Skip to footer

Top Picks: 'Hidden Figures' on DVD and Blu-ray, 'Children of the Force' podcast, and more

The Dog Park Finder Plus app can help you locate nearby dog parks as well as other dog-friendly locations, the Maps 3D Pro app brings maps to life for those who love the great outdoors, and more top picks.

|
Lucasfilm/AP
  • By Staff

Force family

Al Nowatzki is a “Star Wars” fan, but he’s not the only one in his family. So he and his young children, Anna and Liam, teamed up for a podcast, Children of the Force. On the podcast, the trio discuss the latest “Star Wars” news, providing reactions to trailers and other information from various age groups. The podcast is a sweet listen and demonstrates that, because the first “Star Wars” film came out 40 years ago, watching the “Star Wars” movies is often a family affair today. You can find the podcast at https://childrenoftheforce.com.

Influential figures

The movie Hidden Figures, which is the story of the African-American women who worked at NASA as mathematicians and helped launch John Glenn into orbit, inspired many when it was released in 2016, becoming a box-office hit and earning multiple Oscar nominations, including one for best picture. The movie stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer (who was nominated for an Oscar), and Janelle Monáe, and it’s available on DVD and Blu-ray.

Matt Sayles/Invision/AP

Prime-time karaoke

Do you fight to keep your eyes open before “The Late Late Show with James Corden” comes on at 12:30 a.m. EDT on CBS? Then check out The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special 2017, which will feature Corden’s popular “Carpool Karaoke” segment, among others. “Carpool Karaoke” is always enjoyable no matter when it’s on TV. It airs May 22 at 10 p.m.  

Park help

Looking for furry friends for Fido and fellow pet owners to chat with? The Dog Park Finder Plus app can help you locate nearby dog parks as well as other dog-friendly locations, such as beaches. The app also includes useful details such as whether the parks are fenced and when they’re open. Dog Park Finder Plus is $1.99 for iOS. 

AP

Lifelike maps

The Maps 3D Pro app brings maps to life for those who love the great outdoors. It depicts mountains, valleys, and other features in 3-D so you have a better idea of what the landscape you’re headed to will really look like and you’ll be able to plan accordingly. The app is $4.99 and is available for iOS.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Top Picks: 'Hidden Figures' on DVD and Blu-ray, 'Children of the Force' podcast, and more
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Arts/2017/0512/Top-Picks-Hidden-Figures-on-DVD-and-Blu-ray-Children-of-the-Force-podcast-and-more
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe