Parks & Recreation: April Ludgate, The Secretly Optimistic Cynic

Go to http://factormeals.com/thetake50 and use code thetake50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month. Gilmore Girls' resident rocker rebel Lane Kim ended up with one of the most disappointing outcomes in the series. While she began the show with a buzzing love for music and lust for personal freedom, as the show went on and her character was pushed further to the side, so much of what made her Lane was sanded away. In recent years, as more people have begun re-watching show on streaming, a wider conversation has opened up about Lane’s bummer of an ending and how she deserved so much better – or at least the chance to have tried to live the life she dreamed of. So let’s dive in and unpack what made Lane so great, why her story went off the rails, and why her ending feels so hollow (but maybe there is one positive aspect…) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Juli 202412min

At this point, it’s no secret that How I Met Your Mother’s Ted Mosby has a pretty delusional outlook on life – he’s the definition of a toxic Nice Guy and also not a great friend. But what is it, specifically, about his way of looking at the world (and the people in it) that was so wrong? And what can we learn from it, even if he didn’t? Let’s take a closer look at what Ted got wrong about life, love, and finding happiness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Juli 202412min

Vacations, from the super expensive & extravagant to totally relatable, feature in so many of our favorite movies & shows. Sometimes it’s a lot of fun just to watch some of our favorite, everyday characters go on some amazing – or hilariously not so amazing – vacations around the world. Just like our TikTok and Instagram feeds getting flooded with images and videos of influencers flitting around the globe, sometimes these onscreen vacations can give us a pretty unrealistic expectation of what an average vacation should look like – not to mention some pretty intense FOMO. So let’s take a deeper look at some iconic on screen vacations to unpack how they influence our own ideas of what our vacays should be – and sometimes remind us how important it is to just enjoy the ride, wherever you are. Don't forget to check out https://www.cyclingfrog.com and use our code THETAKE20 to support The Take & get 20% off of your order! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

29 Juni 202414min

Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones and Charlotte York were set up to be complete opposites: Samantha the free-loving, up for anything hottie and Charlotte the romantic, repressed Park Ave princess. But when we take a deeper look at their stories, we actually start to see that surprisingly… they’re a lot alike. While they don’t always see eye to eye on the ‘right’ way to live one’s life, they do share some important similarities in the ways they go about getting what they want (and in how they grow over the course of the show.) The pair actually provide some really interesting insight into how – regardless of the boxes that society might try to put us in – we’re not actually that different from people we think are nothing like us, and how having those people in our lives can actually help us form a more accepting, multifaceted view of ourselves. Get 50% off your first order of CookUnity meals — go to https://cookunity.com/thetake50 and use my code THETAKE50 at checkout to try them out for yourself! Thanks to CookUnity for sponsoring this video! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Juni 202412min

Go to http://zocdoc.com/THETAKE to download the Zocdoc app for free and book a top-rated doctor today! The Bikeriders, the new film starring Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and Tom Hardy as members of a growing and splintering motorcycle club initially had a lot of buzz, but since it’s release has been getting some pretty mixed reviews because to some viewers, it feels like… nothing much really happens. The film is (very loosely) based on the real life story of a Chicago motorcycle club, and so many went in expecting a bit more action. And the movie has raised a lot of questions – how much of it, exactly, is true to life, what was made up, and… what’s up with those accents? Let’s unpack all of that, plus take a deeper look at what the film was actually trying to say. (No worries, no major spoilers for the film until the final chapter!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25 Juni 202411min

Modern Family’s Gloria Pritchett was initially discounted by pretty much everyone else on the show. They were so blinded by her more obvious qualities and the fact that they assumed she was a gold digger, that they couldn’t even see the amazing person inside that beautiful package. But it quickly became clear that she was the one with the best outlook on life. And not only did she use her smarts to create a good life for herself and her son, she also helped the others on the show grow and become better, happier people themselves. So let’s take a deeper look at how, in the end, Gloria was right about pretty much everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 Juni 202411min

House of the Dragon's Rhaenyra and Alicent’s opposite personalities are the sun-and-moon gravitational pull that makes their relationship the heart of the show’s central conflict. Starting as each other’s closest companions, Rhaenyra and Alicent must contend with their own position in a patriarchal society that view women as merely vessels for male dominion. Let’s take a look at how each woman is shaped by their experiences with abusive men, desire, duty, and motherhood, which ultimately pits them against each other in a fearsome battle for the Iron Throne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Juni 202420min

Mean Girls’ Regina George is one of pop culture’s most iconic high school villains. Perhaps the worst thing about Regina is that what’s horrible about her is actually what’s… true. Regina was a menace because she understood some pretty dark fundamental truths about the world, and the fact that she was right about them underlines some major problems in society. So let’s take a deeper look at what Regina, unfortunately, got right in her outlook on life (and why it’s so important that society, like Regina, learns to change for the better.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12 Juni 202411min