As long as people are unsatisfied, there’ll be multitudes of stories for them to read about the best jobs to look for and best companies to work at. We always want to excel at our careers, but, if we’re honest, lurking behind all that drive is the desire to bow out of the rat race, pack a bag, and travel the world; to disappear on a perpetual vacation.

What if these two diametrically opposed lifestyles could be combined?

Jon Olson has shown us the light. He’s turned vacationing into his dream job, creating an international adventure for himself with every new day. As the host of KoldCast TV’s hit travel series Next Stop, Jon travels to exotic and compelling locales throughout the globe, anywhere from Sydney to Seattle. He interacts with the locals, tastes the regional fare, and immerses himself in the culture of whatever city he’s decided to sniff and scratch.

You are watching Episode 21 of Next Stop: “Miami”

This isn’t a pursuit of self-gratification for Olson, either. With every episode, Jon’s ultimate goal is to share his experience with viewers in a fun, inclusive, informative and family-friendly manner.

On Episode 21 of Next Stop, Olson brings us to the sun-drenched, swanky paradise that is Miami, Florida. He actually takes a break from people and gets cozy with some extraordinary animals at the Jungle Island theme park. Olsen provides an up close and personal view of some of the most rare and exciting creatures alive today, including taking a ride on a giant tortoise that may very well outlive us all.

Olson, not one to waste a moment, heads straight for some quality time with a different bunch of animals, the Miami Dolphins. Jon tailgates at the stadium, sampling barbecued treats and quizzing fans about the extent of their knowledge of the only NFL team in history to have a perfect season. In fact, this was his favorite Miami activity. “I’m a huge NFL fan,” says Olson. “To be there for the Dolphin Hall of Fame Inductee Ceremony was special. Don Shula is a football legend.” As if his day couldn’t get any better, the Dolphins earned a much-needed victory.

No trip to Miami would be complete without a little R and R, and no resort comes close to the exquisite Eden Roc, where Jon is overcome by what he terms its “provocative flair and swanky feeling.” The interior of the resort is just as beautiful and impressive as its opulent exterior, designed by Morris Lapidus to hug the Atlantic Ocean. While at the hotel, Jon takes it easy and receives a luxurious spa treatment at the first Elle magazine-sponsored health spa in the world. He also gets a taste of Miami’s international flavor by dining at the resort’s restaurant, 1500 Degrees, run by executive chef Paula DaSilva.

Episode 22 of Next Stop follows Jon from the Sunshine State to Sun Valley, Idaho, where he claims, “the only similar thing about these two destinations is the sunshine. Sun Valley is a ski resort with a whole different vibe, which I really dig. It’s much more laid back and chill, as most ski towns are.”

Click to watch Episode 22 of Next Stop: “Sun Valley”

Sun Valley is sunny, but it’s a veritable winter wonderland too. John goes tubing and skiing on Dollar Mountain and Mt. Baldy before working up the courage to go paragliding, which entails jumping off a mountain with nothing but a parachute attached to your back. And Jon, always striving to learn something new, also gets schooled in the fine art of synchronized skiing. Yes, that exists.

After all the rigorous snow sports, Olson enjoys an après-ski at an entirely new kind of spa, the Sun Valley Resort and Lodge. He takes in the rich history and sense of community, and quickly ingratiates himself with his fellow guests, all extremely friendly and welcoming. Perhaps the greatest fun fact Jon discovers is that Ernest Hemingway finished writing his masterpiece, For Whom the Bell Tolls, in room 206 of the lodge now aptly named “The Hemingway Suite”.

Jon’s timing in Sun Valley was impeccable; he arrived smack in the middle of the 3rd annual Sun Valley Nordic festival, celebrating the fast-paced sport of Nordic skiing. The town hosts races where skiers compete at all levels. Following the fierce races, Jon warms up with some live music at local hotspot, Whiskey Jacques.

What’s particularly amazing about Sun Valley is that it’s just as much a summer spot as it is a winter escape. “My crew and I can’t wait to go back and film in the summer months, which we’re told are even more fun than the winter,” says Jon. “We’d love to take them up on that.” Sun Valley receives an astonishing 250 days of sunshine a year. Sounds like a good idea to us.

Whether in the Miami sun or Sun Valley, Jon Olson has seen the light. These locations come alive with his passion and expertise that burst off the screen. And as always, Olson implores his viewers to “make good memories” – to venture out into the waiting world and discover where their own Next Stop is on life’s path. We, for one, are believers.

Adam Pliskin recently graduated from Brown University and then relocated to Los Angeles in order to pursue his dream of becoming a writer and filmmaker. If that doesn’t work out, he’ll follow his other dream: that one where he’s trying to swim in an Olympic-sized pool full of chunky peanut butter while Al Gore just laughs at him. Either way, this kid’s got dreams and dreams make the world go round.

At a certain age, people realize that in order to get through their days sanely, they’ve adopted some belief system, a personal mantra, or at the very least taken up a convenient vice. As Woody Allen put it, “whatever works.”

Maybe it should come as no surprise then that a recent Associated Press poll found 77% of Americans believe in angels and 55% of these folks think they have a guardian angel personally watching over them.

This insight into our country’s core beliefs is music to the ears of blocked TV writers across Hollywood, as characters routinely challenged to save lives make for potent story fodder. Take the ER doctor or inner city detective; one need look no further than the current primetime network lineup to watch these heroes at work. Only with angels, the stakes are higher and the spectacle louder because they’ve got superpowers, baby.

KoldCast TV’s subversive series Passenger will have you rethinking where the halo on your TV angel typecast should go. This smart, supernatural ITV thriller follows Michael, a hitman for G-d here on Earth who’d swig a beer or strum a guitar just as easily as striking down a demon.

You are watching Episode 1 of Passenger

Redemption in a deserted bar.
Episode 2 of Passenger

Michael’s job is to track down angel-killing Slayers and off them with a very, very big sword. As he carries out his mission over the course of the series, Michael realizes he’s the centerpiece in an apocalyptic war raging between heaven and hell.

Passenger gives us an angel in Michael who’s not merely living in the stratosphere, but grounded, relatable. He even picks up a stranded hitchhiker proving angels don’t necessarily need superpowers to be helpful. It’s unnerving, imaginative, and in good company. TV has had a long history of winged wonders that were loved because they were distinctly, well, human.

Monica – Touched by an Angel (1994-2003)

Throughout its nine-season run, Monica, a recently promoted angel from the “search and rescue division”, helps hundreds of people navigate difficult moral quandaries while also learning a little bit herself along the way.

With each episode, she and her supervisor Tess would drive to a new town in their red Cadillac convertible and dispense messages from G-d, guiding people through a hard decision or spiritual crisis. Though Monica never had to fight demons, Satan popped up from time to time to cause trouble in the guise of a human.

