WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 13, 2025 — Brooke Rollins was sworn in as the 33rd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Clarence Thomas in a private ceremony today at the Supreme Court building. The U.S. Senate confirmed Rollins by a vote of 72-to-28.
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A Beginner’s Guide to Gym Terminology
Every part of life has its lingo, and the gym is no exception. We’ve collected a list of the lifting-related words that most often confuse beginners, so read on to learn what you might be missing.
Equipment
Barbells
A barbell is the bar that you load the plates on, either empty (the “empty bar”) or loaded (for example, “a 225 pound barbell”).
A standard Olympic-sized barbell is 20 kilograms, or in many American gyms, 45 pounds. (20 kilos is 44 pounds, so it doesn’t really matter which is which.) There are a variety of other barbells that exist, including Olympic women’s bars that weigh 15 kilos, EZ-curl bars with an ergonomic curve to them, and more. We have a guide to all of these here.
Cable machine
A cable machine has a thin rope, or cable, that connects the weights to a handle through one or more pulleys. Typically you can choose the attachment you’d like to use as a handle, and you may also have the option of moving the pulley to your desired height. Pulldowns, pushdowns, cable flyes, and cable crossovers are a few exercises you can do on a cable machine. Here is a list of even more.
Clips or collars
When you load weights onto a barbell (or an adjustable dumbbell), it’s handy to have something to hold the weights on there so they don’t slide around. This may be a spring clip, which looks like a clothespin, or a round collar with a latch on it.
Dumbbells
Dumbbells are the smaller hand weights around the gym. They typically come in pairs, and cannot be taken apart. (You can buy adjustable dumbbells for home gyms, though, which have their own teensy little plates on each end.) They are so named because some of the weights historically used for strength training were in the shape of bells (think of a kettlebell, but more…bell-shaped) and since they didn’t make noise, they were silent, or “dumb.” Dumbbells are usually “fixed,” with each dumbbell weighing a certain amount, but there are also adjustable dumbbells, popular for home gyms, that let you adjust the weight on the fly.
Free weights
Free weights are the barbells and dumbbells in a gym, as opposed to the machines. They are “free” weights because they aren’t attached to anything; you can pick them up and do whatever you want.
Kettlebells
These are the round weights with a handle on top. You can use them for most of the same lifts you’d do with a dumbbell (like rows, or overhead presses) but you can also swing them or do more advanced moves like kettlebell snatches.
Machines
The opposite of a free weight would be a machine. There are cable machines, where you hold a handle that is connected via a cable and pulley to a stack of weights; there are other types of selectorized machines, where you put a pin in a stack of weights and then do the exercise in whatever way is indicated on the instructions (for example, you may push or pull a set of handles, or move a pad with your legs). And there are plate-loaded machines, where you take a plate off a rack somewhere in the gym and place it onto the machine yourself.
Plates
Weight plates are the heavy, round discs that typically load onto the ends of a barbell. In American gyms, the largest ones are typically 45 pounds.
You can brag about your lifts by saying how many full-sized plates are on each end of the bar. One hundred and thirty-five pounds (45 pounds per side, on a 45 pound bar) is a “one plate” lift. Two hundred and twenty-five is “two plates.” Three hundred and fifteen is “three plates,” and so on.
Weight lifting basics
Circuit
A circuit, sometimes called a giant set, is when you do several exercises (usually three to six) by doing one set of each, then return to the beginning of the list and start over. (It’s called a “circuit” or “rounds” because you keep going through the list in a circular fashion. While these can save time, the goal of circuit training is often to keep your heart rate high, so that you’re getting a bit of a cardio stimulus even though the main focus is weight training.
Compound lift
A compound lift is one that uses many muscles at the same time. In a squat, for example, your quads (on the front of your thighs) are getting the most work, but your glutes, adductors, hamstrings, and core all do their part. This is in contrast to an isolation lift.
Failure
If you do a lift “to failure,” that means you cannot physically do another rep. You might do 10 bicep curls, 11, 12, thir—nope, that’s it, can’t finish the thirteenth rep. You “went to failure” on that exercise.
It’s not necessary to go to failure, but it’s a good way to make sure you’re really squeezing as much work as you can out of each set. It’s also common to stop a few reps before failure—in our example, stopping at 10 reps would have still given you a good workout. Stopping at five would not have been very productive.
In bigger lifts, like a squat, you may not want to go to actual, physical failure very often. So you might go until technical failure—in other words, for as many reps as you can while you can maintain good form.
Isolation lift
An isolation lift is meant to isolate just one muscle or muscle group. While a squat is a compound lift that works your quads and several other muscles, an example of an isolation lift for the quadriceps would be a leg extension machine.
Percentages
Sometimes lifting programs tell you to do a set at, say, 80% of your max. This instruction assumes that you know what your maximum, or 1RM, is. So, if you can bench press 100 pounds once, you might be asked to do a set of five reps at 80%, which is 80 pounds.
Reps
We don’t usually lift a weight just once; we pick it up and set it down multiple times. Each of those individual lifts is a repetition, or a “rep” for short. You might do eight reps at a time, or 12, or five. Even if you only do one, you might still call it “a rep,” because when you’re in the gym for an hour your brain starts to melt a little. “That was a good rep,” you might say after a heavy single. We all know what you mean.
Rest
If your program asks you to rest between sets, that means you sit down and do nothing. Really. Depending on the exercise, you may rest anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes. Read my explainer here on how long to rest and why.
RPE
Rating of perceived exertion, on a 1-10 scale. A 10 means an all-out lift, you couldn’t have done any more. (If you went to failure, that’s a 10.) Nine means you could have done one more rep, but you stopped there. Eight means you could have done two more reps, and so on. For compound lifts like squats, sets are often done at a seven or eight RPE. Nobody bothers to track RPE below a six or so.
Sets
A group of reps is a set. You might do five sets of three reps, for example. This is usually written as 5×3 (sets x reps), although a few people out there will flip the numbers around. If you’re not sure, ask.
Superset
You can superset two exercises by doing a set of each before resting. This can save time in the gym. Most often, a superset involves two lifts done with opposite or unrelated muscles: you can superset a bench press with a barbell row, or even a squat with an overhead press. Usually you’ll rest for a short time after you do both, and then do them again.
