Skylar Baker-Jordan

Skylar Baker-Jordan is a freelance writer with expertise in British and American politics and pop cultures. His work has appeared at The Independent, Huff Post UK, Salon, and elsewhere. He currently resides in Tennessee with his dog, Jackson Montgomery, and his cat, Erica Kane—both named after the iconic super-couple from All My Children.
Featured Image

The US-UK Divide: Understanding Reactions to Harry & Meghan

The Harry & Meghan Netflix series has opened a new rift between Americans and their British friends (and foes). To understand why, US & UK journalist Sklyar Baker-Jordan sheds light on the history, class, and cultural divides that explain both sides.

Featured Image

History Lessons: What to Watch for Context on the Monarchy

Procession for Queen Elizabeth’s coffin to lie in state at Westminster With the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the ascension of His Majesty King Charles III, The British Monarchy has been dominating the headlines more than at any time since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales a quarter-century ago. As we

Read More »
Featured Image

Fire Island

Fire Island is one of the best gay films released in recent memory. It’s funny, it’s romantic, and it is beautifully written, acted, and directed. It may not win Oscars–comedies rarely do; gay films more rarely still–but it is an instant classic that critics and audiences will be citing for years.

Featured Image

Welcome to Plathville

Welcome to Plathville is a riveting microcosm of the cultural divisions in this country, within the structure of one dysfunctional family.

Featured Image

Why We’re Still Obsessed with The Golden Girls 30 Years Later

It is impossible to overstate the lasting success of The Golden Girls, which enjoys a level of popularity and staying power few shows have ever reached.

Featured Image

Heartstopper

Heartstopper is, without a doubt, the best film or TV show about gay teenagers I have ever seen. Innocent, romantic, and tenderly wrought, it is the story and the representation that the LGBTQ community has been craving for decades.

Featured Image

Two Men at War

This documentary special helps put the Ukraine war in context through an analysis of the history and psychology of the two very different men at the center of it.

Featured Image

The Wonder Years (2021)

Fans of the original show will love the familiar premise, while new viewers will enjoy the chemistry of the cast and the hilarity of the writing.

Featured Image

How SNL’s Bowen Yang Earned His Historic Emmy Nomination and Why He Should Win

Bowen Yang has proven his chops on Saturday Night Live, so his Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor came as no surprise. What should be equally obvious to viewers and members of the Television Academy alike is that he deserves to win.

Skylar Baker-Jordan

Skylar Baker-Jordan is a freelance writer with expertise in British and American politics and pop cultures. His work has appeared at The Independent, Huff Post UK, Salon, and elsewhere. He currently resides in Tennessee with his dog, Jackson Montgomery, and his cat, Erica Kane—both named after the iconic super-couple from All My Children.
Featured Image

Succession S4

Come to Succession for the palace intrigue, stay for the relevance of watching the top one percent plot, scheme, and masterfully insult each other as they face the same fears of obsolescence as the rest of us.

Featured Image

How to Jump in to Yellowjackets (Season 2)

Trying to understand all the buzz around Yellowjackets? The Watercooler created a guide to help you figure out why it’s captured such a following and how to catch-up before Season 2.

Featured Image

Lucky Hank

An antidote to the darker worlds currently trending across the streamers, Lucky Hank also delivers a refreshingly new Bob Odenkirk character, a guy whose meltdown might just deliver your own much-needed catharsis — leaving you laughing and pondering and lingering to see what comes next.

Featured Image

Extrapolations

An urgent, provocative, all-star sci-fi series that imagines a near future impacted by climate change, Extrapolations will grab your attention and make you think — while ultimately prompting you to act.  

Featured Image

The Glory

An often-riveting South Korean revenge thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, The Glory is also a thoughtful meditation on power, wealth, and the rigid hierarchies that make school bullying systemic — all around the world.

Featured Image

What’s New to Watch?