Monica’s schmaltzy messages, delivered in her Irish brogue, made the show a ratings bonanza for CBS. At its height, Touched by an Angel was viewed by 15% of the television market. That’s a lot of touching.

Marty – Teen Angel (1997)

Oh TGIF, we millennials miss you dearly. Teen Angel was created by a couple of Simpsons writer-producers for ABC’s Friday night lineup and followed a wisecracking high school kid, Marty, who died and became an angel after eating a six month old burger on a dare.

Following Marty’s death, his friend Steve fell into depression, left by his dad and losing his best friend. G-d’s cousin Rod, who appears as a disembodied head, assigned Marty to be Steve’s guardian angel to help him pass tests, build confidence with girls, and of course, learn important life lessons.

Marty’s attempts to help always backfired, resulting in hilarity and horrifying awkwardness. A memorable example of this was when Marty, in order to save Steve from rejection, shape-shifted into his crush and went out on a date with him. Lasting only 17 episodes, Teen Angel is best remembered for its refreshingly flippant treatment of death, the afterlife, and spirituality in general.

Leo Wyatt – Charmed (1998-2006)

Leo is not precisely an angel but a “whitelighter”, the Charmed universe’s version of angels. For his good deeds, Leo was made a whitelighter by the Elders and imbued with powers such as levitation, teleportation, healing, telepathy, shape shifting, and general invulnerability. His job was to safeguard charmed witches Phoebe, Paige, and Piper, but unlike Passenger’s Michael, never, ever through violence. Leo’s healing power proved particularly helpful, often (perhaps too often) saving the girls from horrifying wounds, even on the verge of death. But near the end of the show, Leo finally gave up his powers to marry Piper.

Aaron Corbett – Fallen (2006)

This ABC Family miniseries combined the teen angst of high school with the epic spiritual crises of Paradise Lost. On Aaron Corbett’s 18th birthday, he began displaying strange powers, the strangest among them being his ability to talk to his dog, Gabe. Soon, Aaron discovers he’s actually a Nephilim, or angel-human hybrid.

Though he can fly and magically redeem fallen ones, Aaron’s also hunted by “Powers”, warrior angels sent to Earth to eliminate his race, which they perceive as abominations. Fallen, as with Passenger, treats angels with some moral ambiguity. By the end of the miniseries, Aaron discovers his father isn’t just any angel, but Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness himself. Dear old dad wants his son to redeem him so he can take over Heaven’s throne. Don’t worry, though, this is ABC Family! It can’t possibly end with G-d’s death and Satan’s ascension to rule all of existence… right?

Earl – Saving Grace (2007-2010)

After a night of heavy drinking, Detective Grace Hanadarko accidentally hits and kills a pedestrian with her car. In desperation she calls out for G-d’s help and right on cue there’s Earl, wings unfurled, just in case she didn’t recognize his awesome divinity.

Earl was a harsh, no-nonsense type who wore flannel shirts, chewed tobacco and drank beer much like Michael from Passenger. From time to time he even swore, but he was the perfect angel for Grace, who lived a hard, fast life in which she frequently had one-night-stands, drank heavily, and made terrible choices.

Earl acted as Grace’s de facto therapist, guiding her through moral and spiritually foggy dilemmas. With a TV name like Grace, she was virtually guaranteed a guardian angel – Running Wilde, Raising Hope, Tru Calling — these shows tell the entire story in their titles alone.

Whether your angel comes in beer guzzling, sword swinging form like Michael from Passenger, or they’re a compassionate, loving adviser like Touched by an Angel’s Monica, one thing is for certain: they’re a hell of a lot more fun to watch when they step off that cloud and start acting like a regular Joe.

Click to watch Episode 3 of Passenger

Treason begins after death.
Episode 4 of Passenger

Brad Pike is a writer and standup in Chicago. He also writes for Thought Catalog.
Twitter: brad_pike; Blog: ieatfoundthings.blogspot.com

KoldCast TV’s bold new comedy, Acting Out, explores the double life of a gay actor trying to reconcile his identity with making it big in image conscious Hollywood. “To come out or not to come out” is the flamboyant protagonist Bogie’s ultimate question, and he’s looking for answers in all the wrong places.

With his sexuality under deep cover, as if he’s taken on a role in a cheap spy thriller, Bogie tells his story from a perspective we don’t hear too often: life as an unknown actor. The show is lighthearted at its core and wildly entertaining, but also thought provoking in its discussion of identity and factors for social acceptance.

You are watching Episode 1 of Acting Out:
“The Manager, Part 1”

A double life can’t be that hard to pull off…
Episode 2: “The Manager, Part 2”

Bogie tortures himself over how he should act, both on and off screen. Should he assume a stereotypically masculine personality or just be? As a naturally self-conscious, overly sensitive artiste, Bogie aims to be the center of attention and does not take criticism lightly. He appears forced to weigh his options: conceal his sexual orientation and deny a facet of who he is, or come out with it and possibly encounter career-halting backlash.

The struggle to maintain privacy while in the public eye and the sudden pressure of playing a role model is difficult enough for straight celebrities. When an actor enters into the public viewfinder, their personal life is instantly on display if they don’t put a stop to it. Laying low is one approach, favored by actors such as The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons who came out last year, but Brennan Hillard’s Bogie seems like a louder personality unlikely to remain off the radar.

“If Bogie’s looking to cash out by coming out, it may be beneficial to wait until his IMDB credits are fleshed out, even if it proves soul-crushing.”

Press coverage and public perception are make-or-break factors in an actor’s career. Armed with a killer PR strategy, it’s possible to manage a double life. Keeping the world guessing could be beneficial to Bogie’s career, raising him to mysterious heights à la Tom Cruise. After all, fans’ clamor for gossip and insider information is a direct correlation to many celebrities’ craving for attention and self-affirmation. But the Hollywood machine continues to pump out speculation over who’s sleeping with whom, and the public’s interest on the subject is valuable tabloid fodder.

For actors like Bogie, manufacturing their image to further their career and widen their fan base is common and strategically sound practice. Studios look for celebrities with a high likeability index who can transition from summertime action hero to indie darling by fall, while consumer brands search for minimally controversial faces to endorse their products.

The pattern we see more and more often is actors coming out once they have already established successful careers. If Bogie’s looking to cash out by coming out, it may be beneficial to wait until his IMDB credits are a bit fleshed out, even if it proves soul-crushing. The perspective of social responsibility asks whether the burden is on gay actors to come out for the good of the LGBT community, at the risk of tanking their careers. Some argue that as prominent public figures, celebrities have an obligation to be forthcoming and lead by example. In the advent of Jodie Foster’s recent “did-she or didn’t-she?” speech at the Golden Globes, questions are being asked about shifts in attitudes towards homosexuality both within Hollywood and American society at large.

Is network TV catching up to the way things really are? Is there a diverse enough range of gay characters to accurately represent the population? With more gay characters on TV than ever, are audiences becoming more receptive and accepting? Although change has been underway since the early days of Montgomery Clift, and even as recently as 1997 when Ellen DeGeneres came out on the cover of TIME Magazine to much uproar, the threat of ruin is still palpable for Bogie’s character on Acting Out.

More recently, the influx of sitcoms such as Modern Family and the multiple successes of individuals like Ryan Murphy are opening up the conversation in boardrooms and living rooms. There may be more gay characters on TV, but these characters are often typecast and aren’t always as complex or developed as their heterosexual counterparts.

In the battle of the sexes, it appears that women are actually coming out (no pun intended) on top. It’s more common for lesbians to play heterosexuals than for gay man to play it straight. Television stars like Ellen and her wife Portia DeRossi maintain successful careers and lucrative endorsement deals. DeRossi, for example, has played straight characters on hugely popular television shows such as Arrested Development and Ally McBeal.

Further, given the heavily sexualized depictions of lesbians in American media, the public is more inclined to accept them. Coming out may even help gay women in their careers, ascribing an intrigue and eroticism to them as public figures.

While it remains to be seen whether the trend of celebrities coming out on top, as it were, continues, Acting Out tells their universal story from a muted perspective we need to hear – the actor who’s still struggling, still unknown. It’s the most realistic portrayal of the dilemma on ITV today, and even offers a few laughs to boot.

Click to watch Episode 3 of Acting Out:
“The Manager: Part 3”

Mixing business and sex
has never been this complicated.
Episode 4: “The Manager: Part 4”

Maria Kern is a contributing blogger at The Sixth Wall, Supercool Creative, and a student at Mills College in Oakland, CA. She is interested in creative marketing, film production, and the science of branding. Currently pursuing a degree in Legal Analysis, she finds creative inspiration in all things related to media and pop culture.

While there’s a whole lot of new age hoopla about how monogamy just isn’t natural, the vast majority of people still have a hard time with sharing their significant others, making successful threesomes a tricky proposition.

Fidelity anxiety is reflected in pop culture across the board, which habitually portrays threesomes as indicative of psychopathic overindulgence; e.g., A Clockwork Orange, American Psycho, etc.

They’re also extremely difficult to pull off without spiraling into disaster, which is obvious slapstick or soapy entertainment fodder. So it’s rare to see a show like 3Some, the risqué new ITV dramedy from KoldCast TV that examines sex and sexuality in modern society with such grace and honesty, without devolving into extremes of farce or melodrama.

You are watching Episode 1 of 3Some: “The End”

Threesome mistakes just can’t be forgiven.
Episode 2 of 3Some: “The Big Mistake”

One night, after a drunken game of “Never Have I Ever”, the happily engaged Paul and Jenny have a threesome with Paul’s best friend, Rob. A year later the reverberations are still being felt. Paul’s trying to accept who he is, Rob can’t settle down, and Jenny is struggling to forgive the one she loves.

It’s never easy to move past that sticky of a situation, but you needn’t look further than our top 10 disastrous pop culture threesomes to prove that two’s company, and three’s a crowd:

10) Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Immediately upon meeting Vicky and Cristina, the outrageously suave Juan Antonio invites them back to his home to drink wine, sightsee, and, you know, make love—which is completely reasonable because he’s far too attractive to be a murderer, right? In any case, Vicky, being sane and reasonable, refuses to go along with the last third of this itinerary, while Cristina, on the other hand, decides to move in with the guy – handsome, beautiful house, tons of money – who wouldn’t consider it? But when his volatile ex-wife María Elena arrives, the three begin a polyamarous relationship that soon ends traumatically for everyone except Cristina. The fallout results in Vicky getting shot in the wrist by a deranged María before calling everyone insane. What a mess.

9) Bored To Death (2009-2011)

In the episode “Monogamy Sucks”, Jonathan is surprised to learn his girlfriend Stella (played by Jenny Slate) is still in love with her ex boyfriend, Warren, a loutish schlubby type. Being horribly insecure and still in love, Jonathan agrees to an open relationship to make everyone happy, but since this is Bored to Death, the arrangement is obviously doomed from the start. Subsequent foreplay scenes illustrate some of the main difficulties with threesomes: logistics of who does what, diffusion of responsibility, borderline homoeroticism, and amplification of sexual insecurities. When Warren comes out of the bathroom with his substantial genitals revealed, it’s clear Jonathan’s relationship is over. Later, still reeling from the sight of Warren’s behemoth, Jonathan tells Ray, “I need you to look at my penis,” and they compare in the bathroom. “What? I have a long foreskin,” says Ray. “Not everyone in New York is Jewish, you know.” Sigh. Let us ruminate on the tragedy that is Bored to Death‘s cancellation.

8) Chasing Amy (1997)

Kevin Smith’s critically acclaimed film begins with the premise that Ben Affleck can turn a lesbian straight which is, of course, untrue, but a theme Affleck returned to again with the unwatchable Gigli. This was all way before he transformed himself into an Oscar winning director. A physical threesome never actually occurs, but the agonizing monologue in which Ben Affleck suggests to his girlfriend and best friend that they have one so as to alleviate their tension is so awkward and disastrous, it demands inclusion.

7) Wild Things (1998)

One potential problem with threesomes is that it’s easy for relationships to get more and more complicated, and Wild Things, with its shifting allegiances, extortion, blackmail, and deception, exemplifies this perfectly. At first, teacher Sam Lombardo is accused of rape by his students, Kelly and Suzie. Then it turns out they’re all lovers, exploiting the defamation case to get $8.5 million from Kelly’s mother. Then it turns out Kelly and Lombardo teamed up against Suzie. THEN it turns out Lombardo and the police officer secretly worked together. And then, finally, it turns out Suzie plans to betray everyone. And somewhere between all that byzantine nonsense is a threesome between them. Fun fact: the prospect of even a fake threesome was so unnerving that Matt Dillon, Denise Richards, and Neve Campbell all got drunk on tequila before filming it.

6) Archer (2009 – 2013)

This particularly gruesome threesome occurs in the episode, “The Swiss Miss”, in which Pam and Mallory get drunk on Green Russians and go skinny-dipping in a hot tub with an old Swiss billionaire. No, we don’t see the lurid details, but we do see the hideous aftermath: Pam and the old man splayed out like beached porpoises with Mallory between them, shamefully hiding behind a blanket. Ostensibly, this was to get him to invest some of those billions in ISIS, but it’s doubtful that Mallory realized just how intimate she’d be getting with her sloppiest employee.

5) Go (1999)

A quirky mix of Swingers and Pulp Fiction, Go’s entire Act II follows Simon and his friends on a riotous romp through Las Vegas as they steal a Ferrari, accidentally shoot strip club bouncers, and eat bad shrimp. At one point, Simon’s friend Marcus confides a recent interest in tantric lovemaking techniques. Not too long afterwards, Simon tries them out on two bridesmaids he picked up at a wedding he crashed with wild success. Too bad the whole experience is ruined when one of the girls accidentally sets the room on fire. Well, the movie’s called Go for a reason.

4) Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

Before he directed the third Harry Potter movie (no threesomes there, though some creative Harry, Ron, and Hermoine Google searches are bound to produce results), Alfonso Cuarón made this beautiful art film about two best friends, Julio and Tenoch, who have a threesome with a married woman named Luis while their girlfriends are out of town. It all seems like a fun, albeit unorthodox bonding experience until she ditches them in the morning and dies of cancer a month later. On top of that, it’s hard to stay best friends with someone after having drunken sex with him. After a brief meeting a year later, Luis and Tenoch never speak again.

3) The Dreamers (2003)

An American exchange student in Paris named Matthew falls in love with twin brother and sister Theo and Isabelle, who already have a borderline incestuous relationship but are poised to go full Lannister with enough of a push. This film has some odd, delightfully demented scenes in it: Theo cooking eggs while Matthew humps his sister on the floor next to him, all three in the bathtub together when Isabelle gets her period – “It’s good news,” she says – and Theo and Isabelle attempting to forcefully shave Matthew’s genitals. Through all that, what damages their relationship most is an awkward threesome toward the end of the film, immediately followed by the 1968 Parisian student riots.

2) Watchmen (2009)

In both the comic and movie versions of Watchmen, Silk Spectre thinks she’s having normal—or close to normal—sex with her boyfriend, Dr. Manhattan, until she notices another set of hands touching her face. When she opens her eyes, she’s justifiably horrified to see two naked Dr. Manhattans (one’s frightening enough) on top of her and screams. What makes it even more disastrous is when she goes into a different room to discover another Dr. Manhattan working away on a science experiment. “Were you working here at the same time as we were in bed?” she asks. His answer, “It seemed unnecessary to…” is not reassuring and prompts her to throw a cup through his blue, non-corporeal body.

1) Game of Thrones (2011-2013)

Poor Theon Greyjoy has been brutally tortured by a mysterious sadist for nigh an entire season. So long that viewers began to wonder how his suffering could possibly get any worse. Well, wonder no more. In the recent episode, “The Maiden and the Bear” (SPOILER ALERT), Theon is taken down from his cross by two sexy women who caress his forehead, dry hump him, and generally behave lasciviously upon his person. Of course, Theon is highly suspicious of this sudden shift from brutal torture to flirting and stroking, as his torturer has a history of delivering false hope followed by soul crushing despair. Just as he begins to enjoy the novel sexual attention, his torturer steps out of the shadows and orders his castration via miniature scythe. Hence, this mismanaged ménage à trois’ place on our list as the most problematic threesome scenario in recent pop culture history.

Threesomes don’t always lead to hurt feelings, murder, or castration. After all, a USA Today poll from 2004 revealed that 14% of Americans have experienced a threesome, and surely they didn’t all end poorly. Still, sometimes art imitates life and hopefully 3Some’s Jenny, Rob, and Paul can recover from their own disastrous threesome and, maybe, try for round two.

Click to watch Episode 3 of 3Some: “The Parents”

Brad Pike is a writer and standup in Chicago. He also writes for Thought Catalog.
Twitter: brad_pike; Blog: ieatfoundthings.blogspot.com

There was a time not too long ago when “nerd” was a dirty word. It conjured images of pocket protectors, acne, meticulous hair parts, and tasteless plaid button-downs. But those days are no more. Ours is an era so technologically hip, so wirelessly connected, so reliant upon the screen and the keyboard that “nerd” now has an honorable ring to it.

These days, to find yourself in the company of nerds is an invitation to the cool kids’ table. Case in point: Knerd Knews, KoldCast TV’s fresh news show about science, technology, and all things fashionably geeky. Hosted by the brassy and alluring Falon Joslyn, this fresh four-minute program is a whirlwind of fascinating facts, cheeky writing, and amazing stories. Remarkable for the way it turns niche content into engaging entertainment for a wider audience, Knerd Knews is a show right on the cusp of the cultural moment.

You are watching Episode 1 of Knerd Knews

Twitter tunes, polio vaccines, and… monkeys.
Episode 2 of Knerd Knews

Science and technology, because they’re constantly reinventing themselves and setting new cultural expectations, often thwart the very journalists whose job it is to cover the topics, dragging them into the cycle of consumerism and gadget-obsession to which they are inherently linked. But Knerd Knews goes right for the jugular, reporting on major pillars of the industry like Lockheed Martin, NASA, and Google to address serious questions surrounding issues like cloud infrastructure, women in the technology sector, and machine cognition.

But the show is quick to display its fun side, too. Its coverage on breakthroughs like the MYO armband, a bracelet that can discern the complex muscular movements that correspond to hand gestures and translate them to the screen, are nothing if not engaging. Delightful tales of wearable technologies, billboards that double as water filtration facilities, and drones that gather waste plastics are in abundance. Plus crisp, comedic writing delivers rapid-fire laughs. One particularly pithy punch line attended the recent discovery of the body of King Richard III, who left paramedics baffled as to how exactly they should carry out a “bloodline transfusion.”

Any bit of authentic nerd culture, however, carries an element of the countercultural. While nerddom can certainly be playful and lighthearted, there is no denying its darker dimension, its disdain for social norms and complicity with the socioeconomic system at large. Hence, the banner status of movies like The Matrix, of anime like Ghost in the Shell, and comics like V for Vendetta. Hence, also, the Internet’s “anons,” the amorphous activist collective that is the bane of electronic security services everywhere.

Though Knerd Knews is certainly an above-board sort of program, it is not altogether without this rebellious sensibility, and this is what really gives the show its freshness. When Joslyn cracks wise about the government monitoring your IP address or about big companies that have access to all your personal data, you know she’s joking — but not completely. The traces of insurrection in her voice turn the audience into secret allies and lends an air of intellectual nonconformity.

Joslyn herself plays no small part in giving the show its tone. She’s sharp, she’s gorgeous, and she’s a stylistic chameleon. It takes a person of rare aplomb to pull off a fake tuxedo shirt, a polka dot blouse, and a graphic tee that doubles as an innuendo all within the span of a few episodes. Watching the evolution of her style will likely prove one of Knerd Knews’ unsung pleasures.

The show occasionally steps out of the world of science and into world of science fiction. These departures serve to round out what may come across as a singularity of focus. While quantum computing and aerospace developments may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s hard to alienate viewers with news about Comic Con and The Lord of the Rings. If Star Wars is a geeky thing to enjoy, then there aren’t many who don’t qualify as geeks.

