Copie's Choice for the weekend of October 7

Published: Fri, 10/07/22

Happy Friday!

As you probably noticed, there was no COPIE’S CHOICE last week and if you saw Wednesday’s COPELAND’S CORNER BLOG, you know why. On Thursday, my daughter Carolyn gave birth to a beautiful baby girl she named Nora. I’m a Grandpappy! I’ve been a little preoccupied to say the least. I’ve only been a grandparent for a week, and I’ve got to say that so far…it’s pretty cool. I get to hold her, rock her and sing to her and when she poops, I get to hand her right back to her mother. Now that’s a deal!

I’m also getting ready to give birth to a baby of my own. GRANDMA & ME: An Ode to Single Parents, my first new solo play in seven years, opens at the Marsh in San Francisco on Saturday night. That performance is sold out but there are tickets for tonight’s final preview performance at 7:30. Folks have been kind enough to be on their feet at the end of every preview performance thus far, so in a rare move, the play has already been extended prior to opening! The show will now run until November 19. I hope you’ll come out and see what I think is my best work to date. The San Francisco Examiner says, “If you’re a single parent or you have a single parent in your life, you need to see this show!” For tickets go to www.themarsh.org. For tonight’s preview, if you are a grandparent and use the code GRANDPARENT when getting your tickets online, you get them for free. Single parents, use the code SINGLEPARENT5 and get your for only $5 this evening. Parental status is on the honor system.

Surprisingly, I’ve actually been able to check out a few things for you this week…

READING

CONFIDENCE MAN: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America

By Maggie Haberman

There have been many books written about Donald Trump but NONE like this.

Maggie Haberman had been covering Donald Trump for the New York Times since he was a grandiose developer in Manhattan. She covered his 2016 presidential bid and after he won, found herself on the White House beat. Trump would call her at night on his private cell phone to bitch, complain and gripe about his day. He actually referred to her at one point as being his “therapist.” That was, of course when he wasn’t berating her coverage of him and calling her and her colleagues “enemies of the people.”

CONFIDENCE MAN is a cradle to grave biography sourced by over 250 interviewees who were interviewed multiple times. It tells the origins of the Trump money, the influence of Fred Trump on the beliefs of his children and how Donald was shaped to have the his current worldview. This is a psychological autopsy that explains how Trump led America down the path the country is currently on and why. It is by far the best book on the subject to date.

Copie’s Choice: READ

WATCHING

Cobra Kai

Season 5

Netflix

When I first heard that YouTube was launching a streaming service with original content that was a continuation of The Karate Kid trilogy, I was dubious at best. I loved the original movies but doubted that there was anything fresh to be done with them. Boy was I wrong! I watched the first few episodes of season one and have been hooked ever since. The show moved to Netflix a few seasons ago and remains enthralling. It stars the original stars of the films, Ralph Macchio and William Zabka as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence and it carries their rivalry from the 80s into the 21st century and the current generation of Gen Zers. I don’t want to give anything away except to say that it’s a fun, exciting and thoroughly entertaining show and a great binge watch. If you have kids, it’s a show you watch together. If you haven’t seen the Karate Kid movies or haven’t screened them in a long time, watch them first on Hulu. Literally EVERY major character shows up at some point in these first five seasons.

Copie’s Choice: Definitely WATCH

Reasonable Doubt

Hulu

I couldn’t sleep the other night and stumbled upon a great new legal thriller on Hulu. "Reasonable Doubt" stars Emayatzy Corinealdi as Jax Stewart, a former public defender now the only African American partner at a high-powered Los Angeles law firm. We watch Jax as she tries to juggle her home, family and her demanding career when she’s drawn into defending an African American billionaire accused of murdering his mistress. Jax’s ethics are questionable at best and she’s a fascinating character to watch. Executive Producers include Kerry Washington ("Scandal") and my old pal Larry Wilmore ("The Nightly Show," "The Bernie Mac Show"). The show drops weekly. I’ve seen the three episodes that are already out and I’m hooked.

Copie’s Choice: WATCH

PODCAST

Nice White Parents

Serial Productions/New York Times

Spotify, iTunes

This is a podcast that originally dropped during the shutdown in 2020 and I have no idea how I missed it. It’s from the folks who brought you "Serial" (the Adnan Syed case) and it’s great. The podcast studies the public school system in New York (which to my surprise has been named the most segregated public school system in the nation) by looking at the ups and downs of a middle school built in the late 1960s and how its student body makeup, test scores and desirability is shaped by what white parents want. The podcast says that there is a threshold for white students, a 27% white student body, that has to exist in order for white parents to send their children to a school. Once they do, they take over with their own agenda, disregarding what the existing parents of color and PTA want. Students and parents of color are left almost completely out of the equation as the white parents fundraise for the pet projects they want (such as a curriculum in French) and a tiered system for “gifted students.” If the white parents pull their children out of the school and it dips below the 27% threshold for white students, it’s left with only black and brown kids, less funding, fewer experienced teachers and fewer resources. It’s then deemed to be “undesirable.” The podcast goes on to say that contrary to popular belief, the most segregated schools in America are not in the South as you might think, but in “progressive” blue states. This is an important podcast that anyone who cares about education in this country should listen to.

Copie’s Choice: A MUST LISTEN

That’s it for this week. I’m going to go hold my granddaughter!

Have a great weekend. Come see me tonight!

Copie

BrianCopeland.com

1271 Washington Avenue #146
San Leandro California 94577
USA

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