Consuming egregious amounts of media over the summer means optimized first-day-of-class icebreakers. If your hometown characters, family vacation quarrels or that investment banking internship didn’t break your spirits from June to August, hopefully you had time to unwind with some good, old-fashioned art. If not, steal one of our summer favorites and study up — it might just help you make a few friends.
“Overcompensating”
I knew I’d be hooked on “Overcompensating” the moment Benny (Benito Skinner) practiced his straight voice in the mirror with Britney Spears’ “Lucky” blasting in the background. Skinner’s comedy series is loosely based on his own experiences as a closeted college kid and is chock-full of absurdities that will try to convince you 30-year-olds can pass for 18 onscreen and executive producer Charli XCX would perform “Boom Clap” for a small, liberal arts school. If you know Skinner from his digital sketch days or his “Ride” podcast with Mary Beth Barone, you’ll take to “Overcompensating” immediately. Even if you don’t, stay for the insane cameos and Holmes’ one liners as Hailee — I desperately need it to get renewed for season two.
— Dani Biondi, Arts Editor
“Summer’s Day” by Berthe Morisot
I encountered Morisot’s paintings while taking a modern art course over the summer, finding myself daydreaming about her work in and outside the classroom. With feathery brushstrokes, Berthe Morisot’s paintings are reminiscent of great summer experiences fading into memories. In her “Summer’s Day” depicting two women in a rowboat at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, I was instantly captivated by the pastel blues and greens that blend the women, atmosphere and their environment. Her bold weaving brushstrokes remind me of the feeling of closing your eyes and imagining moments from the midst of summer, which move in and out of focus as the school year begins.
— Siobhán Minerva, Arts Editor
“Wishbone” by Conan Gray
Still healing from that summer situationship? Luckily, Conan Gray just released his fourth studio album, with 12 tracks suited for both sobbing and screaming along to. Gray manages to write songs with utterly devastating lyrics exploring heartbreak that are still undeniably catchy — “Caramel” being the perfect example: “Promises spoken, all coming back as lies / But you with your soft sweet kiss is all I miss in the back of my mind.” The singer-songwriter bottles up his yearning, anger and newfound freedom into an album that is arguably his best yet. Gray has clearly found his sweet spot sonically by emphasizing acoustics and his vocal capabilities, and it pays off in this no-skip album.
— Skylar Boilard, Performing Arts Editor
“The Graduate” directed by Mike Nichols
At one time or another, we’ve all felt like Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) — lost, worried, deeply in love. The story of a recent college graduate who is seduced by his parents’ friend and enamored by her daughter is one for the ages. Mike Nichols’ innovative camerawork, full of zoom ins and outs — not to mention the iconic scuba suit point-of-view shot — makes “The Graduate” a filmmaking marvel. But the impeccable summer aesthetic, embodied by scenes of Benjamin sunbathing on a pool float wearing swim trunks and sunglasses, is why the film hasn’t left my mind since I watched it in June. Oh, and Simon & Garfunkel’s soundtrack.
— Leo Field, Film & TV Editor
“Model Rockets” by Blondshell
In the never-ending search for 2025’s song of the summer — which never quite seemed to land on a distinct answer — I found myself drawn to “Model Rockets.” It’s from Blondshell’s sophomore album “If You Asked For A Picture,” a ’90s-inspired alt-rock journey of introspection and heartache. In “Model Rockets,” lead singer Sabrina Teitelbaum expresses the disorienting feeling of being out of place in your life. It’s calm, moody and bookends the album perfectly after a collection of raw anecdotes and failed relationships. “Life may have been happening elsewhere,” she recounts, providing the perfect soundtrack for the quiet escapism that returns as the summer subsides.
— Amelia Knust, Music Editor
“Malibu Rising” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
There’s only one thing better than sinking into warm sand with sun on your skin and crystal blue water at your feet — and that’s reading about it. Taylor Jenkins Reid captures that summer haze perfectly, mixing family drama with nostalgia for a time our parents still call “the good old days.” We follow Nina Riva, her siblings and their legendary end-of-summer blowout at a Malibu mansion in 1983. In just 24 hours, the party spirals from carefree to catastrophic — broken hearts, spilled champagne and secrets threatening to surface. So as tank tops trade places with cardigans, “Malibu Rising” is my way of holding on to summer just a little bit longer.
— Maya Santiago, Fine Arts Editor
Contact the Arts desk at [email protected].
