Fuck

The post Podcast: Emerald Recommends songs to help you process the election results appeared first on Emerald Media.

The Emerald recently asked The Daily Show with Trevor Noah correspondents Hasan Minhaj and Roy Wood Jr. an important question during a media conference call.

When asked what insulting tweet they can imagine Donald Trump sending them, correspondents Minhaj and Wood both laughed at the question, but as they were thinking of answers, the air felt like it was sucked out of the phone line as the two comedians got serious. 

Wood composed this tweet in Trump-style diction: “The Daily Show is terrible, the ratings are horrible. It’s a terrible show, I like making fun of it in front of my other black friends.”

While Minhaj took a breath and flatly stated, “@hasanminhaj, come Nov. 9th I’m deporting you and your family.”

While it is part of their job to make light of the absurdity in American politics, The Daily Show’s current team has approached this election differently than that of John Stewart’s era. They have taken on a serious, somewhat existential tone that Stewart didn’t quite latch onto when he hosted.

While Stewart often used physical impressions to make fun of figures like John Boehner, Noah relies more on ideological, less concrete ways to joke. He is able to call out some of the political nonsense Stewart couldn’t; maybe Noah’s outside perspective on American politics has changed the show. Stewart was a political insider in some ways after hosting the show for so long, and Noah, being relatively new, is not. 

In an election as absurd as this one, where Hillary Clinton’s emails are constantly debated and Trump’s words are mocked in disbelief, sometimes jokes feel recycled because they stem from real issues. The Daily Show, along with the now defunct The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, provide perspective, though sometimes it is hard to tell whether these perspectives are new.

If the past few months of coverage on The Daily Show say anything, it’s that the jokes have not run out this election, but instead are constantly shifting forms. Trump’s words may be repeated incessantly, but it’s a different approach each time.

Noah’s recent “Indecision 2020” sketch is a great example of this. The 12-minute sketch imagines what four years of a Trump presidency would look like. The skit opens on a desolate studio, where Noah fumbles with cameras and cardboard while making an illegal broadcast of The Daily Show. The audience sees clips of John Oliver being “arrested” and Wood being frisked by arms that come out of his coat.

It’s funny, but it is reminiscent of the seriousness of an unknown future. Noah relies on current events — absurd as they are already — to make a point about the future: Whatever way we want to go as a country, the present still matters.

On election night, just a mere couple days away, Trevor Noah and his team of correspondents will broadcast live and try to make sense of the results that come in. Whether Trump or Clinton wins, whatever your stance is, watch it. No matter what, The Daily Show’s poignant commentary may be the only way we’ll make it through the next four years as a country.

The first half of the hour-long show will be accessible on Facebook Live, while the entire special will be available for streaming on the Comedy Central website and on its cable channel at 11 p.m.

Watch the Indecision 2020 sketch below:

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