Take Five: Weeks of Jan. 20 & Jan. 27

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EP Presnell

As we continue to slowly ease our way back into the chaotic life of school and work after winter break, it’s important to remember to take breaks and time for yourself. What better way to do that than starting watching some YouTube or a new movie that came out? Here are some things to check out during your free time.

1. Conspiracy Theories With Shane Dawson

Shane Dawson is one of the oldest YouTubers you can find who is still active and doing better than ever on the site. While growing and dealing with the algorithm pains, Shane still finds ways to come back better than before with each new video, and true to his fashion he’s done it again. On the 30th, Shane released an hour and 45 minute long video titled “Conspiracy Theories With Shane Dawson” that take a deep and in-depth look into conspiracy theories involving iPhones, messaging in kid shows, the California wildfires and much more.

While Shane has done conspiracy theory videos in the past, you can tell he’s not playing around in this one. In addition to his usual set up, there are multiple theories that involve his friends and he even goes out to California for some to see if it could be true or if it really is just a theory. Andrew Siwicki, Shane’s cameraman, friend and co-editor, and Shane Dawson worked for weeks to produce the video and the best part is that it’s free to everyone. Just be careful, everything might not be what it seems. Or maybe it is? We’ll let you be the judge of that.

2. I Am the Night

Did you think we would just leave the creepy stuff to one? Think again because there was some creepy stuff that came out of these past two weeks. Playing off of the idea of conspiracy theories and things appearing darker than they seem, TNT’s new mini-series I Am the Night began on the 27th, telling the true story of a girl looking for answers about her family and furthering one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of the country.

The story follows Fauna Hodel, a young girl given up by her teenage mother who decides to look further into her past and her family. After making the discovery that her grandfather is George Hill Hodel, one of the prime suspects in Elizabeth Short’s murder or as it is more commonly referred to as, the Black Dahlia case. While the show is historical fiction, many aspects of the show are real including Fauna’s story, but for the sake of the show, Chris Pine’s character and other events are added for dramatic effect. To learn about the Black Dahlia case, you can watch BuzzFeed Unsolved’s video about the case. I Am the Night airs every Monday night at nine on TNT.

3. Boy Erased

Movies have the power to take real world issues and put them in a place people will watch and hopefully understand them. Boy Erased manages to do that well by taking the cruelty of conversion therapy and the impact it has on LGBT+ youth and how it follows them throughout their adult lives. The movie tells the true story of Garrard Conley and his struggle of acceptance while suffering through conversion therapy.

While the characters in the movie are fictional, they parallel the people Conley talks about in his memoir of the same name. The powerful message of love and acceptance from other people and yourself mixed with the amazing cast including actors Lucas Hedge, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe makes for a beautiful and emotional story. Boy Erased is available on digital and DVD/ Blu-Ray now.

4. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

While the nine-nine’s sixth season technically began airing on NBC on Jan. 10th, it’s doing really well and if you haven’t been watching, now’s the perfect chance to catch up! If you aren’t familiar with the show’s premise, Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) is a detective at the 99th precinct and navigates his serious job in a fun manner with his wife, Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) and friends including Terry (Terry Crews), Charles (Joe Lo Truglio), Rosa (Stephanie Beatriz) and Gina (Chelsea Peretti).

While this week’s episode hasn’t aired yet and the synopsis is brief, we do know that Eugene Lee Yang, a member from the Try Guys, will make a cameo appearance and Gina will indeed be in the episode despite her decided departure from the nine-nine last episode. Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs new episodes every Thursday night at nine on NBC.

5. New singles

While there have been some new albums released these past two weeks, it’s clear that the new singles released have made a big wave in the music industry. Billie Eilish’s new single “bury a friend” from her debut album WHEN WE FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? which is set to be released on Mar. 29.

In addition to Billie, Lauv and Troye Sivan released a collaboration titled “i’m so tired…”. Lauv is best known for his hit song “I Like Me Better” from his first full album, I Met You When I Was 18. While Sivan hasn’t received much radio play, he’s worked on two studio albums and various singles for movies like “Love, Simon” and was even nominated for a golden globe for his song in “Boy Erased.”

Finally, one last single that came out within these past two weeks was “Middle Child” by J. Cole. In the song, Cole envisions himself as the middle ground of old and new rap, making him the “middle child.” While acknowledging his place in the genre, Cole promises to make this year his and although one song won’t do it, it wouldn’t be surprising to see another album from him this year.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES” by B Dash on WikiMedia Commons is licensed under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. No changes were made to the image. Use of this photo does not indicate photographer endorsement of this article.