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CNET •

Netflix's Newest Teen Rom-Com Is … Actually Really Good?

I wasn't expecting much from the film Along For the Ride, considering the stream of teen snoozers Netflix has slapped onto its lineup in recent years. I assumed cheap chuckles, uninspired direction and slapdash writing would surely be on the menu, topped with desperate efforts to wedge in some Gen Z lingo. Another boy-meets-Addison Rae cash grab that fails to excite even its target demographic. But no. Barely two minutes into this film, releasing May 6, I remembered: This is Sofia Alvarez we're dealing with.
INDY Week •

Mushroom Foraging Is Mushrooming in North Carolina

Nutty or fruity. Fluorescent orange or soft white. Slapped on a piece of pizza, or served with the world’s finest delicacies. They can bring your risotto to life, or they can kill you within days. Growing in countless forms and flavors, mushrooms span thousands of distinct species. And you’d be hard-pressed to find their breadth more on-display than in the Appalachian Mountains that run through North Carolina.
CNET •

The Wall ascends to Olympic heights in gripping new documentary

My climbing experience is limited to preteen birthday parties in gyms reeking of palm sweat and stale granola bars. But as I watched the four elite female athletes featured in The Wall: Climb For Gold sprint like spider monkeys up bizarrely contorted walls, I found myself doing the same thing my childhood friends did when I got stuck clinging to a tiny nub, frozen and useless 20 feet in the air. From the comfort of my couch, I found myself screaming, "Just put your foot up!"
CNET •

Outer Banks season 2 review: This North Carolinian can't get enough

"Holy shit, that's a mile from our house!" I gawk at the YouTube video on my screen. Packed onto an old-fashioned bike and whizzing across my little beach town are the stars of Netflix smash hit Outer Banks: a smoky-eyed young woman with sun-streaked hair, draping her arms around a dude in a white T-shirt with a similarly blondish shoulder-length mop. Chase Stokes and Madelyn Cline flirt beneath the craggy trees two minutes up the road from me; they ride across the marina that I pass every time