Hump day recommendations, Aug. 7, 2024

Watch:Tehran.” Yes, it’s a bit spooky watching a TV show about battles between Israeli and Iranian spies at this moment, but “Tehran” is a well-acted, continually suspenseful, award-winning series that offers multidimensional characters on all sides. Not surprisingly, seasons 3 and 4 are now on hold thanks to the show’s uncomfortable parallels with the current news. – Willis

Watch:Laapataa Ladies.” Imagine that your wife gets exchanged on your wedding day. That’s the plot of “Laapata Ladies,” which means “Missing Ladies,” a film directed by Kiran Rao. Set in rural India, the film follows two girls who recently got married. Phool, 16, has never stepped out of her village, and Jaya has just finished high school and wants to continue her studies. While Jaya gets exchanged with Phool at the train station, Phool steps down at a different terminus. Watch this heartwarming film as the two girls survive, one at a train station, and one in an unknown family, while trying to figure out their ultimate destinations. – Suhani

Watch: “1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything.”This docuseries was released several years ago but feels incredibly timely. It’s about the year 1971 and the music it inspired — and how the music of that year shaped the times. So much of what happened in 1971 feels eerily familiar. It was the Nixon era and the height of the Vietnam War. Young people were out in the streets, furious over the war (among other things) and calling for sweeping societal changes. The soundtrack to this series is fantastic, and you’ll probably learn a lot, too. — John


More from GZERO Media

U.S. President Donald Trump poses with Vice President Mike Pence, first lady Melania Trump and Conan, the U.S. military dog that participated in and was injured in the U.S. raid in Syria that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, while standing with the dog's military handler on the colonnade of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 25, 2019.
U.S. President Donald Trump poses with Vice President Mike Pence, first lady Melania Trump and Conan, the U.S. military dog that participated in and was injured in the U.S. raid in Syria that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, while standing with the dog's military handler on the colonnade of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 25, 2019.
REUTERS/Tom Brenner

While the second season will not officially launch until Jan. 20, 2025, the Donald Trump show has already come to town.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) nominates former President Donald Trump for Speaker of the House as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) watch inside the House Chamber on the third day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 5, 2023.
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
Ukrainian Armed Forces are deployed in the middle of the conflict with Russia on December 16, 2024. Ukraine claims that Russia has begun sending North Korean soldiers en masse to assaults in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces repel daily Russian attacks and control important areas.
Handout / Latin America News Agency via Reuters Connect

South Korean military officials said Monday that they had detected North Korean preparations to deploy more troops and weapons to Russia, and elaborated that at least 100 of Pyongyang’s soldiers had been killed and 1,000 more wounded so far, while Ukrainians claim 200 have died and nearly 3,000 had been wounded.

US Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at an event for young leaders at Prince George’s County Community College in Largo, Maryland on Tuesday, December 17, 2024.
Photo by Annabelle Gordon/Pool/Sipa USA

For the Democrats, 2024 was the year of the ostrich, or the koala, according to lapsed-Democratic voters asked to describe the party as an animal in post-election research.

Romanian far-right presidential election candidate Calin Georgescu delivers a press statement at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, December 19, 2024.
Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu secured a parliamentary vote of confidence on Monday, cementing a new coalition government amid the country’s worst political crisis in decades.