Weightlifting
Weightlifting doesn’t just mean lifting weights—it’s the name of a sport contested in the Olympics, where people explosively raise a barbell from the floor to overhead. They’ll do it in one movement, called a snatch, or in a two-step process called the clean and jerk. To avoid confusion, this is sometimes called “Olympic weightlifting” or, if you’re a Crossfitter, “oly lifting.” Weightlifters commonly drop their barbells from overhead (intentional or not) and thus need rubbery bumper plates and plenty of space on a platform.
Ways of lifting weights
1RM, 3RM, 5RM
These are a one rep max, a three rep max, and a five rep max, respectively. (You can substitute any number. Want to find a 6RM? Go for it.)
In other words, a 1RM is the maximum weight that you can move for one rep. When somebody asks “how much ya bench?” they are asking for your 1RM. This weight might also be called your “max” or your “best,” as in, “my best bench press is 150 pounds.”
The others are “rep maxes.” Maybe you know that you can deadlift 225 pounds for five reps, but that’s it, you know you couldn’t get a sixth at that weight. (Maybe you tried for a sixth and failed.) That’s a 5RM.
AMRAP
As many reps as possible. Or, if you’re doing a workout with multiple lifts, it may mean as many rounds (of the whole circuit) as possible. Sometimes either of these may be written AMAP (as many as possible). If you’re going to technical failure rather than true failure, I’ve seen that called “AMAP (as many as pretty).”
Drop sets
When you do a set of reps to failure, your muscles haven’t totally given out; they just can’t lift any more of that particular weight. So bodybuilders will sometimes employ drop sets, “dropping” some of the weight to do the exercise again with something lighter. You might use 25-pound dumbbells, then put them back and do a few more reps with 20-pound dumbbells, then grab the 15-pounders, and so on.
EMOM
Every minute, on the minute. For a 10-minute EMOM, you’ll start your stopwatch, do the exercise (say, 10 kettlebell swings), and then rest for the remainder of the minute. The quicker you get the lifts done, the more time you have to rest. (If you’re doing an exercise every two minutes, that’s sometimes written E2MOM.)
Forced reps
This is another strategy to keep lifting past failure. Instead of grabbing another weight, ask a spotter to help you lift the last few reps of your set. Let’s say you do as many reps of bench press as you can manage; then your spotter will put their hands on the bar and help you squeeze out a few more reps with their help. Those last few are “forced” reps.
Negatives
A negative rep of an exercise is where you just do the lowering-down, or eccentric, portion, while using assistance (often a spotter) to reset to the top of the rep. Negative pull-ups (jumping up to the top of the bar, then lowering yourself down) are a good way to build strength to be able to do even more pull-ups.
Spotting
To spot somebody on a lift is to stand by, ready to assist if they fail. On bench press, you spot by standing at the head end of the person’s bench. You keep your hands nearby (but not on) the bar. If they can’t complete a rep, you grab the bar and help them safely place it back on the rack.
Some lifts, like bench and squats, are commonly spotted. Others, like deadlifts and Olympic lifts, cannot be. Spotting is mainly for safety, but can also be used for forced reps (more on those below).
Submaximal
Submaximal training is work that does not go to failure. Your program might ask you to lift a certain weight until you feel like you have two reps “in the tank.” That means you’d pick a weight you could lift 10 times if you had to, but to follow the instructions you’ll only lift it eight times. Submaximal training can be less fatiguing than taking your lifts to failure.
Expand Your Palate With ‘The Simple Art of Rice’
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Welcome to “Cookbook of the Week.” This is a series where I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While finding a particular recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has a magic all its own.
When I look around for cookbooks to feature for this column, I prefer to go to a real bookstore. I like to flip through the book and see what the purpose is, if it’s easy to use or complex, and if it’ll be useful to you all—this takes some browsing. But there is the rare cookbook that I almost immediately tuck under my arm because I know in my bones that it’s coming home with me.
This week’s cookbook is The Simple Art of Rice. It only took a few page-flips for me to think fondly of my home and family, and a few more to pique my hunger. A cookbook that appreciates this grain as much as I do belongs in my kitchen, and probably in yours too.
A bit about the book
The Simple Art of Rice, written by chef JJ Johnson along with graphic novelist Danica Novgorodoff, was published in 2023. The cookbook starts off with a bit of history and housekeeping—basic rice cooking techniques, how to store rice, and information on common types of rice—before diving into about 100 rice-centric recipes complemented by beautiful illustrations.
The cover of the cookbook says “Recipes from around the world for the heart of your table,” and it’s easy to see that intention displayed in each section of this cookbook. Each chapter contains a variety of rice dishes from different countries and cultures, like Filipino garlic rice Sinangág, Ghanaian Waakye, or Cuban Black Beans and Rice, and often a dish named after a beloved family member who clearly makes that heart-warming dish better than anyone else, like Great-auntie Lane’s Curry Rice.
This is more than a collection of rice recipes. It’s a thoughtful, loving ode to rice, and its role in nourishing communities throughout human history. Further, it’s a personal account where rice is a conduit for love and care.
A great cookbook for a broad palate
I have trouble not being obvious sometimes, so I had to stop myself before I wrote “a good cookbook for rice lovers.” I do think it’s important that this book get into the hands of rice lovers, however if that person does not enjoy a wide variety of flavors then they might only flip through to the “Cooking a basic pot of rice” section and history parts. (Those are really great sections too.)
JJ Johnson will have you cooking your rice with coconut milk, lime juice, tomatoes, crabs, chicken livers, and raisins, so it certainly helps if you welcome new flavor combinations. This cookbook is something I’ll continuously come back to because there are so many dishes from other cultures that I’m not familiar with and excited to try. While I have a pretty good idea about what Johnson has in store with the Thai curry dishes with jasmine rice, there are a number of rice dishes that I’ve never tried, like those from the Gullah Geechee, Persian, and Israeli cultures. Get this book for the person who would be as excited to make Lebanese basmati rice as they would be to make rice crêpes with Nutella.
The recipes you can expect
While having a broad palate might feel intimidating, making these recipes requires no specialized skill set. Johnson has managed to keep the recipes simple enough and the ingredient lists accessible enough where I think the average home cook would be successful meal after meal. Of course rice is often your main ingredient, so if you have that then you’re well on your way to victory.
In fact, some of the recipes are one-pot wonders or can be completely made in the rice cooker—as in, throw all the ingredients into the rice cooker and press “start,” like the Geelrys recipe. As a reader, I love this because if one recipe is beyond my skill set, taste preference, or attention span, I know that there are other recipes in this book that can work for me.
The dish I made this week
I’ve been craving herb-y mixtures this week. I blame the bleak weather making me miss the greenery of summer. The Herbed Shrimp with Cilantro Lime Rice sounded like the perfect remedy for my winter woes. At first, I was put off by the lengthy ingredient list, but soon realized that there were repeated ingredients. The first section was for the shrimp marinade and the cilantro lime rice simply reflects those flavors. (Lesson: always read the full recipe before giving up or plowing full steam ahead.)
This recipe was one that Johnson modeled after the boxed cilantro lime rice his mom would make for him. Though I’ve never had that boxed rice, I would take this version any day. The shrimp marinade was a simple mixture of chopped herbs, olive oil, lime zest and juice, and the rice gets a light toast in butter before you add the cooking water. After 20 minutes, the rice was finished and I pan-fried the shrimp for barely a minute before serving. It felt like a rather glamorous lunch for how quick and easy it was to make, and I look forward to more recipes like it.
How to buy it
The hardcover of The Simple Art of Rice is available online, but if you’re like me, then go have a good old-fashioned bookstore browse. If your local bookstore doesn’t have it on their shelves, see if they can order it to their location. I’m sure they’ll be happy to help.
The Best AI-Free, Encrypted Alternatives to Google Docs
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/assam-india-june-25-2021-google-1999771961
Face it: with the competition spending hundreds of millions of dollars on it, Google’s recent foray into AI isn’t going to stop anytime soon. While you can hide Google Workspace’s Gemini buttons and prompts for now, you can’t actually stop the company from continuing to build its apps around a technology that revolves around getting its hands on as much data as possible. I rely on Google Docs for collaboration, but the company’s AI push has got me looking for alternatives, even if Google currently denies using your data to train its models. On that note, these are the best AI-free, encrypted alternatives to Google Docs.
Proton Docs
Credit: Proton
If you’re looking for a seamless switch from Google Docs to an AI-free encrypted writing app, then Proton Docs is what you want. It’s part of the Proton Drive cloud storage service , which has a generous free tier for you to get started, so trying it out is easy. Proton Docs lets you store up to 5GB of files for free, which is good enough to work on hundreds of documents, and its collaborative features are also good enough for most people. You can create documents and give others viewer or editor access easily, and when others are editing, you can see a cursor with their names on the screen to see who’s working on what. You also get end-to-end encryption by default, which means that your documents are secure and cannot be read by the company.
In my experience, Proton Docs is fast and reliable. The Proton Drive app is also able to load documents quickly, and you can even open shared documents in mobile web browsers, which is a big plus. The only major downside is that this service lacks any apps to handle spreadsheets or presentations, which may be a dealbreaker for some.
Cryptpad
Credit: Pranay Parab
Cryptpad offers an encrypted office suite that competes with the likes of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The servers are hosted in France, and Cryptpad’s differentiating feature is that it has a lot of apps, all of which are end-to-end encrypted. You can create documents, spreadsheets, forms, presentations, kanban boards, and more. That means you get an alternative to nearly every Google office product, and even other services such as Trello or Airtable.
You can use Cryptpad without signing up if you wish, but it’ll delete your documents within 90 days if you do. If you create an account, which doesn’t require an email address, you’ll get access to 1GB of encrypted cloud storage and your documents won’t be automatically deleted. However, for security’s sake, Cryptpad lets you set an automatic deletion date for new documents as you create them. Once set up, your document will automatically be destroyed once its time arrives.
There’s a lot to like about Cryptpad, but it’s a bit slow and janky. The UI isn’t as polished as that of Google Docs or Proton Docs, and you’ll see this when you use it. Above your documents, there’s a big banner that just has the file name and a couple of buttons. The toolbars and other elements are below this, and the cursor appears nearly halfway down the screen. This wastes too much screen space, unlike Google Docs or Proton Docs, where the toolbars are minimal and the focus is more on the actual document. I also wouldn’t recommend Cryptpad to anyone who needs mobile access to their work. Some of my friends weren’t able to load shared documents on their phones while I tested it, which limits how much of a Google Workspace replacement this app can be.
OnlyOffice
Credit: Pranay Parab
OnlyOffice is a fully-featured office suite for those who want a service that lets you use desktop apps instead of web-based ones. The desktop apps work well and you can actually use a self-hosted server for cloud syncing and collaboration. This allows you to decide the degree of privacy and security you’d like, and if that sounds too complicated, you’re free to use multiple supported cloud storage providers for this purpose, including OneDrive and others. However, I was a little shocked to discover that OnlyOffice’s desktop apps don’t have autosave. It’s a bit sad to see this in 2025, to be honest. The company’s website also lists a lot of products, and it’s a bit hard to know what they all do. As an example, although OnlyOffice has mobile apps, you can only edit files in them if you’re on the paid tiers.
The UI in OnlyOffice’s desktop apps looks a bit like Microsoft Office did before its Microsoft 365 rebrand. That’s not a bad thing, since it’ll feel familiar to anyone who’s used Microsoft Word or other Office apps. When you create new documents, it opens them in new tabs, which makes it easier to switch between multiple files. Once the initial setup is done, OnlyOffice is easy to use and won’t scare off anyone looking for a Google Docs alternative, but the process of setting up and using OnlyOffice isn’t straightforward. You’ll need to select a cloud storage provider, get other people onboard with using it, and so on before you can have it running smoothly. Having said that, it’s a solid free alternative to Google Docs that focuses on apps over the web, and its AI shenanigans are limited to the “hosted version,” which is targeted at businesses and not at home users.
Other private alternatives to Google Docs
If privacy is the first thing on your mind, there are a few more Google Docs alternatives to consider, but they can take some work to use. For instance, the following options require you to host them on a server before running them. This increases the complexity of the task for most people, but if you’re so inclined, they might suit your needs.
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Hedgedoc: This is a collaborative text editor that runs in your browser. It’s lightweight, fast, and supports real-time collaboration.
