Hey Besties! We’re back. Sorry that the trains are running a little later today. There’s a lot going on BTS in the Life And Times of Charlie. This was a big week so let’s get right to it:

• The Season 4 finale of Abbott Elementary aired last night. I know it's hard sometimes to stay caught up with the 24-episode format shows, NOT that I’m complaining! But it’s worth you making the push to finish the season for the treat waiting at the end. Ava Fest: Tokyo Drift (S4E20) is one of my favorite episodes of TV to-date. 

• ICYMI: The WNBA Draft on Monday injected even more young talent into the league. Rizzmaster, Paige Bueckers, was selected first overall by the Dallas Wings. The Lady Tiguhs appear poised to run it back with the reunion of Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith on the Chicago Sky. Add a healthy Kamila Cardoso to this mix and the Sky could be something special to watch this season. Summertime Chi here we come!

• If you've tuned out of basketball all season, now is the time to come back! The NBA Play-In is underway. Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors will advance to the post-season along with Palo Banchero and the Orlando Magic. The remaining spots will be decided in the games happening this Friday!

Stop What You’re Doing. Hacks is Back.

If you’re still not watching, Hacks is a show about an aging comedian who’s been reduced to the Vegas residency circuit, Deborah Vance. Deborah meets the young, chaotic Ava who she hires to help her punch up her act as a writer. The show tells the story of how the two become the unlikeliest of frenemies in one of HBO’s best new comedies.

I just need to point out: the last one standing in a ridiculous lineup including Quinta Brunson, Ayo Edebiri, Selena Gomez, Maya Rudolph, and Kristin Wiig to snag her sixth Emmy last year? Jean Smart, for her performance as Deborah Vance.

It’s not just about the awards. Hacks is a show that feels like it was made for people who appreciate the art of comedy. Stay with me! The writing is sharp and so layered. Watching is like a constant teeter-totter between LOLing and shaking your head at how good the last joke was. It’s also living up to the HBO standard of incredible one-liners. 

I find myself randomly laughing at gems like, “We are in the yard where it happens.” And  “At least I still have collagen.” Or “You know, you’re not funny enough to dress like Adam Sandler.”

Where things got really interesting was the end of Season 3. We saw a wild shift in the power balance when a certain talented employee straight-up blackmailed her abusive boss to get ahead. Talk about workplace drama! Season 4 picks up immediately after this Julius Caesar-style betrayal. Buckle up.

Beyond the laughs and the plot twists, the relationship between Deborah and Ava is simply captivating. They have this intense “work wife” dynamic, full of love but dominated by hostility and creative name-calling. Deborah ominously declares that once their show is a success, she’ll cut Ava out of her life completely. It creates this fascinating, almost star-crossed lovers vibe, but with jokes and showbiz instead of romance.

Another gift of this show is how thoughtfully cliché all of the background players are. I know multiple people who are indistinguishable from Jimmy, Ava and Deborah’s agent. He perfectly embodies that unique, neurotic LA dealmaker energy. It really makes me wonder… is everyone okay out there? How do you avoid a breakout with so much stress in your work life and the pressure to maintain glass-like skin at all times?

A fantastic addition to the ensemble this season is Jimmy and Kayla’s new assistant Randi, played by Robby Hoffman. She’s a streetwise transplant from Brooklyn who brings a whole new level of hilarity to the show. I would like to formally request a spin-off where it’s just the day-to-day office life at Schaeffer & LuSaque/Lusaque & Schaeffer.

What I truly love about Hacks is its pacing. There’s not a single wasted scene. Every conversation, every interaction, moves the story forward. The humor isn’t separate from the plot; it’s completely intertwined. You’re laughing while the story progresses, which means you get to the end of each episode feeling like you’ve actually gone somewhere. These episodes fly by.

Seriously, if you’re looking for a show that’s smart, genuinely funny, full of compelling characters and great writing, do yourself a favor and give Hacks a try. 

Oh, and send me your thoughts as the season progresses!

Please Bring Me the Wholesome Content

Alright, settle in, grab your beverage of choice, perhaps a nice shandy to celebrate the arrival of warmer weather. I’ve had a revelation. An epiphany, which bubbled up from the depths of my consciousness as “Kill Bill” provided the soundtrack to my latest hot tub experience. This story is about SZA, murder fantasies, and the state of modern love songs.

So, there I was, enjoying my Tub Time, when “Kill Bill” drifted through my headphones. For the first time, I actually listened to the lyrics. Like, really listened. And suddenly, SZA’s homicidal musings about her man wasn’t just catchy background noise. She was really going for it, open kimono: 

“I might kill my ex, not the best idea / His new girlfriend’s next, how’d I get here?” 

It’s… intense. But then, nestled within that dark confession, is this twisted, almost… sweet possessiveness? “I’d rather be in jail than alone.” Woah. That’s some next-level “if I can’t have you, no one can” energy. Concerning? Absolutely. Relatable on a primal, maybe-don’t-act-on-it level? Possibly. Sweet? In a deeply, deeply warped way, sure.

And it got me thinking, as these things often do when you’re marinating in your thoughts and the assorted germs of other tub users: why don’t people make love songs anymore? I’m not talking about the club anthems where someone’s declaring their lust with increasingly vivid imagery. I’m talking about the songs that make your chest ache, the ones that capture that messy, all-consuming, slightly ridiculous feeling of actually loving someone.

We’ve got a million tracks about hooking up, situationships, and vibing ambiguously in a face-saving, appropriately detached way. Where is the yearning? The vulnerability? The sheer, unadulterated need for another human being? Remember Soulja Boy’s “Kiss Me Thru the Phone”? 

THAT, my friends, is yearning. Soulja was down so bad he needed to get his luscious through the phone! This is the kind of music we need in 2025.

I’m tired of vibing! Tank is on E. I need more songs about that Martin-and-Gina, Issa-and-Lawrence kind of love. That “bust the windows out yo car” type of connection.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. “Charlie, you’re living in the past! Nobody wants to feel their feelings in 2025. Times have changed. People are more… emotionally unavailable?” To which I say, hold your horses and your ironic detachment for just a second.

Remember that little earworm that burrowed its way into our collective consciousness last year? “Birds of a Feather” by this indie darling named… oh yeah, Billie Eilish? It was everywhere. From those tear-soaked TikToks to, inexplicably, car commercials.

And contrary to what the legions of white girls on TikTok might have you believe (bless their hearts and their interpretations of female friendship), that song ain’t about missing your besties when they ditch you for some out-of-state university. Watch Billie explain it! 

It’s this intentionally over-the-top, almost satirical “love-bomby” song about a couple utterly consumed by each other. 

It’s earnest to the point of being moderately unhinged, and that, my friends, is precisely why it resonated so damn hard. Even the TikTok teens approved of this raw, unfiltered emotion.

Joking (mostly) aside, it’s staring us in the face if we just bother to look at the content we collectively devour:

• Love Songs: Think about how certain colleagues become possessed when they hear “Sweet Caroline” in public. Let’s be real for a second. With all due respect to the legendary Mr. Diamond, the lyrics aren’t exactly anything to write home about.  “Hands… touching hands… reaching out… touching me… touching you.” It’s… fine. But it’s the emotion, that signature, slightly slurred, full-throated bellow that transforms it into an anthem that makes people scream along with zero shame. Respectfully.

• Emotional Serial-Dramas: Look at the enduring popularity of shows like Grey’s Anatomy (yes, still!), This is Us, Madam Secretary, even the seemingly lighter Modern Family at its core dealt with deep emotional connections. The reason I – er, we – can’t look away for long is because those feelings, that vicarious emotional rollercoaster, actually makes us feel… good. We live in a world of constant distraction. These shows allow us to process the emotions we might be actively ignoring in our own lives, but with a safe, dramatic distance. It’s like therapy, but cheaper and without a co-pay! It’s why even a show as quirky as The Good Place could delve into profound questions of love and loss without feeling draining.

• Freedom Fights: Think about the appeal of Shawshank Redemption, Glory, Star Wars, Independence Day, The Avengers. What ties them together? Beyond the explosions and the award-winning monologues, it’s the deep emotional investment in the characters and their struggles for something bigger than themselves – for freedom, for justice, for love in its broadest sense.

It’s obvious, isn’t it? To anyone paying attention, or just a SZA fan chilling in the hot tub with a little extra time, that we crave feeling! We want to emote!

Paramore was an inextricable part of my pre-teen years for a reason! Sometimes, young Charlie just needed to zip up his Aeropostale hoodie, put in his earbuds, and let the incomparable Hayley Williams take over. And I highly doubt I was the only one.

So, here’s my impassioned plea, @BigMusic: bring back the wholesome content!

I need it all. Give me the upbeat bangers about falling head-over-heels. Give me the ballads to scream in the shower. Give me the mid-tempo country jams about kissing on porch swings and finding love at the county fair. Hell, I’ll even take the sad trap for when she, inevitably, doesn’t feel the same way about you.

We want yearning! Give us the longing! It’s what the People want. It’s what we need.

Oh, and if you’re looking for a place to start, do yourself a massive favor and check out Willow Smith’s Empathogen. It’s one of my favorite albums of the last few years and it’s gloriously, unapologetically emo. Just the kind of outpouring we desperately need more of. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, my lukewarm existential soup is getting cold.

The Last Word

Fans always get to have the last word. Give us your take. Reply to this message for the chance to be featured.

Here’s what you had to say about our first piece on Vol. 010: