Culture Hound: October

Welcome to Culture Hound, InsideHook’s deep dive into the month’s most important cultural happenings, pop and otherwise.

WATCH: The Snowman
It’s a cold case, literally. A serial killer with a snowman fetish returns to the bleak wintery streets of Oslo, as (*cough* porn name) detective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) hunts for clues. Based on a best seller and directed by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy). (Oct. 20)

ENJOY (NSFW): Nude
Steve Shaw — the photographer/owner behind Treats!, a quarterly magazine that devotes the bulk of its pages to models shot au naturel — partnered with French photographer David Bellemere to shoot a calendar for a concept called NU Muses, which was billed as fine art at Basel in Miami. And now Starz has the behind-the-scenes documentary on it, which should be … eye-opening. (Oct. 29)

GO: The Moth Mainstage
A night entitled “Hell Bent: Stories of Going for Broke” is bound to deliver. And The Moth always does. Head over to St. Ann’s Church for a night of old-fashioned storytelling on thoroughly modern themes by five wildly divergent raconteurs. Expect to laugh, to cry and damn near everything in between. (10/12)

LEARN: Leonardo da Vinci
Walter Isaacson canonized Steve Jobs. Here, he tackles another genius, a man of both art and science who was also a social misfit (“Illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical.”). Devour this before the DiCaprio adaptation that no one asked for. (Oct. 17)

ADVENTURE: Rhoda and the Fossil Hunt
Maybe you have kids or maybe you’re a big kid. Either way, a colorful immersive opera set in the American Museum of Natural History on the hunt for missing fossils throughout the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs is a dandy way to spend the afternoon. (through 10/15)

SUBSCRIBE: Quartz Obsession
From one of our favorite online publishers, Quartz Obsession is a new email that takes a deep dive into a single newsy topic every weekday, timed for your evening commute (unless you’re driving … then, um, don’t look at your phone). You’ll get history, stats, quotes, charts and interactive elements, all dedicated to one fascinating topic (recently, it was tulips).

EXPERIENCE: The Illuminati Ball
The illusive Illuminati Ball is back. But this time it doesn’t require being blindfolded and shipped off to an undisclosed location. Set in the historical Weylin over yonder in Brooklyn, this time the theatrical madness is coming to you. Dress to impress and leave inhibitions at the door. (10/20)

LISTEN: Our Spotify playlist
A slightly revamped version of our former monthly playlist, still devoted to the best in new music but now an on-going, living, breathing entity called Put This in Your Ear. We’ll be adding and archiving songs as we go, but still curating great new tunes along the way, including songs from Wolf Alice, Wu-Tang Clan, Phoebe Bridgers, CHVRCHES (covering Tegan & Sara) and, somehow, Bill Murray.

BINGE: Mindhunter
The ‘70s, David Fincher and the hunt for serial killers? Count us in. Netflix’s latest drama is based on the work of the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit, which interviewed imprisoned serial killers to understand how they think (a bit o’ Silence of the Lambs there, but real). (Oct. 13)

And don’t forget… Best-selling author Dave Eggers (The Circle) tackles anthropomorphic art in the illustrated Ungrateful Mammals (Oct. 17) … Marc Maron shares his learnings from his WTF podcast in Waiting For the Punch (Oct. 10) … Personal tragedy can’t keep down comedian Patton Oswalt, who debuts this stand-up special Annihilation on Netflix (Oct. 17) … Film buffs: Be sure to check out our 2017 Fall Movie Guide … Book buffs: Be sure to check out our 2017 Fall Book Guide (unreleased Vonnegut!) … Finally, welcome back Mr. Robot (Oct. 11), Riverdale (Oct. 11), The Walking Dead (Oct. 22) and Stranger Things (Oct. 27).