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Collabora Online: LibreOffice is one of the best open source alternatives to Microsoft Office, but it doesn’t ship with realtime collaboration. Collabora Online lets you use LibreOffice apps on the cloud and includes collaboration features. There are apps for mobile devices, too, which is good to see. The service is free for home use and students.
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Etherpad: Etherpad is a customizable online text editor, and it includes a chat window to quickly text people you’re collaborating with. It hasn’t received major updates in a few years, unfortunately.
Woot Has a Surprisingly Good Sale on Headphones and Earbuds Right Now
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Prime Day and Black Friday may get most of the internet sale fanfare, but as a deals writer, I can tell you that Woot quietly beats Amazon prices quite frequently.
Right now, Woot (still an Amazon company, mind you) has an incredible sale on headphones and earbuds that beat Amazon prices by far, according to price tracking tools. Remember that Woot only ships to the 48 contiguous states in the U.S., and if you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping; otherwise, it’ll be $6 to ship. This Woot sale on headphones goes on until Feb. 20 at 2:59 a.m. ET or until supplies last.
Here are my favorite deals from the sale:
Open-Ear, Bone Conduction Sport Headphones – with Headband – Sweat Resistant, Workout Headphones.
SHOKZ OpenRun Pro 2
$129.99
at Woot
$179.95
Save $49.96
Save $49.96
$129.99
at Woot
$179.95
Save $49.96
Save $49.96
Noise Canceling Earbuds – Up to 31 Hour Battery Life with Charging Case – Bluetooth Headphones.
Google Pixel Buds Pro
$99.99
at Woot
$199.99
Save $100.00
Save $100.00
$99.99
at Woot
$199.99
Save $100.00
Save $100.00
Active Noise Cancelling True Wireless Earbuds – Enhanced Apple & Android Compatibility, Built-in Mic
Beats Studio Buds +
$99.99
at Woot
$169.95
Save $69.96
Save $69.96
$99.99
at Woot
$169.95
Save $69.96
Save $69.96
aptX Adaptive & 12mm Drivers, Bespoke Active Noise Cancelling Earbuds, 3 Built-in Mics, 15-Min Quick
Bowers & Wilkins Pi6
$119.99
at Woot
$249.00
Save $129.01
Save $129.01
$119.99
at Woot
$249.00
Save $129.01
Save $129.01
In-Ear Headphones for Music and Calls with Passive Noise Cancellation, Touch Controls, Bass Boost, I
Sennheiser CX
$39.99
at Woot
$129.95
Save $89.96
Save $89.96
$39.99
at Woot
$129.95
Save $89.96
Save $89.96
Clear Calls w/Adaptive Noise Cancellation, 60h Battery Life, Customizable Sound & Lightweight.
Sennheiser Momentum 4
$169.99
at Woot
$379.95
Save $209.96
Save $209.96
$169.99
at Woot
$379.95
Save $209.96
Save $209.96
One of the most impressive deals is for the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2, which came out a few months ago and are excellent bone-conduction headphones for anyone looking to get that open-ear feel when working out outdoors. If you’re interested in learning more about them, read my review. You can get them for $129.99 (originally $179.95), much cheaper than they have ever been on Amazon.
Pixel users should consider the Google Pixel Buds Pro for $99.99 (originally $199.99) since they’ll get the most out of them. They’ve aged well over the years despite the newer Pixel Buds Pro 2 coming out. They’re cheaper than they are on Amazon.
If you like Beats, the Beats Studio Buds + earbuds are just $99.99 (originally $169.95), an “excellent” pair of earbuds according to PCMag’s review, and even better for Apple users. They’re also cheaper than they’ve ever been on Amazon.
Sennheiser doesn’t get as much recognition as the previous brands, but those in the weeds know and rate them highly. The Sennheiser CX earbuds are “excellent” earbuds according to PCMag’s review, and you can get them for just $39.99 (originally $129.95). An impressive discount and incredible value coming at less than half the price they are on Amazon. If you prefer headphones, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 are $169.99 (originally $379.95), much cheaper than Amazon. They’re “excellent” headphones according to PCMag’s review.
If you’re looking for newer earbuds still at a great price, consider the Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 which came out last August. You can get them for $119.99 (originally $249), much cheaper than Amazon. One of the best values audio-wise for the price on this list.
Whichever one you choose from above, you’re getting quality earbuds or headphones for a record-low price.
YouTube TV Might Soon Lose Paramount Channels
“Cutting the cord” has taken on a bit of a funny twist in the past few years, as every production company under the sun seems to want to make its own a la carte subscription service, and former cable alternatives have started offering what are essentially their own cable packages. Such is the way with YouTube TV, a separate subscription from YouTube Premium that allows users to stream live TV over the internet, but one that might soon be losing access to a few key channels.
According to YouTube, the company is currently in negotiations with Paramount to keep offering channels including Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central MTV, VH1, and dang, even CBS and CBS Sports. Currently, YouTube TV costs a starting price of $70 a month for your first six months, followed by $83 a month after that, so that’s a fairly hefty loss for the pricey package.
It’s unclear what exactly YouTube’s struggle is here, although the company says it’s “still in active conversations with Paramount” to keep these channels without raising prices on subscribers. YouTube has been upfront in saying it hasn’t “been successful yet,” though, and that if it doesn’t strike a deal by end-of-week, February 14 will be the day these channels leave the service.
If that happens, subscribers will also lose access to any recordings they’ve already made from these channels, and will no longer be able to add-on packages including Paramount+ with Showtime or BET+.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. YouTube says that if it can’t reach a deal with Paramount and its “content is unavailable for an extended period of time,” it will give subscribers an $8 credit to subscribe to Paramount+ on their own. However, there’s currently no word on whether that credit will be recurring—I’ve reached out to YouTube and will update this article once I hear back.
Even with the promise of a credit, though, the situation isn’t ideal. To me, part of the appeal of a pricey subscription like YouTube TV is being secure in the knowledge that you just have access to everything you could possibly want to watch and don’t need to juggle five or so a la carte subscriptions anymore. Losing Paramount channels, even if you’re then able to pay for Paramount+ on Google’s dime, is a bit of a thorn in the side of that plan.
My Two Favorite Methods for Cleaning a Brick Wall
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Whenever a new friend comes over, one of the first things they say to me is that I am “so lucky” to have an exposed brick wall in my apartment. This is true, for the most part, because it’s pretty and cozy and has that classic New York vibe.
It’s not entirely true that I’m lucky, though, because it’s massive. It is about nine feet tall and 17 feet wide, which is a lot of brick to take care of. I don’t know how (and I am too scared to try) to put nails in it, so beyond the one nail leftover from a previous tenant who was braver than I am, there’s no way to hang any art, which leaves me with a ton of space to clean and deal with.
What I’ve learned in my seven years of tending to this behemoth is that just because I can’t see the dirt on the dark red bricks doesn’t mean the wall is clean. On the contrary, the porous material collects a lot of grime and must be regularly dealt with. Here’s how I clean my brick wall without damaging it.
Salt and dish soap work well (with a caveat)
Before you start cleaning the brick with any liquid or other agent, you should give it a quick vacuuming. Little crumbles of brick and mortar, plus dust and other debris, will come right off and it’ll save you a lot of time when you get to scrubbing. I use my trusty Bissell Featherweight for this so I don’t overburden the pads on my fancier vacuum.
The first technique I like to use for brick cleaning is a paste made of plain salt and dish soap. I don’t measure it, but rather pour some dish soap into a bowl, then add salt and stir it in until it forms a thick paste. From there, I slather it evenly across the section of wall I want to clean and let it sit for about 10 minutes. If you notice that your bricks get a white film on them, that’s actually a form of salt itself, but this gritty paste is an easy way to remove it.
The paste (middle) works well for cleaning, but leaves salt in pits and holes (right), so you need to dig it out.
Credit: Lindsey Ellefson
Credit: Lindsey Ellefson
After the mixture has sat on there a while, I take a wet rag and wipe it down. You might want to put some newspaper or plastic tarp underneath the area where you’re working, since a lot of the paste sloughs off. It’s also smart to use a bucket of water to continually wet and rinse your rag. You’re going to need it. The soap-and-salt mixture doesn’t exactly come off easily. It sudses up, spreads around, and takes about three or four passes of the rag to fully disappear.
You also need to be careful if you have pitting or gaps anywhere in the wall (like I do). The salt paste lodges in there and you’ll need to dig it out. This is definitely a time-intensive process, but it does get the bricks nice and clean.
Vinegar and water work, too
For a quicker wipe-down, equal parts vinegar and water work just fine. You can mix it in a spray bottle, spritz it on, and wipe it off, or whip it up in a bucket and dampen a rag or sponge with it. The acidity dissolves dirt and makes it come off easily, so you’ll see fast results. You still have to rinse everything down with plain water on a clean rag when you’re done because if you leave it on the brick, it can dissolve or damage it.
Ew: The vinegar technique removes a lot of dirt.
Credit: Lindsey Ellefson
Credit: Lindsey Ellefson
Today, I added a few drops of dish soap just for some extra cleaning power. It worked great and, as I’d hoped, counteracted the stink of the vinegar a bit, but it’s not necessary. This method really pulls dirt and grime off the wall, so be prepared with a heavy-duty cloth.
This works better when you don’t want to spend a long time scrubbing an abrasive, bubbly concoction off your wall. Do this every other month or so and save the salt and soap for a twice-a-year task.
10 Ways to Quiet the Most Common Household Noises
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All houses make noise, and those noises can be useful in diagnosing and addressing potential problems. But if your house is driving you crazy with all its creaking and groaning, it’s time to look into ways you can quiet the house down.
You could do a gut renovation to make the place absolutely soundproof, but if you don’t have a spare fortune to spend on the effort, you still have a lot of relatively simple, affordable options to try out, based on what’s making those noises in the first place.
Check your decibels
First, you’ll need some data to work with—and you’ll have to identify exactly what’s causing noise in your house. While some sources of noise will be obvious, using a simple decibel meter (or an app on your phone) to check noise levels from room to room will give you a more specific action plan.
Average room noise is considered to be between 30 and 50 decibels (dB), and any noise above 70dB is considered harmful—but noise sensitivity is subjective. Walk around and make a note of any spots where there’s a jump in noise levels and look into the source of the noise.
Quiet down your appliances
One of the main sources of noise in your home are your appliances. Washers, dryers, dishwashers—everything that makes our lives easier also generates noise, and sometimes a lot of it. Most appliances operate with noise levels between 50 and 70 dB, so having several running at once can create a lot of indoor noise pollution.
You can take a few simple steps to reduce that noise:
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Choose quieter appliances. Different appliances have different decibel ratings, so you can target quieter appliances next time you’re replacing something. You can sometimes find this in a product’s specifications, or you can look for appliances that are Quiet Mark-certified.
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Check the balance. Washing machines and other appliances that have moving internal parts need to be balanced and level—if they’re unbalanced they can shake and make more noise than they should. Grab a level and check that everything is balanced. You can usually adjust the feet of the appliance to level it out.
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Use anti-vibration pads. Available in a variety of sizes, anti-vibration pads absorb the appliance’s vibration, reducing the noise it makes.
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Install wall cladding. Hanging fabric or soundproofing materials on the walls around your appliances can help absorb noise and keep it from being conducted through the walls to other areas of the house.
Check your furnace
If your furnace is noisy, it might be worth it to bring in an HVAC professional to take a look at it. There are some simple things you can try that might make it run quieter, however:
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Adjust the fan speed. Turning the fan speed down might be all that’s needed to eliminate whining or “howling” in a furnace.
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Clean it. Your furnace, filters, and the vents it connects to can become clogged with dust, which can make it run noisier than usual. Cleaning the whole system as thoroughly as you can might eliminate extra noise.
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Inspect your ductwork. Take a look at the ducts where you can, especially where they connect together. Any gaps or holes can cause whistling or other noise, so plugging them up with some foil sealer tape can make a big difference in noise levels.
Add rugs and carpeting
You might not want to carpet the entire house, but area rugs (or even carpet tiles) can offer some of the same benefits, muffling the sounds of people walking around the space. To enhance the benefits, put an extra-thick rug pad underneath to get as much sound absorption as possible out of your floor covering.
