The Five: A card game, acapella dancing and more for early winter

MPR News director of programming Steph Curtis stopped by with an early winter edition of “The Five,” where she recommends things to read, listen to and experience right now.

1. Watch the documentary show “How To” by John Wilson and the movie “The 40-Year-Old Version” by Radha Blank. I linked these two recommendations based on the fact that both show the gritty, delightful, unexpected side of New York City. In “How To,” Wilson records people on the sidewalks and in the buildings of New York, documentary-style, and reveals the humanity of the city. Likewise, “The 40-Year-Old Version,” tells the story of a struggling playwright trying to make it in the heart of the big city.

2. Read The Pretender by John Rosengren in Atavist Magazine. It’s a deep dive into the mystifying case of Lois Riess, the woman from Blooming Prairie who killed her husband and then killed a stranger and assumed her identity in her attempt to escape arrest. How does a Minnesota grandmother who baked cookies, loved bowling, ran a daycare and doted on her grandchildren turn into a murderer? It’s a great read.

3. Play Ravine, a fun family card game, suitable for all ages. It’s a cooperative game, instead of a competitive one. The premise is there’s been a plane crash, and you have to work together to survive an adjustable number of nights. We’ve been playing it a lot during quarantine at my house.  

4. Read the novella “Address Unknown” by Katherine Taylor. Originally published in 1938, this quick read is a series of letters between a Jew in America and his German friend, as the German becomes enraptured with Nazism. Can friendships survive in a divided world? There’s a reason this book has been reprinted 11 times.

5. Listen to this cover of “My Sweet Lord” by acapella group The Belmonts. It’s danceable — which is not something you probably ever thought you’d say about this song.

A bonus recommendation from Kerri:

Listen to the podcast Whirlwind by Tim Weiner, based on his book of the same name. Weiner is a writer who focuses on international espionage, and this podcast is a fantastic explanation of what’s happening today, as Russia seeks to undermine American democracy.