The Apple TV series “Shrinking” features an ensemble of messy characters. Lead protagonist Jimmy (played by Jason Segel) is a widower who struggles to care for his teenage daughter, Alice (Lukita Maxwell). As a therapist, he likes helping others, but he has a hard time taking his own…
Embracing My Inner Alien
— Kevin Schaefer
Kevin Schaefer (he/him) is a writer, podcaster, and lover of all things pop culture. Diagnosed with SMA type 2 at the age of 18 months in 1995, he shares a vast array of hilarious and eye-opening stories from his life with a neuromuscular disability. He works as the associate director of community content for this site’s parent company, Bionews. He also hosts the SMA News Today Podcast. Kevin is a graduate of North Carolina State University and lives with his parents in Cary, NC. People regularly mistake him for Tony Stark, on account of his intellect and advanced technological equipment.
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A former caregiver and friend once told me that she’d never spent a night in the hospital for any kind of illness or injury. Despite working as a nurse and surrounding herself with medical scenarios on a daily basis, she’d never experienced a hospitalization from the patient’s lens. That concept…
Like many pop culture enthusiasts, I currently devote my Thursday nights to the HBO Max series “The Pitt.” Hailed as the most realistic medical drama on TV, the show follows an emergency department crew in a Pittsburgh hospital, led by veteran physician Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (played by Noah…
This post contains spoilers for the final season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” My level of devotion to the Netflix series “Stranger Things” dates back to the show’s premiere in the summer of 2016. As soon as the first season dropped, I was hooked. As a love letter to…
In her anthology “Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century,” the late activist and writer Alice Wong offers profound insight into the power of storytelling. She says in one of her essays, “Storytelling can be more than a blog post, essay, or book. It can be an…
“It must be nice sitting in that thing all day.” Having lived with SMA for 32 years and used a power wheelchair since I was 2 years old, I’ve heard some version of this comment many times. Those who read my column regularly know that I enjoy making…
The 2023 film “American Fiction” follows a frustrated writer named Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (portrayed by Jeffrey Wright). While his books receive critical praise, his lack of commercial success stems from his resistance to writing more popular literature. When Ellison visits a bookstore, he groans when he finds his…
Now that a new school year is ramping up, my mom’s volunteer day care service for my niece, Lily, and nephew, Lucas, is back in full swing. My sister, an elementary school teacher, had all-day meetings this week, and school doesn’t start until next week. As such, our house has…
The new “Superman” movie features talking robots, giant monsters, interdimensional portals, and a crowd-pleasing, super-powered canine. Multiple heroes and villains factor into the story, and the action sequences involve a plethora of CGI-heavy special effects. It’s a big and fantastical summer blockbuster, the kind of spectacle that the superhero genre…
One of my favorite comfort shows is the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother.” Centered around the romantic quest of Ted Mosby, who as his older self recounts to his kids the story of him meeting their mother, the series is also an ode to lifelong friendships. Surrounding Ted…
The best sitcoms capture the chaos and unpredictability of everyday life. In the new Apple TV+ series “The Studio,” co-creator and star Seth Rogen plays Matt Remick, a disgruntled movie executive who lands his dream job when he becomes the head of the fictional Continental Studios. Yet while…
When the movie version of “Wicked” hit theaters last fall and skyrocketed to critical and commercial success, musical theater enthusiasts everywhere felt validation. The blockbuster adaptation of the hit musical struck a chord with devoted fans, casual viewers, and anyone with a passing familiarity with “The Wizard of Oz” mythos.
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