Place pads under furniture
While you’re contemplating how much noise your floors are transmitting, don’t forget to put padding under your furniture where practical. You don’t walk under your couch or bed, but the bare floor under there can still act as a conductor, spreading noise to other areas of the home. A rug or pad under those pieces can add just a bit more soundproofing.
Secure your pipes
If one source of noise in your house is rattling pipes, either when you run the hot water (called “water hammering”) or when your heat cycles, you can reduce or eliminate that noise in two ways:
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Secure the pipes. Pipes that knock and bang inside the walls might just need to be secured. This isn’t a difficult job to DIY (but usually does involve opening your walls). Alternatively, you can have a plumber install a water hammer arrester, which should solve the problem.
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Install pressure-reducing valves (PRV). A PRV will regulate the water and air pressure in your pipes, which can reduce or eliminate hammering and banging. This isn’t exactly cheap (it can run you more than $600 if you hire a plumber to install one), but it might be worth it.
Soundproof wall plates
If something in your home is making noise, your home itself can act as one big sound conductor—your walls act almost like speakers, bringing noise from other rooms. This is especially true if they’re not insulated. You might not want to (or be able to) stuff insulation into them, but you can easily blunt some of the noise traveling through those walls by adding some noise-absorbing gaskets to outlets and light switches.
Behind those wall plates are holes in your walls, which makes it easy for noise to find its way into the room. By adding seals around those plates you can cut down the noise that makes it through. If you’re a little handier, you can also apply putty around the electrical boxes in the room, which will also blunt any sounds before they can invade the space.
Upgrade your doors
Like your walls, doors can act as conductors of sound, ferrying noise from outside the room right to your ears. If your interior doors are hollow, the effect is even stronger, so swapping those out for solid-core doors can help make your home quieter. Gaps under the door can also allow sound to seep through from outside, so adding a simple sweep to the bottom to close off this gap can give your door an extra boost of soundproofing ability.
Silence your creaking floors
Even if you put down rugs and pads, floors that creak and squeak as you walk on them will still add to the overall noise level in your home. The good news is that you probably don’t need professional help or even any power tools to shush those floors. A few things you can do include:
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Lubricate. If your hardwood floors are creaking, you can apply a dry lubricant like powdered graphite or even talcum powder. Just work it into the seams between floorboards where you hear a squeak, cover the area with a cloth, and walk on for a bit. Repeat the process until the squeak is gone.
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Shim. If you have access to the underside of the floor, you can look to see if there’s a gap between the subfloor and the joist. If there is, inserting a shim or two to eliminate movement might solve the noise problem. You can also try driving a screw from either above or below to secure the floor. If driving it from above, use a trim screw and sink it below the surface of the floor so you can fill the hole with wood filler. If driving it from below, make sure the screw is short enough not to pop out on the surface of the floor.
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Brace. If there is a pronounced gap or a lot of movement between your joists and subfloor, you can brace the floor with a 2×4 cut to fit between the joists. Attach it so that it’s slightly higher than the joists, compensating for the gap and eliminating subfloor movement.
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For tile floors, you can check that the tiles are firmly adhered to the subfloor and re-apply any loose tiles. Then look for gaps around the edges of the floor and caulk them. This will help eliminate any tile shifts that might be causing the squeak.
Mitigate noises from settling
If your home makes groaning or cracking noises, it usually gets classified as “settling,” the process of a house sinking into its foundation and the materials it’s built out of compensating for shifts and compression. This is pretty natural and affects most houses at one time or another, although severe settling can indicate a foundation problem.
But those settling noises might also be caused by humidity and temperature, which can cause wood and other materials to expand and contract, resulting in cracking, popping, and groaning noises. Managing the humidity and temperature fluctuations in the home might reduce or even eliminate these noises.
Service your heating system
Noisy radiators
If you have steam radiators in the house, you know that they can sound like an off-key brass band marching through your nightmares. You can try some simple DIY fixes to quiet them down:
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Shim it. A banging, clanging radiator can be caused by water settling at the bottom of the radiator. Elevating it slightly so it tips toward the boiler can eliminate that problem.
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Replace the air vent. A radiator that whistles and burps every time the heat rises might just need a new air vent. This is pretty cheap and easy to do DIY.
A loud forced air furnace
If you have forced-air heat that sounds like a battleship leaving port every time it fires up, you might be able to quiet it down without a major project:
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Duct liners. Having fiberglass duct liners installed in the ducts can dampen noise caused by vibration and rattling, and inhibit noise conductivity.
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Anti-vibration pads under the furnace itself can also help reduce the noise.
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Replace the filter. A dirty air filter can cause the furnace to work harder, which can lead to booming or banging noises. You can also try opening your home’s supply vents as well.
If these steps don’t help, your furnace’s motor may be the cause, either due to low lubrication levels, a failing belt, or some other mechanical cause. Your best bet will be to call a professional to take a look.
13 Romantic but Budget-Friendly Meals
There are many alternatives to dining out on Valentine’s Day, but none as classic as simply cooking a cozy meal at home. While you and your partner might find ordering Taco Bell to be meaningful and romantic (I know a couple that celebrates with chicken nuggets and champagne), if you’re interested in cooking, I’ve got some simple and budget-focused meal suggestions that are still pretty darn romantic.
Air fryer stuffed mushrooms
These savory mushroom bites are some of my favorite things on planet Earth. They make for a great appetizer or side dish, and using the air fryer means you can have them on the table in about 10 minutes. Sausage, cream cheese, and some minced aromatics make up the stuffing, packing plenty of flavor for a lower price.
Stuffed shishito peppers
The best way to make vegetables celebration-worthy is to stuff them with cheese. Shishito peppers are flavorful with delicate seeds, so you can eat the entire thing without it being weird or bitter. Use the recipe here for the cream cheese and bacon filling and pop them in the air fryer for a handful of minutes.
Dressed-up frozen pizza
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
Pizza for Valentine’s Day dinner is certainly romantic, but ordering a specialty pie can easily become expensive. Instead, buy a frozen pie and dress it up with a few fancy ingredients yourself. Split a ball of burrata over the top (or two, they often come in pairs), tuck some strips of torn prosciutto into the cheese, and drizzle it with truffle honey.
Foolproof cacio e pepe
Let’s move to the pasta course. Carbs are, and always have been, the key to feeling satisfied on a budget. Cacio e pepe is a flavorful, fancy mac and cheese and there’s an easy way to ensure the sauce stays creamy without getting clumpy. (Read here to find out.) Serve this delightful dish with a glass of wine and some candles for a simple and sweet presentation.
