To watch and watch for: Week of Feb. 4

Here’s the Arts & Entertainment’s selections for this week’s “To watch and watch for.” If you feel anxious about classes, take time to unwind and maybe watch, read or listen to our suggestions!

In celebration of Black History Month, National Geographic’s biopic television series Genius has been renewed for a fourth season covering the lives of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, two figureheads of the American civil rights movement — I, personally, will be watching.

I am also interested in a lesser-known book release this week, The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster, which I’m hoping will relieve my gradually inclining anxiety with fascinating descriptions of cryptozoologists and conspiracy theories. 

If the Ye and Ty Dolla $ign album is actually released, I will be there no matter what. Stay tuned for a review of that album, as no matter how bland it might be, I can assure you I will have a strong opinion.

To watch…

Genius: MLK/X (episodes 3 and 4), developed by Jeff Stetson — Feb. 8

National Geographic’s biopic television series Genius, developed by Noah Pink and Kenneth Biller, is releasing their newest season on Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X in honor of Black History Month. The first episode came out on Feb. 1, but the next two will be released this Friday.

The Private Eye, directed by Jack Cook — Feb. 9

Comedic superstar Matt Rife plays detective Mort Madison, private eye, who is roped into a familiar case by a familiar woman, solving a long investigation and becoming a homewrecker in the process. From the trailer, it seems there will be two simultaneous storylines following different eras, replicating old detective movie tropes and creating new ones.

To read…

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, by Ann Liang — Feb. 6

Sadie Wen is school captain, valedictorian and intense people pleaser who relieves her inner frustration by writing angry, painfully honest email drafts to the many people in her life that she despises. In a tragic moment, her drafts are released and her true feelings revealed. Amidst the chaos, she finds solace and friendship in the only boy she openly hated.

The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett — Feb. 6 

Out of the long tradition of detective duos emerges Ana Dolabra, a notoriously eccentric investigator, and her new assistant Dinios Kol (Din), an engraver with a magical memory. Both set out to find the culprit of a high-level murder — the assassination of a high Imperial officer.

The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster, by John O’Connor — Feb. 6 

In this fun read, author John O’Connor goes on a journey through the American wilds in search of Bigfoot, a major myth of “cryptozoology,” the subculture that researches animals of debatable existence. Through his travels, we learn about the philosophy of nature and see just how these intense subcultures operate.

To listen…

Vultures, by Ye and Ty Dolla $ign — Feb. 9

It’s tough to put this album in this list, as Kanye has never been one to stick to release dates. Two months ago, after the first listening party in Miami, we were given another disappointment in a long history of false promises. Regardless, this date has been confirmed by Kanye during a surprise performance at Travis Scott’s Orlando Concert of his Utopia tour, and the exact track list was released through new merchandise. It’s already been highly anticipated, with the first snippet surfacing back in October 2023. It’s bound to be extremely culturally relevant, for better or for worse.

Any Light, by Loving — Feb. 9

Indie soft rock band Loving is coming out with their second studio album Any Light four years after their 2020 debut album If I Am Only My Thoughts. They are a Canadian psychedelic folk band that plays with soft soundscape guitar and electronic effects to give a very unique aesthetic, along with brilliant songwriting.

Coming Home, by Usher — Feb. 9

Usher’s latest album comes just under six years after his rap collab album A with producer Zaytoven, eight years after his last solo album Hard II Love and two days before his halftime show performance at Super Bowl LVIII. The latest single “Ruin” sees Usher in standard 2000s R&B style, but with a bossa nova shaker-clave beat.

Live events...

Garrick Ohlsson Piano Concert at Shriver Hall — Feb. 4 from 5:30–7 p.m.

As part of the Shriver Hall Concert Series, famed pianist and winner of the International Chopin Piano Competition Garrick Ohlsson will be taking the stage to perform a sweeping program of Beethoven, Chopin and Mamlok, with an added performance of Schubert’s “Wanderer” Fantasy. There will be a Pre-Concert Talk at 4:30 p.m.

Music at Evergreen: Sage DeAgro-Ruopp, Soprano and Iwo Jedynecki, Classical Accordion at Bakst Theatre, Evergreen Museum & Library — Feb. 11 from 2–4 p.m.

As part of the “Music at Evergreen” series, the Evergreen Museum & Library will be hosting a dual performance by Sage DeAgro-Ruopp, opera singer and student of the Oberlin Conservatory and the Curtis Institute of Music, and Iwo Jedynecki, classical accordionist and student of The Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music. The performance will precede a meet-and-greet with the artists. Advance tickets are required and are discounted at $10 for full-time Hopkins students.

The JHU Barnstormers present Radium Girls by D. W. Gregory at Merrick Barn — Feb. 9 at 8 p.m., Feb. 10 at 8 p.m., Feb. 11 at 3 p.m. 

The undergraduate theater company the JHU Barnstormers will be performing Radium Girls: A Play in Two Acts, by American playwright D. W. Gregory. Published in 2000, the drama is based on the true story of female workers in early 1920s through 1940s New Jersey who paint watch dials for the U.S. Radium Corporation.