The Best in Entertainment and Culture in June 2020

What are the best entertainment and culture options to watch  in the month of June 2020? Our ace correspondent Jillian Tangen has curated a list of the best entertainment and culture offerings this month, including new movies, podcasts, TV shows, culture events and live stream concerts to watch this June 2020.

what’s happening in entertainment and culture in june 2020?

Even though the world is slowly emerging from the coronavirus lockdown, much remains closed.  And as a result, many of our beloved annual summer events have been cancelled or postponed. 

And while that may sound bleak, don’t press cancel on summer 2020 just yet.  Numerous venues and production companies have found fresh ways to ensure your June will still be an entertaining one.

In addition to a number of hot new album releases and intriguing podcasts, you will find an innovative drive-in concert series called the Parking Lot Social visiting 16 cities across the US.  And despite many movie theaters remaining closed, there are a slew of summer blockbusters to stream, including Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods on Netflix. As well as Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You on HBO.

And there are more and more drive-in movie theaters to visit this summer, too.

For theater lovers, there’s a Hulu documentary on Lin Manuel Miranda’s pre-Hamilton improv hip-hop group We Are Freestyle Love Supreme. And a chance to catch Tom Hiddleston in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus.  And on the visual arts front you will even find that some museums are starting to open their doors again, including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

Oh and there’s one more tiny little detail we thought you should know – sports are back!  Both the English Premier League and the PGA Tour are back on – without fans, of course.

So while the kick off of summer 2020 may look a little different than previous years, rest assured that it will still be a delightful one.

the best in entertainment and culture in june 2020

1. best new movies in june 2020

Shirley is a semi-biopic about the foundational horror author Shirley Jackson. She’s best known for her short story “The Lottery.” Elisabeth Moss stars. In the film, Shirley’s reclusive life is interrupted by the arrival of a young couple who  she initially antagonizes before infecting them with her demons – Jun 5

The long-awaited (and long-delayed) film adaptation of the beloved young adult urban fantasy series, Artemis Fowl is finally coming out – and on streaming in the comfort of your own home via Disney+, no less – Jun 12

Spike Lee, fresh from the Best Screenplay Oscar he won for BlackKklansman, tackles the moral hangover left by Vietnam in his new Netflix film.  In Da 5 Bloods follows four veteran African American soldiers, led by Delroy Lindo, as they go back to Vietnam. They’re trying to find buried treasure and make peace with the memory of the deceased fifth blood, played in flashbacks by Chadwick Boseman – Jun 12

Nicole Beharie stars in Channing Godfrey Peoples’ Miss Juneteenth. The film, which was praised out of Sundance, stars Beharie as a mom pushing her daughter to relive her former glory as a pageant queen in the Miss Juneteenth contest.  Available in select theaters and VOD – Jun 19

Irresistible is a political satire coming to VOD from Jon Stewart starring his old Daily Show colleague Steve Carell as a Democratic strategist seeking out a possible candidate in Wisconsin – Jun 26

2.  big television shows in june 2020

Dirty John season 1 almost broke television with its November 2018 debut.  A year and a half later, USA is serving up a new season of true crime-inspired drama with The Betty Broderick Story.  This time the story follows real-life murderess Betty Broderick (played by Amanda Peet).  A wealthy 1980s housewife who killed her ex-husband (played by Christian Slater) in the wake of their divorce – Jun 2

Michaela Coel gets her own high-profile HBO series this summer, which she also stars in and wrote. In I May Destroy You, she plays a London woman who gets slipped a date-rape drug whose aftereffects force her to rebuild the framework of her life – Jun 7

Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi is looking to change what is considered “American food” – or at least expand it.  In Taste the Nation, Lakshmi traverses the country, immersing herself in the indigenous and immigrant communities exploring their cuisines and cultures that ultimately make America what it is today – Jun 19

Just in time for Father’s Day, the Apple TV+ documentary Dads, helmed by Bryce Dallas Howard, explores the ups and downs of modern fatherhood with commentary from famous parents like Jimmy Fallon, Will Smith, Neil Patrick Harris and her own dad, Ron Howard – Jun 19

An HBO documentary based on Michelle McNamara’s book about the Golden State Killer, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark investigates that infamous serial rape and murder case, as well as McNamara’s extreme diligence in writing about it, all the way up to her unexpected death in 2016 – Jun 28