Sheet pan gnocchi
Crisp on the exterior with a pillowy center, sheet pan gnocchi is both easy and tasty as heck. Instead of making your own gnocchi, use the soft, shelf stable packaged kind at the store. Toss it with some oil and other accoutrements you’d like to roast, like peppers, onions, and sausages. This meal cooks entirely in the oven, needing little more than a shake every now and then to cook the ingredients evenly.
Browned butter and tomato pasta
Here’s another romantic pasta dish that delivers on many fronts. In this dish, big flavor comes with a small price tag—all you need is a stick of butter and some tomato paste. Simply boil your favorite pasta shape according to the package’s directions. Brown the butter in a pan and mix in a helping of tomato paste. The pasta goes into the sauce and picks up all of those deeply concentrated flavors.
Ricotta gnocchetti
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
If you thought making fresh handmade pasta at home was never going to happen, you haven’t heard of this easy ricotta gnocchetti. A paste of flour, salt and spreadable ricotta cheese gets cut into tiny pasta pillows ready for a quick boil. Stir these gems into your favorite pasta sauce and heap it onto a plate with a hunk of bread.
Feta and caper marinated chicken
If a crispy, salty crust and juicy, tender interior sounds good to you, then this chicken recipe should be a priority this Valentine’s Day. Intensely briney, salty ingredients are blended together to make the marinade for this chicken, and the lactic acid from the cheese does double duty tenderizing the meat (the same way buttermilk marinades work). It’s a three-ingredient recipe you’ll come back to time and again.
Pork tenderloin
An entire pork loin from Trader Joe’s might cost you less than a dozen chicken eggs these days. And once roasted, it is certainly more of a showstopper than egg salad. A quick marinade in Bachan’s Japanese BBQ sauce, oil, and a boost of MSG turn this budget cut of meat into a refined centerpiece. Serve it with some roasted fingerling potatoes or the stuffed mushrooms from above.
Easy shrimp rolls
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
Forget lobster rolls: Shrimp rolls are the delicious year-round taste of summer you can have any time the mood strikes, thanks to frozen shrimp. Just thaw and cook a handful of shrimp per person. Toss them in a simple mayonnaise dressing and tuck them into top-split buns with a couple chives.
Mayo roast chicken
Few main dishes are both comforting and impressive, but a whole roast chicken does it with class. To ensure your bird has a lovely bronzed coat, and succulent meat coat the entire thing in mayonnaise. Then prove to your Valentine that you’re a true grown up and properly carve that roast chicken to serve.
Rainbow cookie egg rolls
One of my favorite dramatic desserts comes from a baseball stadium—specifically, Wok n’ Roll at Citi Field. This festive dessert involves wrapping an Italian rainbow cookie in an egg roll wrapper and then frying it until crispy. It’s fun, it’s decadent, it’s colorful. There is no better way to say, “you’ve got rizz.”
Fancy mille feuille
Puff pastry is one of those beautiful flaky doughs that takes time and skill to make by hand. Thankfully, buying it frozen from your supermarket does not require these things. Use these instructions to bake off a flat sheet of puff pastry and layer it with vanilla pudding (a vanilla Snack Pack does the trick quite well). Finish it with a flourish of powdered sugar, and you have a sweet Valentine’s Day dessert worthy of any restaurant in town.
Where to Stream Every Nominated Movie Before the 2025 Oscars
Listen, there’s a lot going on right now, and it may feel indulgent to get excited about something frivolous like the Academy Awards. But watching movies is self-care, and trying to catch up on the nominees before the ceremony on Sunday, March 2 will definitely be a good distraction. (The show, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will air on ABC but also stream on Oscars.com and its associated digital platforms—whichever ones still exist by March).
To help you prepare, I’ve rounded up all the nominees and done the work to figure out where they’re available to watch on streaming—though some are still only in theaters as of this writing, I’ll keep it updated as more things drop on digital platforms.
Biggies that you can’t yet watch at home include The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, I’m Still Here, Sing Sing, Nickel Boys, September 5. Then there’s the documentary No Other Land, which doesn’t even have a formal distribution deal in the U.S. as yet. Still, you already have quite a bit to catch up on (even before you branch out to would-be contenders like Challengers, Queer, and The Last Showgirl). Happy disassociating!
Emilia Pérez
Despite being, shall we say: not universally loved by queer audiences, Spanish-language musical crime drama Emilia Pérez managed to net a whopping 13 nominations, the most ever for a movie not in English. Among those is Karla Sofía Gascó for Best Actress, Oscar’s first nod to an openly trans actress.You can stream Emilia Pérez on Netflix.
Nominations for: Best Picture, Actress (Karla Sofía Gascón), Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldaña), Directing (Jacques Audiard), Adapted Screenplay, International Feature, Cinematography, Original Score, Original Song x 2 (El Mal AND Mi Camino), Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound
Wicked
Next up in the nomination tally is Wicked, the movie that dominated the end-of-year zeitgeist and the box office—it’s tied for noms with The Brutalist, which isn’t yet streaming. And it’s another musical! No directing nomination for Jon M. Chu, which is always interesting for a film with this many nominations. Being the first of a planned two parter, Academy voters could be holding off until next year to send some witchy love Chu’s way. You can rent Wicked from Prime Video.
Nominations for: Best Picture, Actress (Cynthia Erivo), Supporting Actress (Ariana Grande), Editing, Production Design, Costume Design, Original Score, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, Visual Effects
The Brutalist
You might not have heard of the epic immigrant drama The Brutalist, as it’s a limited release that has not done terribly well at the box office. Nonetheless, it includes a big-name cast including Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, and Guy Pearce, all of whom received nominations. Brody plays László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor who emigrates to America to start a new life. At more than three-and-a-half hours (it plays with an intermission in theaters!) it earns its artsy rep, but it’s less intimidating a watch than it might sound. You can purchase The Brutalist from Prime Video starting Feb. 18.
