5 pieces of pop culture to help you endure the election

Black Mirror 

Charlie Booker’s British sci-fi anthology series is one of the best — and most disturbing — television series currently airing. A “Twilight Zone” for the modern age, each hour-long episode addresses the way technology is changing and, in many cases, corrupting our world. It’s tackled social media obsession, technology’s possibilities to turn us immortal, and the way our past lies and misdeeds can continue to haunt and destroy us. It’s impeccably acted and directed and nearly always ends with a twist or revelation that punches you in the gut. If you’re a fan of smart science fiction, I highly recommend it. (If you’re a fan of warm fuzzies and comfort viewing, maybe not).

Certainly, technology has contributed to our heated diatribes and hot takes this election, so much so that I’d probably recommend “Black Mirror” even if it had no political connections. But two episodes in particular address our current bleak climate: the premiere, “The National Anthem” (which I do NOT recommend to people sensitive of really icky things), and “The Waldo Moment.” I won’t say anything more about the plots of those two episodes, except to say that they are terrifying in how the predict the tone and tenor of our world right now. And if you want to stay away from politics, the great thing about “Black Mirror” is its anthology format; you can watch any episode you please in any order you want. Every one I’ve seen is fantastic, but if I had to single out two, they would be the emotionally devastating “The Entire History of You” and the haunting existential nightmare of “White Christmas” (starring Jon Hamm).

It’s easy to catch up with “Black Mirror,” as it’s only comprised of two three episode seasons and a Christmas special (should you want your Christmas to be terrifying). You can catch up in about 7 hours. Which is a good thing…because season 3 (made up of 6 episodes) comes only to Netflix on Oct. 21!

“Black Mirror” is available in its entirety on Netflix.