Humorous news programs are in no short supply on television and the Internet, but Knerd Knews finds its most relevant exemplars in the early history of the genre. While contemporary shows like Daily Show and Colbert Report have developed sophisticated voices as purveyors of both truths and fictions, the relatively simpler model of a talking head delivering facts with sass harks back to the glory days of MTV News. It’s probably too soon to tell, but with her signature fashion sense and brashness of delivery, Joslyn might turn out to be the Kurt Loder of her medium.

If silent K’s are any indication of style, Knerd Knews will prove to be a rallying point for fans of science, technology, and sharp-witted social commentary everywhere. With its editorial wit, brazen attitude, and compelling selection of news items, Knerd Knews is more than just a brand unto itself, it’s a an attempt to brand a generation.

Click to watch Episode 3 of Knerd Knews

Dark Energy? It’s all a matter of perspective.
Episode 4 of Knerd Knews

Toby Burns is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in LA Life, Pillow Talk, and others.

Last week’s virulent Time Magazine cover of a twenty-something taking a “selfie” on her iPhone has been making tidal waves. There’s been chatter about the problem with millennials for years, so why all the commotion? Perhaps it’s because Time is the first major, widely read and widely respected publication to call this generation out for being self-absorbed, “lazy, entitled, narcissists.” Ouch.

Journalism may just be catching up to some of our social truths by slapping them in the face, but good old exploitative Hollywood has been ahead of the curve for decades with a story often told, loyal to no specific genre or demographic, that milks our psychological need to feel special.

We love these movies and TV shows because when the credits roll, they leave us basking in the delusion of being the most important person in the room, or with the unnerving feeling that maybe we aren’t as special as we think we are. Here are our favorites:

1. Pillars (2012)

This KoldCast TV show is about a young man who realizes he’s one of 36 “Pillars”, people whose very existence sustains the earth. When one dies, they’re replaced to restore balance. If they all die on the same day, the world simply ends. The idea comes from the Jewish concept of the 36 Tzaddikim – the perfectly righteous – that the world needs alive at all times in order for it not to decay morally. This cutting edge ITV series reinforces the idea in the way it’s shot – completely by handhelds, in the first person.

You are watching Episode 1 of Pillars

Let your true self out. Lives depend on it.
Episode 2 of Pillars

2. The Truman Show (1998)

The Truman Show is the quintessential film that takes the idea of the world revolving around you and makes it literal. Truman Burbank is completely unaware that his life is the subject of the world’s most successful reality show followed by millions. All of Truman’s friends, family and neighbors are actors, and his greatest fears and ambitions carefully crafted by producers in order to keep him put. The movie explores the dark side of being the center of attention. Namely, if all eyes are on you, how can you ever be yourself?

3. The Harry Potter Series (2001-2011)

As you already know, the Harry Potter series revolves around a very special young boy, a wizard in the making who more or less holds the entire fate of the universe in his hands. The books and movies captured the attention of virtually every 9-18 year old on the planet by exposing them to the idea that with a little bit if imagination (and a magic wand) you can overcome all mundane odds and grow into your true self, an all-powerful magician and the most popular kid in school.

4. Lost (2004-2010)

This smash hit ABC sci-fi TV series centered around a group of people stranded on an island. Simple rescue story? Hardly. The island just so happened to be (SPOILER ALERT!) a time warped parallel universe that dictated the nature of reality for the rest of the world. An interesting twist on the person-as-center-of-the-universe complex, in this show, it’s the place more than the character that truly matters. In retrospect, what’s amazing is that the show’s creative force, Damon Lindelof, had no idea where the story would go when he started. He just knew that something about this setting, this special island, would give people the ability to affect the outside world, and that the rest would work itself out.

5. Paranorman (2012)

Taking a cue from The Sixth Sense, Paranorman is a dark, visually stunning animated film that chronicles the life of Norman, a young kid who can talk to ghosts. What makes Norman an outcast ends up making him a leader when the undead rise and he’s forced to negotiate their grisly takeover of the world on behalf of the living who’ve only ostracized the poor kid up until then. It’s a trope as old as movies themselves, but using a kid who’s barely out of middle school speaks volumes about the anxieties of our current tykes.

6. The Matrix (1999)

This one just isn’t very subtle at all. Keanu Reeves plays Neo, an anagram for One, who’s told over and over and over again that he is “The One.” In a dystopic future where a sophisticated computer program runs our lives and nothing is as it seems (we’re all actually stuck in pods, sucking down baby juice from a gigantic human farm), Neo finally convinces himself that recognizing how very special he is isn’t only therapeutic, it can save humanity from itself once again.

7. The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

The Adjustment Bureau imagines a world where a group of omnipotent 1950’s gumshoe types in fedoras make sure that the universe operates in the way it’s supposed to by controlling people’s actions, free will be damned. The interesting twist here is that while Matt Damon’s attempts to rage against the Adjustment machine may paint him as more special than everyone else, the movie is actually saying we’re all important enough to be controlled. Every human being’s actions and affairs are being watched over, guided, and amended, each an integral piece of the cosmic, unified puzzle.

Agree? Disagree? As you might’ve guessed, your unique, wonderful, important, and well-crafted opinion matters to us! What are some you think we missed? Let us know in the comments section below.

Nathan Savin Scott is a freelance writer who lives in Washington, DC. He has appeared in Newsweek, ESPN, Thought Catalog, and USA Today, among other publications.

In John Steinbeck’s great American novel, Of Mice and Men, a downtrodden George reassures his dimwitted pal Lenny about their plans for the future. “We’re gonna have us a little house and a couple of acres. We gonna live off the fat of the land… and have rabbits.” In 1937 when the novel was published, this life of simplicity, the chance to be master of your domain and earn your keep, was the American Dream. What happened?

Seventy-five years later, Jon Olson, host of KoldCast TV’s hit ITV travel series Next Stop, sought an answer doing what he does best: immersing himself in communities throughout the world and finding out, firsthand, what makes their people tick. In Episodes 19 and 20 of Next Stop, Olson explores three tiny, rural cities: Walla Walla, Washington and Mexico’s Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo – towns that have flourished by building strong communities around their unique natural resources.

You are watching Episode 19 of Next Stop:
“Walla Walla”

Washington’s Walla Walla and Mexico’s Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo have nailed the rags-to-riches story. Once the fruitful land does its part in making the town prosperous, the community can begin to foster tourism, billing themselves as unassuming, off-the-grid locales that you’d never find in Frommers. The notion of simple living still exists in these two diametrically opposed corners of our continent. Like most Americans, you’ll find it delightfully foreign compared to our fast paced, gadget hungry, punch clock lives.

As Jon Olson puts it, “Both communities celebrate small-town life. Having been raised in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota, I feel a connection with the smaller towns and their lifestyles. You know you’re getting the freshest of ingredients when you immerse yourself into their world. There is always a strong source of pride with the locals and this is another way they all celebrate community… a group of many different people who all bring something to the table, literally.”

