What to Watch, Listen to and Cook During Your Coronavirus Self-Quarantine – The New York Times

Opening day has been delayed for at least two weeks, but you can watch nearly all 20 hours of “Ken Burns’s Baseball” for free on PBS.org.

Movies and TV

What TV Should I Stream?

• The 50 best TV shows on Netflix.

• The 50 best movies and TV shows on Disney Plus.

• Or, if you’re looking to do some deep bingeing on some classic shows you’ve always meant to watch, here’s our 20 best TV dramas since “The Sopranos.” (But also, maybe watch “The Sopranos.”)

• Our TV critic Margaret Lyons has picked nine shows to check out right now. She calls “The Stranger,” a Netflix thriller based on a Harlan Coben novel, her “favorite binge so far this year.”

I’ve been meaning to start one of those shows that everyone was talking about last year? Remind me what they were.

• The one that’s like “Groundhog Day” but set in the East Village and starring the incredibly-voiced Natasha Lyonne? That would be “Russian Doll,” on Netflix. It’s a short, one-season binge.

• The one that’s full of mostly hateable rich people insulting one another in settings that are both envy-worthy and also somehow bland? You’re thinking of HBO’s “Succession.” There are two seasons, each with 10 hourlong episodes.

• The one that’s punchy and witty and emotional and sexy, but with British accents and an attractive priest? “Fleabag.” It’s on Amazon Prime, and there are two seasons of six half-hour episodes. (The one with the priest is Season 2.)

• The one with the dragons is “Game of Thrones.” Everyone was talking about it, but not necessarily for good reasons.

(For more recommendations on what movies and TV shows to stream while at home, subscribe to our Watching newsletter, which will hit your inbox three times a week.)

Sorry, sorry. Let’s go broader. Here are some ideas organized by category or mood.

Can you give me something that will make me feel good? I just need a laugh or something mindless.

Something feel-good? Spend some time in the fictional world of “Schitt’s Creek.” Yes, the Rose family lost all their money, but now they’re learning how to function like regular people, and there’s something comforting about their struggles.

Some of last year’s Oscar-nominated movies are now available to stream, rent or purchase, including:

• “The Irishman” (what better time to watch this three-hour-plus film) and “Marriage Story,” on Netflix.

• “Parasite,” “Knives Out,” “Uncut Gems,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” are available for rent on iTunes, Amazon and other digital video platforms

• “Little Women” and “1917” are available for purchase at iTunes and Amazon Prime.

For something very dumb, yet very entertaining, watch just the first 15 or so minutes of Michael Bay’s latest film, “6 Underground,” on Netflix.

For something not dumb, subscribe to the Criterion Channel and watch the works of Fellini, Kiarostami, Truffaut, Bergman, Tati, Denis, Varda, Renoir …

Podcasts

What should I listen to?

It’s understandable if you don’t want to look at a screen right now — maybe you’re working from home and your eyes are burned out from staring at your laptop; perhaps you’ve been watching cable news for too many hours and just can’t with your TV anymore.

If you want deeper dives, here are some podcasts, broken down by category.

• I want to hear some food podcasts.

• I’m looking for something about health or emotional well-being.

• I love movies and want to listen to other people who also love movies.

• I miss sports so much.

• I need to get in touch with my spiritual side.

• Broadway is closed, as is my local theater, and I’ve worn out my cast album recordings. Are there theater podcasts? (You better believe it.)

Music

What new songs should I stream?

OK, so you can’t go to any concerts right now. But millions — yes, many millions — of songs are at your fingertips.

Want to start with the best new music you should have on your radar? Listen to our latest Playlist, which features new releases from Lil Yachty (featuring Drake and DaBaby), Ava Max, Margo Price (the “ferocious and grimy” country song, below) and more. We’ll have a new one for you every Friday, as always.

Cooking

What should I cook?

Even in the most stressful moments, we need to eat good food. The New York Times Cooking site has thousands of recipes to help you weather these next few weeks. (You do need a subscription to access a lot of them, though.)

For example, since we know many of you will be working from home for the foreseeable future, here are 30 recipes for lunch at home. It doesn’t have to be grilled cheese every day! (True, there is a grilled cheese recipe here, but it has some zhush.)

Also, since some of you have bought beans and beans and beans for the long hibernation, here’s Melissa Clark’s guide for how best to cook them, as well as many delicious recipes like one for tomato, white bean and kale soup.

Sign up for the Cooking newsletter, for recipes, food writing and culinary inspiration. Like all our newsletters, it’s free.

Games

What should I play?

Wirecutter, a New York Times company that focuses on product recommendations, has some great suggestions for the best board games to play with people who are interested in advanced board games — we’re talking more than just Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit.

Family fare

What should I do with my kids?

In terms of specific shows to watch, New York Times readers recommended their favorite kids TV shows, and Mike Hale, one of our TV critics, chose four recent kids shows you might want to check out.

Do you need some help figuring out what books to get and read to your children? The New York Times’s children’s book editor, Maria Russo, has a recurring advice column called Story Times. She has already written up lists like eight great (and short) books for brand new-readers and seven great shorter stories for the elementary school years. Check out the rest at Story Times.

Mo Willems, the children’s book author and illustrator (the Pigeon, Knuffle Bunny and Elephant and Piggie series) has launched a “Lunch Doodles” series on YouTube. “Let’s find a way to be isolated and together at the same time,” he says.