Nominations for: Best Picture, Actor (Adrien Brody), Supporting Actor (Guy Pearce), Supporting Actress (Felicity Jones), Directing (Brady Corbet), Original Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography, Production Design, Original Score
Conclave
Juicy, Vatican-based political thriller Conclave scored eight nominations—not bad for the kind of straight-down-the-middle grownup movie that is rarely made these days. The nomination for Rossellini marks a first-ever Oscar nod for the actress, a surprise given her impressive career. You can stream Conclave on Peacock or rent it from Prime Video.
Nominations for: Best Picture, Actor (Ralph Fiennes), Actress (Isabella Rossellini), Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Production Design, Costume Design, Original Score
A Complete Unknown
Timothée Chalamet is the latest actor to take on the role of Bob Dylan in an off-center biopic. This one focuses on, and builds to, the moment when Dylan blew people’s minds by using electric instruments at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. It’s hard to do a musical biopic after Walk Hard eviscerated the tropes of the genre, but this one does a good job of being massively entertaining. You can watch A Complete Unknown in theaters right now.
Nominations for: Best Picture, Actor (Timothée Chalamet), Supporting Actor (Edward Norton), Supporting Actress (Monica Barbaro), Directing (James Mangold), Adapted Screenplay), Costume Design, Sound
Anora
Director Sean Baker has created a string of critically acclaimed films (Tangerine, The Florida Project, Red Rocket) that haven’t broken through in terms of Oscar love. His latest, a comedy-drama following the troubled marriage between sex worker Ani and the son of a Russian oligarch, has earned six nominations this year, including four nods for Barker (Best Picture, directing, writing, and editing). I haven’t seen it yet myself, but I’m a huge fan of his other films. You can rent Anora from Prime Video.
Nominations for: Best Picture, Actress (Mikey Madison), Actor (Yura Borisov), Directing (Sean Baker), Original Screenplay, Editing
Dune: Part Two
Five nominations definitely isn’t bad, but it feels a little like Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic got lost in the shuffle this year. Still, a Best Picture nomination and a massive box office haul are no small consolation prizes. You can stream Dune: Part Two on Max and Netflix or rent it from Prime Video.
Nominations for: Best Picture, Cinematography, Production Design, Sound, Visual Effects
The Substance
I can’t think of many (any?) body horror pictures that have made it to the top-tier of Oscar hierarchy (Best Picture and Best Director nominations!) but the lion’s share of attention for this one comes down to Demi Moore. She’s received her first ever Oscar nomination here, and it’s about time. You can stream The Substance on Mubi or rent it from Prime Video.
Nominations for: Best Picture, Actress (Demi Moore), Directing (Coralie Fargeat), Original Screenplay, Makeup and Hairstyling
Nosferatu
Robert Eggers’ lush, chilly vampire remake was polarizing to audiences (I loved it), but it managed good box office and did even better with critics. The movie’s four nominations are all down to its striking visuals. You can rent Nosferatu from Prime Video.
Nominations for: Cinematography, Production Design, Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling
The Wild Robot
A service robot (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) is shipwrecked on an island where she learns to make new relationships and adopts an orphaned goose. The poignant animated movie earned three nominations. You can stream The Wild Robot on Peacock or rent it from Prime Video.
Nominations for: Animated Feature Film, Original Score, Sound
I’m Still Here
Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries, On the Road) directs this adaptation of Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s 2015 memoir about a mother and activist dealing with the forced disappearance of her dissident politician husband during the military dictatorship in Brazil. A surprise contender in the Best Picture race, it has drawn particular attention for Fernanda Torres’ performance as Marcelo’s mother, Eunice. You can watch I’m Still Here in theaters right now.
Nominations for: Best Picture, Actress (Fernanda Torres), International Feature Film
Sing Sing
Based on the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at Sing Sing Prison, this drama stars professional actors Colman Domingo and Paul Raci working alongside a number of actual program alumni. You can rent Sing Sing from Prime Video and other digital services right now.
Nominations for: Actor (Colman Domingo), Adapted Screenplay, Original Song (“Like A Bird”)
A Real Pain
Jesse Eisenberg writes, directs, and co-stars (with Kieran Culkin) in this sweet, sad road-trip movie about a couple of mismatched Jewish America cousins who travel to Poland to honor their late grandmother. Each of the leads picked up nominations: Culkin for acting and Eisenberg for his screenplay. You can stream A Real Pain on Hulu or rent it from Prime Video.
Nominations for: Supporting Actor (Kieran Culkin), Original Screenplay
Nickel Boys
Director RaMell Ross previously earned an Oscar nomination for his documentary, Hale County This Morning, This Evening. Here, he adapts the Colson Whitehead novel, itself based on a true story, about two African-American boys sent to an abusive reform school in 1960s Florida. Somehow the film wasn’t nominated for its cinematography, despite a daring conceit that sees every shot filmed from the direct point of view of one of the characters. You can purchase Nickel Boys from Prime Video right now.
Nominations for: Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay
Flow
A gorgeously animated saga about a cat displaced by a flood, this Latvian film has been picking up awards left and right—despite being dialogue-free and having been animated using open-source software. You can stream Flow on Max starting Feb. 13 or rent it from Prime Video.
Nominations for: International Feature, Animated Feature
The Apprentice
The discussion around this Donald Trump biopic had more to do with various legal actions by the Trump campaign, and the movie sunk at the box office following mixed reviews. Nevertheless: two acting nominations ain’t bad. You can rent The Apprentice from Prime Video.
Nominations for: Actor (Sebastian Stan), Supporting Actor (Jeremy Strong)
Inside Out 2
The rather delightful Inside Out sequel made well over $1.5 billion at the box office, and might also get an Oscar for the trouble. You can stream Inside Out 2 on Disney+ or rent it from Prime Video.
Nomination for: Animated Feature
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
A new Wallace & Gromit adventure is always a cause for celebration, awards or no. You can stream Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl on Netflix.
Nomination for: Animated Feature
Black Box Diaries
This searing documentary, directed and produced by journalist and filmmaker Shiori Itō, follows her investigation and analysis of her own sexual assault case, one that takes her to the highest levels of Japanese media and government. You can stream Black Box Diaries on Paramount+ with Showtime.
September 5
Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, and Leonie Benesch star in this historical thriller set in and around the events of the terror attacks at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The focus here is on the ABC Sports crew on hand to cover the news. You can buy September 5 from Prime Video right now.
Nomination for: Original Screenplay