Southeast Washington’s Walla Walla has been voted the friendliest town in America, but don’t mistake their kindness for contentment. Walla Walla doesn’t intend to remain an unknown blip on the country’s map forever. While they’re famous for their sweet onions, the city is also exploding with art, culture, and most deliciously, wine.

How is such a small town making such big varietal waves? “You will find some of the most amazing wine makers in the world who have chosen to live in this lovely, rural community. They have given up the crazy, busy lives of big city living and are now enjoying this wonderful community of Walla Walla,” remarked Olson. “We found it so refreshing to see these lovely people working together to truly create their community. It’s the way it should be.”

The name Walla Walla means “many waters”, named for the rich soil that nourishes its water. In the early 19th century, fur traders used Walla Walla as a trading post, after which it became a gold rush town before farming took over as the staple industry. While Next Stop: “Walla Walla” doesn’t focus on the multitudes of individual wineries that the town harbors, it says something about its spirit of economic ingenuity that’s been there since the beginning.

Still, Olson happily imbibes all sorts of wine in Walla Walla’s wineries, including Pepperidge Winery, L’Ecole No. 41, Woodward Canyon Wines, and Dunham Cellars Wines. “We’re not winemakers, we’re yeast shepherds,” clarifies an employee of Dunham Cellars. Every winery utilizes sustainable farming practices in order to live off the fat of their own land without irreparably destroying it while they thrive.

Next Stop: “Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo” explores the intersection of coast and culture. These two small Mexican towns proudly feature beautiful beaches, top-of-the-line fishing, and exciting tourism attractions. They’re ideal destinations for honeymooners, lovers, and families alike that seek to veer away from traditional big city beaches and get lost in a simple, small village instead.

You are watching Episode 20 of Next Stop: “Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo”

Rejecting the spate of violence in other regions of the country, Olson reassures us that “Now is a wonderful time to visit Mexico! Ixtapa is the newer of the two sister towns and is filled with upscale condos, golf courses and restaurants. They are big on gastronomy, living off their land and using local resources. Zihuatanejo is the older of the two towns, with charming cobblestone streets and lots of local history.”

While fishing is their main economy, the inhabitants of these tiny Mexican towns also use local agriculture to inform a growing foodie culture. Coconuts, chilies, and mangos are indigenous to the region and deliciously compliment the fish teeming off their shores.

The town of Zihuatanejo (Aztec for “City of the Women,” which Jon’s tour guide Paco happily explains as the reason he moved there) boasts the most coconuts in all of Mexico. Olson takes us on a trip to the local farm, where coconuts not used for cooking are fed to the chickens, illustrating the model for a cyclical nature of healthy agricultural life. While watching Jon eat a few, we also learn that coconut is used to make earrings, bracelets, necklaces, toys, alcohol, and even fuel.

Olson and his guide next show us Barra de Potesi, a small nearby town which houses 150 fishing families, all of which make a living by supplying their catch to Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo. Rather than import fish from around the world, local hotels rely on neighboring families and proudly show off their support to tourists.

As Olsen sees it, “the notion of ‘it takes a village’ is alive and well in small towns all over the world. It’s so wonderful to see so many people going back to this simple concept.” Perhaps the rest of us big city busybodies can take a page from the Walla Walla, Ixtapa, and Zihuatanejo’s lifestyle playbooks.

American television, cinema, and the culture at large are experiencing a late, great, Greek revival. From endless Clash of the Titans sequels to the battle raging between yogurt labels, Grecian is in fashion.

Greek mythology has always had its hand in the stories we tell, but its role was covert, utilizing mythological archetypes as the skeleton for fresh, contemporary characters. Today, we seem to be embracing purer, distilled Greek stories – robes, wreathes, and all – though some emerging filmmakers are approaching it with a clever twist.

One such visionary is Miriam Pultro, creator and star of KoldCast TV’s award winning series Mythos, a mysterious, character-driven drama that centers on Morgan, a modern day incarnation of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. Now happily married with two children and a devoted husband, love and family fill Morgan’s days but something deep inside, something ancient, disturbs her.

You are watching Episode 1 of Mythos

At the dawn of history, a secret is revealed.
Watch the exclusive new prequel to Mythos: “Dissonance”

When Pan, God of nature, interrupts Morgan’s idyllic life, ancient loyalties threaten to destroy her domestic bliss. Season two of Mythos is in the works, but for fans that simply can’t wait, Pultro has released Dissonance, a special episode that travels back in time to examine Pan and Morgan’s relationship before the great fall of Greek gods.

In terms of what really motivated her to create the show, Pultro cites a simple longtime fascination with mythology. “I’m very into ancient history and I noticed that a lot of myths are very similar across cultures. I started writing for myself, and I kept coming back to the story of Mythos. I got friends on board and it snowballed from there.”

Mythos is a map into not only the past, but the future as well. As post-apocalyptic entertainment increases in popularity, there is an expanding market for disaster-based stories rooted in Greek folklore. From The Hunger Games to Cloud Atlas, dystopian dramas are having a moment.

With their mortality in clear and present danger, the Mythos coterie faces threats that even the average human can relate to. Drawing from a variety of major and lesser-known characters across mythologies instead of adhering to any one particular archetype, the characters of Mythos have an overarching universality to them, something that was important to Pultro in developing the series. “All of the characters are combinations of other characters. But they do correlate specifically to Greek gods because I thought that would be more accessible,” she explains. The filmmaker drew connections between modern day characters and classic mythological figures to fashion each persona, resulting in a diverse cast, each with his or her own blended identity.

Television and movies rooted in classic mythology can be found across the genre spectrum — from Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite to Disney’s Hercules. As for how these characters resemble their pop culture contemporaries, the similarities are striking.

Allen’s film features Mira Sorvino in an Oscar-winning role as a version of the famed goddess of love. Known in Roman mythology as Venus, she is the ultimate sex symbol and the original screen siren, a woman so desirable that she causes all in her vicinity to act irrationally. Angelina Jolie has carried Venus’ baton for some time now here on Earth, both on and off screen. In 2007, she played an evil, medieval seductress in Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf, a story whose origins are tied to Homer’s The Odyssey. Keeping it in the family, Brad Pitt played Achilles in Troy, Hollywood’s summer blockbuster version of the Trojan War.

Interestingly, Pultro points to Breaking Bad’s antihero Walter White as the most current and surprisingly accurate take on the Greek legend of Prometheus. Once a family man and high school chemistry teacher, he transforms himself into a meth kingpin. When White’s newfound power goes to his head, he is more concerned over his status than with the original objective of supporting his family. “Breaking Bad deals with the issue of pride. You see that Prometheus arc in Walter White’s character. The power changes him,” says Pultro. Like Walter, Prometheus was a scientific thinker known for suffering the consequences of overstepping his bounds.

