海角大神

Top Picks: Lucy Dacus' 'No Burden,' PBS's 'Democrats/Soft Vengeance,' and more

Michael Pollan's four-part documentary on Netflix masterly narration reveals the crossroads where science, cooking, and dinner parties meet, Fathom Events' 'Renoir: Revered and Reviled' explores Pierre-Auguste Renoir's life and influence over artistic movements, and more top picks.

Lucy Dacus

April 8, 2016

Burden of joy

It鈥檚 a great pleasure to discover someone who seems to have arrived fully formed with a stack of great songs to share. Lucy Dacus is such an artist. , her engaging debut, is honest, confessional, and a little sad 鈥 but never dull. Her husky alto had us at 鈥淚 don鈥檛 wanna be funny anymore./ I got a too short skirt, maybe I can be the cute one./ Is there room in the band? I don鈥檛 need to be the frontman./ If not, then I鈥檒l be the biggest fan.鈥 Get on board. Dacus is going places.

Irish anniversary

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On the anniversary of the Easter Rising in Ireland, SundanceTV is debuting the TV series . The show takes place during the 1916 rebellion there, and through fictional characters, the creators explore why various revolutionaries took up the cause and how it affected everyone in Ireland鈥檚 society. 鈥淩ebellion鈥 premi猫res on April 24 at 8 p.m. Viewers should be aware that it includes adult language.

Peek at political process

Airing as part of the PBS 鈥淚ndependent Lens鈥 program, the film portrays the efforts of two political representatives in Zimbabwe, Douglas Mwonzora and Paul Mangwana, to craft a constitution for the country following their two parties becoming a coalition government in 2009. The film airs on April 18 at 10 p.m.聽

Where science and cooking meet

Food journalist Michael Pollan has turned his 2013 book into a four-part documentary on Netflix. The one-hour episodes tackle the essentials of cooking by exploring cultural histories and profiling a range of skilled artisans from barbecue pit masters to bakers. Pollan鈥檚 masterly narration not only elucidates the crossroads where science, cooking, and dinner parties meet, it reveals a fascinating underworld of microbes and bacteria busy at work in the foods that we cook and eat.

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Art at the movies

Go see renowned art at a movie theater with Fathom Events鈥 , which will be at select theaters on April 21. The film showcases the artist鈥檚 work and also explores his life, including how he influenced the Impressionist movement and then went against it. Check www.fathomevents.com to see if it鈥檚 playing near you.