As we recover from the Oscars, it’s a ripe time to re-up on some fresh content. This weekend is jam-packed with new series premieres, and if you’re not too busy with Ted Lasso’s return, we’ve got four new shows ranging from raunchy animation to sobering thinkpiece to vie for your attention this weekend.   Agent Elvis

Read More »
Featured Image

The Watercooler Guide to Shadow and Bone: Season 2

It has been almost two years since Netflix’s epic fantasy series Shadow and Bone captured 55 million viewers in its first month, hitting #1 in 79 countries around the world, including Australia, Brazil, Germany, Russia, Spain, South Africa, and the U.S.  The much-anticipated second season finally arrives Thursday, March 16th, and fans can hardly wait.

Read More »
Featured Image

A Ted Lasso Catch-Up Guide

If your family group chat hasn’t already buzzed you about it, Ted Lasso is back on AppleTV+ tomorrow for its third and likely last season. Jason Sudeikis’s title character became an unlikely pandemic-era hero: a character with boundless goodness and optimism, far from our brooding Walter Whites and Don Drapers, or even cringe-comedy icons like

Read More »
Featured Image

The Most Memorable Lines of the Oscars

This year’s Oscars may have been long and missing the element of surprise, but it delivered on music performances, Kimmel comedy, and stirring speeches.  We’ve gathered the most memorable lines to sum up the highlights of the big event. “How could the Academy not nominate the guy who directed Avatar?  What do they think he

Read More »
2 british-american-cultural-clash-over-royalty
Featured Image

The Icon Party: The Cast & Producers on Mid Century Modern

A nostalgic tribute to classic sitcoms that adds an envelope-pushing edge, Mid Century Modern is Hulu’s next hit. It follows three gay best friends – played by  Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Nathan Lee Graham – who decide to live out their golden years together in Palm Springs after the unexpected death of a close

Read More »
Featured Image

Lonely Planet

If you’re starting over after a breakup, facing some midlife questions, or looking for a date night movie that might inspire a romantic vacation, add this Moroccan adventure to your watchlist.

Featured Image

A Watercooler Guide to Hollywood Satire “The Studio”

A perfectly-timed send-up that is already driving more water cooler talk than the blockbuster movie machines it satirizes, Apple’s star-studded new comedy The Studio just dropped its first two episodes, and the series is sure to be watched and discussed all the way to September’s Emmy awards. Created by one of the most prolific producing

Read More »
Featured Image

What to Stream This Weekend: March 21st

From a shocking tabloid story told from different perspectives to the trending murder-in-the-White-House comedy … to a probe into the psyche of an authoritarian leader, our writers picked five of this week’s new releases across streaming to help break your decision paralysis. A Riveting Historical Drama:  Quisling: The Final Days A provocative historical drama that

Read More »
Featured Image

What to Watch This Weekend: 5 Watercooler Picks for March 14th

As storms swirl across the hemisphere and winter fatigue sets in, the Watercooler’s writers have picked five of the best new releases for every frame of mind to hunker down with — or to head out for — this weekend. A High Fantasy Escape Watch:  Wheel of Time c. Prime Video More fun and female-centered

Read More »
Featured Image

Black Bag

A taut, stylish and steamy take on the high-stakes espionage thriller, Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag keeps you second-guessing every character’s motives until the very end. The tension, the suspicion, the sense that the walls are closing in? It’s all here.

Featured Image

Raging Midlife

An over-the-top broad comedy for Gen Xers or older Millennials, Raging Midlife works for fans nostalgic for 80s movies who just want to laugh and de-stress. Wrestling fans will find a special level of joy in the moves.

Featured Image

How to Die Alone

A good show for anyone who wants to get “unstuck,” How to Die Alone reminds us to embrace vulnerability and take more risks. Mel shows us how to live.

Featured Image

Grand Theft Hamlet

Grand Theft Hamlet is a testament to the relentless and pure desire to make art– it might not be convenient, it might not make sense, it might not even be well-received, but that’s not going to stop those who want to make it. The result is a touching and funny doc that justifies its experiments

Read More »
Scroll to Top