Other characters in Mythos have their counterparts in American culture as well. The poster boy for Mythos’ Pan is none other than John Mayer, whose reputation is a womanizing musician with a knack for troublemaking. Tabloid fodder for the last decade, Mayer has had his share of ungodly missteps and tawdry liaisons, getting by with his guitar in lieu of Pan’s lute.

More innocent is Artemis, original huntress and guardian of the young. She encompasses maternal values closely associated with contemporary female characters. Katniss Everdeen, heroine of The Hunger Games, aims to protect her younger sister from certain death, ultimately sacrificing herself in order to do so. Suzanne Collins, famed author of the book series and now hit movie franchise, clearly drew on the Greek myth of Theseus as well, in which Athen’s seven most courageous youths and beautiful maidens would be sent to a vengeful king as tribute for his slain son.

Unlike some of the blended Greek gods formed in her mind, Pultro is quite down to Earth given the show’s success. Mythos has won numerous awards this year, including an official selection at the Hollyweb Festival, two Indie Soap awards, and another two wins at the 2013 LA Web Series Festival. “It is so nice to have anybody watch it and then to be given this gift, I’m so grateful and it’s so exciting,” admits Pultro. “It boosts the profile of the show. I think anyone would be lying to say that it isn’t awesome.”

Click to watch Episode 2 of Mythos

Everyone’s journey is a lonely one.
Episode 3 of Mythos

Maria Kern is a contributing blogger at The Sixth Wall, Supercool Creative, and a student at Mills College in Oakland, CA. She is interested in creative marketing, film production, and the science of branding. Currently pursuing a degree in Legal Analysis, she finds creative inspiration in all things related to media and pop culture.

New York City’s over-the-top babysitting culture was just asking for it: the precocious children, roving helicopter parents, and of course the caretakers themselves, who are often less mature than the kids they watch.

“I’m eleven years old… Somehow, I’m her career advisor,” complains an eleven-year-old about his fame hungry babysitter in KoldCast TV’s sleeper hit comedy Sitting On Babies.

Created by real-life babysitters turned comediennes Becky Whittemore and Brooke Jacob, the series’ blend of relatable yet cockamamie stories, taking a cue from the Modern Family playbook, have resonated with viewers across the country. Sitting On Babies has garnered over 500,000 views on KoldCast TV to date, and Becky and Brooke are already hard at work on season two.

You are watching Episode 1 of Sitting On Babies:
“Meet the Babysitters”

Even sitters must choose between love and career.
Episode 2: “Double Date”

“People seem to really enjoy these stories and keep asking for more episodes,” said Brooke. They credit the show’s success to high production values and the various contributions of their cast and crew. But for the second season, Becky and Brooke are shooting for larger, more ambitious episodes and a faster release schedule. They’ve created an appropriately mid-level Kickstarter campaign through which fans can help fund it. “We don’t like asking for money,” said Becky. “But we’ll do it for the sake of our show!”

In the brave new world of ITV, media is more democratized, and a smaller, slightly more rabid fan base can be just as effective as a very large following if viewers are willing to fund their favorite show’s production. That’s why high quality series like Sitting On Babies stand a better chance of survival, particularly when placed on a network like KoldCast TV. While YouTube may distribute everything under the sun, KoldCast’s carefully curated content means viewers don’t have to wade through millions of cat videos in order to stumble upon great shows.

Sitting On Babies was conceived when Becky and Brooke met at the Upright Citizens Brigade, New York City’s comedy mecca, where after sharing funny babysitting horror stories they realized their mutual “survival job” could be mined for some serious comedy. They then teamed up with director Tim Young, a recent NYU film graduate who was able to bring their ideas to life on a paltry budget, literally comprised of their babysitting earnings.

Would you leave this Kickstarter fundraising campaign alone with your children?

Of course, any parents concerned over scenes depicting a babysitter’s attempt to “friend” a three-year-old on Facebook or their sexual harassment by a child can put their worries to rest; the series isn’t based on true stories. “We are inspired by our experiences with children, but we actually work for nice families and enjoy our jobs!” said Becky. “Our characters are definitely based on exaggerated aspects of our own personalities though.”

Becky plays Betsy, an obsessive-compulsive babysitter who takes her job way too seriously, and Brooke plays Dana, a delusional and narcissistic actor who thinks babysitting will lead to her big break. The only people keeping them grounded are the children they look after, who refuse to entertain their neuroses. Dana self-consciously asks a little girl if she’s pretty and receives a blank stare and slow headshake. Betsy questions a budding romance to another child: “Do you think he even likes me?” The only answer she receives is the banging of a toy teapot. “I’m not her therapist,” the girl later confesses to the camera.

Becky and Brooke were thrilled with the children’s performances in season one and fortunately their parents had a sense of humor about it as well. Not to mention the kids, who loved seeing themselves on screen. The SOB Facebook page features a candid shot of one child actor, Catori Sarai Crawford, giddily signing autographs in Times Square. “The children have all been great and love being a part of the show,” said Becky, “except for my friend’s child, Anya, who in Episode 2 cried for her mommy, which we totally used.”

Sitting On Babies castmember Catori Sarai Crawford signing autographs in Times Square.

The actors who play the various parents are also exceptional, featuring four Broadway performers that appear throughout the series. In Episode 3, one mother calls Dana over on the pretense of having her babysit, which turns out to be a ploy to just hang out and be her friend. Another hawk of a mother verges on psychotic when she descends on Betsy for supposedly screwing up the mac n’ cheese. The show’s format allows for a kind of caricature showcase, introducing outrageous new parents with every new episode for the girls to bounce off.

Becky and Brooke meet at a coffee shop to brainstorm story ideas before sitting down to pen each episode’s script, then email back and forth throughout the day – yes, often while babysitting, but only after the kids are asleep, of course. Becky writes the “Betsy” half of the storyline while Brooke writes the “Dana” half, and they connect the two plots afterwards. Tim then provides his directorial feedback, and they gather mommies, daddies, and kiddies from New York City’s upper crust to shoot the series.

With a Kickstarter fundraising campaign now underway, fans can look forward to plenty of new Sitting On Babies episodes in season two, but they’ll need to put their money where their mouths are. For a show funded with babysitting scratch, the first four playful episodes of the first half of season one (four episodes are in release and four more season one episodes are coming) boast exceptional production value, from their reality TV style to the animated opening credits. After a proper budget is in place for season two, maybe Brooke and Becky can finally use all that extra babysitting cash on some pizza and a movie.

Click to watch Episode 3 of Sitting On Babies:
“Lady Sitting”

Ever been hired to be a friend?
Episode 4: “Rejection!”

Brad Pike is a writer and standup in Chicago. He also writes for Thought Catalog.
Twitter: brad_pike; Blog: ieatfoundthings.blogspot.com

It begins with a bomb.

