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Hello everyone, and especially hello to new parents! The news media is troubling, is it not? And on occasion it veers from being merely troubling to flat-out horrifying. I have found that the news, and in fact any violent or disturbing media at all, can be simply unbearable for many people but most especially new parents, who are in a delicate state.



So I’m taking this opportunity to compile a master list of books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, etc. that are non-troubling—easy, non-distressing entertainment for people who can’t bear anything disturbing for a while (and possibly forever).

This primarily means: no “child-in-peril” plotlines, no kidnapping, no pediatric cancers, no miscarriages or other weeping people in hospitals, no child abuse, no one-parent-kicks-the-bucket-leaving-the-other-to-bravely-soldier-on, likely no war stories unless it’s something calming and English like Foyle’s War, no rape scenes, no torture (I’m looking at you, Scandal), probably no Cormac McCarthy but I can’t say for sure because I can’t even bear to try, probably no otherwise-terrific shows like Call the Midwife or Orange is the New Black.


So hit me. What are your favorites? I’ll get us started: I’m currently reading The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford, Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy, Harry Potter with my son, and I’m listening to pop culture podcasts and some political podcasts. For shows I’m working my way through Andy Griffith and The Gilmore Girls, and I watch baseball, which is soothingly abstract.

What are you watching/reading/listening to?