As terrifying a scene as you’ll find in an adventure novel, Ken Sonenclar’s Bombs and Believers opens with a massive explosion in Turkey that kills 500 American sailors. The first character we meet is CIA Station chief Felix Maurer, who we see digging through the rubble after the blast, trying to save a young soldier’s life. He screams at him to hang on, but in the end, it’s too late. By the time Felix grabs the man’s hand, a hand barely out of high school, it is cold.

How does the tragedy affect Felix? Sonenclar doesn’t make it that easy for us. As soon as we identify with the character, he’s dropped him from the narrative. We won’t see him again for half the novel.

This is the first of many twists in Bombs and Believers, an adventure-packed thriller that travels around the world. It’s a literary homage to Indiana Jones, with a heavy dose of Raymond Chandler and touch of Tom Clancy thrown in for good measure.

This melding of genres —adventure, crime, art history, and modern warfare — demands much from Sonenclar’s protagonist. Blake is just as much in his element discussing the art of 15th century Constantinople as he is shaking down a perp.

Where Felix Maurer leaves us hanging, the narrative is picked back up by LAPD detective and art theft expert Zander Blake, who is on his way to London to speak at a conference of leading archaeologists and art historians. Upon arriving, Blake discovers that an acquaintance, Dr. Linus Hart Crane, has been mysteriously killed. The newspapers say it’s a botched burglary but Blake is suspicious. He meets Crane’s student, Penny Theobald, who shares his suspicions that something is rotten in London.

What begins as an examination of the politics and culture surrounding the world of high art and historians soon transitions to a tight crime story following the investigation led by Detective Blake. He pokes around, asks tough questions, and stirs up trouble in a way only a seasoned cop can. When Penny is kidnapped and Blake is powerless to stop it, the novel lurches forward. The stakes are raised and the chase really begins.

Following Sonenclar navigate a multitude of genres is great fun. Blake will move from the sophisticated halls of an auction house – a scene in which you feel James Bond would be comfortable – and in the next chapter get knocked out by a couple of thugs. It’s homage to the great hero of Raymond Chandler’s novels, Philip Marlowe, who was knocked out by thugs about once every three chapters. This melding of genres —adventure, crime, art history, and modern warfare— demands much from Sonenclar’s protagonist. Blake is just as much in his element discussing the art of 15th century Constantinople as he is shaking down a perp.

It’s a testament to the author that we believe in Detective Blake as much as we do. He’s far from the traditional archetype of an LAPD detective (not one to enjoy a donut) and several chapters are in large part devoted to peeling back his layers. Within the folds are an extensive knowledge of art and history, and eventually an illumination of why such an intellectual chose his dirty, dangerous profession.

Sonenclar believes history is a thing to be navigated, explored, and fought off. In a way, it becomes another character in the novel. History has a personality, needs and desires of its own.

Just when readers might run out of breath keeping up with Blake, they’re quieted down with an introduction to Helen Vandameer, curator for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She’s also on a hunt throughout Europe, not for a criminal, but rather rare works of art that will restore her credibility. Helen’s decision to exhibit certain pieces illegally acquired by Nazis landed her a scathing editorial in the New York Times and she is on the museum’s board of directors’ last rope. Vandameer is as resourceful as she is blindly ambitious, tracking down and seducing billionaire Bulent Ozbek, a man with a mysterious past who happens to own one of the great private art collections in Europe.

The narrative twists across the world: to Istanbul, London, New York, Los Angeles, and back again, as the paths of Blake, Vandameer, Penny and Ozbek connect, detach and reunite. Detective Blake soon ties his friend’s murder to the bombing in Turkey, or at least thinks he does, and the group heads to Istanbul in pursuit of the truth. It’s then and there that they, and we, reconnect with Felix Maurer, hurdling the novel into its final act. Zander, Penny and the others are compelled to solve a series of puzzles, each more difficult than the last. These challenges gradually reveal a sinister plot threatening the protection of one of the great wonders of the world, a work of art assumed to be lost to history.

Sonenclar begins every section with quotes from some of the greatest writers to grace humanity — Kipling, Shakespeare, Yeats, Euripides — carving out a texture for readers to get comfortable with. The story is rooted in the literary as well as historical narrative of our world. Beyond merely using history as a backdrop for the story, Sonenclar believes it is a thing to be navigated, explored, and fought off. In a way, history becomes another character in the novel. It has a personality, needs and desires of its own.

At times, the novel feels like listening to an extremely intelligent friend tell stories. You’re doing your best to keep up, and not let on that you don’t know the sequence of Byzantine invasions.

Historical focus is just one of the factors Sonenclar uses to color the storytelling. His interests run far and wide— through the geography of Europe, the inner workings of an elite auction house, the American justice system, and international terrorism – woven through a complex system of characters, ideologies, plot twists and action scenes. At times, reading the novel feels like listening to an extremely intelligent friend tell stories. You’re doing your best to keep up, and not let on that you don’t know the sequence of Byzantine invasions.

Like all able writers, though, Sonenclar makes the history accessible, unafraid to use a paragraph for explaining something to the layman. Some of the minor characters come and go too quickly for us to really get to know them, and every once in a while they lecture for a moment, but this is the price one pays for learning so much in a thriller.

Bombs & Believers author Ken Sonenclar.

Sonenclar shines through the novel’s moments of high action. With the Turkish bombing, details are given helter-skelter; time seems to condense, slow down, then speed up again. Sonenclar captures the surreal nature of war in those opening pages in a way that’s rarely well executed by an independent author:

“Those around him were shocked and battered. Spread before him was a sea of death and anguish. Overhead, red, white and blue fireworks flanked a spiraling funnel of acrid smoke and radiated a splash of light. Sirens wailed.”

The heightened emotion is not overwrought — Maurer is at once confused and very, very afraid. The language is, for the most part, straightforward prose one expects in a crime or adventure novel. At moments, though, real beauty sneaks through. There’s one passage that describes Blake finding himself immersed in:

“…languorous quiet—even the rumble of the surf was gone, replaced by the caws and whistles of exotic birds and the rush of animals through the underbrush…”

Sections like this display a command of language that is startling, almost poetic. Like any good adventure novelist, however, Sonenclar drops these flourishes in few and far between; a peppering not meant to get in the way of the meat of the story. That is the real reason we’re turning pages, the plot, and Sonenclar never forgets that.

Zander Blake is eventually led to a centuries-old artifact that helps his motley new crew piece together the tragic, fragmented mystery they’ve been chasing. Without spoiling it for you here, there’s a twist or two in the finale to satiate even the most advanced connoisseur of mysteries and thrillers.

With turns like these, there is little else that keeps readers from plowing through this story, staying up late, too late, as they’ll flip the pages, rooting for Zander and Penny who’ve gone off into the night, in earnest, to right a wrong.

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