3. best new performing arts in june 2020

Tom Hiddleston plays the title role in Shakespeare’s searing tragedy of political manipulation and revenge, Coriolanus.  The 2014 Donmar Warehouse production streaming on the National Theatre’s YouTube Channel was directed by Josie Rourke. It also features Mark Gatiss, Hadley Fraser, Alfred Enoch, and Deborah Findlay – Jun 4 – 11

Broadway remains shuttered but the show must go on. If you’re missing the Great White Way, check out We Are Freestyle Love Supreme, an intimate Hulu documentary looking at the story of Lin Manuel Miranda’s pre-Hamilton improv hip-hop group – Jun 5

Bill T. Jones’s dance and performance complex, New York Live Arts, has been releasing three videos from its archives every Thursday in a series they are calling (Re)Live Arts Streaming.  Recent releases include Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company D-Man in the Waters (1989), which wrestles with the devastations of the AIDS epidemic to the strains of Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings while Cynthia Hopkins’s semiautobiographical A Living Documentary (2014), explores the struggles of the 21st-century New York City performance artist. There is a 2018 conversation between Jones and conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas

The Met’s 12th week of free offerings continues with Massenet’s Thaïs from December 2008, starring Renée Fleming, Michael Schade and Thomas Hampson – Jun 7

The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden has been streaming operas and ballets every week. It is to help culture-hungry Brits and others get through the coronavirus pandemic.  This month will see the 2005 Royal Ballet perform La Fille mal gardée on June 12 and The 2017 Royal Opera with The Magic Flute a week later – June 12, 19

4. best new visual arts in june 2020

Spain’s Guggenheim Bilbao and Italy’s Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice will both reopen this month – Jun 1, 2

Home to the world’s largest Monet collection, the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris is opening its doors – Jun 2

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston has reopened with an array of exhibitions including Glory of Spain: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, Radical: Italian Design 1965–1985, The Dennis Freedman Collection and Francis Bacon: Late Paintings

Perfect for the age of the “selfie,” Eye to I: Self Portraits from the National Gallery is leading the reopening of the Boca Raton Museum of Art.  The exhibition explores how American artists have portrayed themselves since the beginning of the 20th century. It will be in the form of painting, drawing, photography and video – Jun 3

The Cleveland Museum of Art is planning to reopen at the end of the month – Jun 30

5. best pop music events in june 2020

Hip hop duo Run The Jewels will drop Run The Jewels 4 with features from Zack De La Rocha, 2 Chainz, Pharrell and others – Jun 5

The Bailey sisters, otherwise known as Chloe x Halle are pivoting to more mature R&B with their sophomore album Ungodly Hour – Jun 5

Stranger Things star Maya Hawkes is proving she’s more than an actor.  She performed her first ever solo live shows earlier this year, and this month will deliver a dreamy folk debut album titled Blush – Jun 19

Bob Dylan, will release Rough and Rowdy Times, his 39th album and first of all original songs since 2012’s The Tempest – Jun 19

With the slogan “engines off, party on!,” the Parking Lot Social kicks off a 16-city tour  in Houston.  The roving festival promises to transform the traditional drive-in experience into a three-hour supersized, multi-sensory extravaganza. It will include  live bands, ‘car-a-oke,’ silent disco, movies, interactive trivia and stand-up comedians. It will also include food, drinks and more – Jun 24 – Sep 20

Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim were initially set to release their third album back in April, but decided to push it back because of the pandemic.   HAIM’s Women in Music Pt III will be released at end of the month – June 26

6. best new podcasts in june 2020

To entertain themselves (and you) in the absence of Broadway and the ability to record new Netflix specials, Nick Kroll and John Mulaney have transformed their hit show Oh, Hello into podcast form. They take on their notorious characters, Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland, aka “bad boys of broadcast,” to discuss everything you could want to talk about during quarantine

Rebel Eaters Club is Transmitter Media’s new podcast hosted by Virgie Tovar.  It discusses diets, discrimination and freedom from the restrictions society attempts to place on our bodies

The 27 Club is a new iHeartRadio podcast by Jake Brennan that digs into the lives of the musicians who have joined the infamous 27 Club – the surprisingly large group of musicians who passed away at the age of 27

From the Armchair Expert team comes Monica & Jess Love Boys with co-host Monica Padman and friend Jess Roland. The two have seemingly opposite relationship struggles. However, they both share the goal of establishing a healthier dating life. They bring on experts to give them challenges intended to help them achieve that

From the network that brings you Pod Save America, Keep It explains how the latest in pop culture and entertainment intersects with politics and society.  Hosts Ira Madison III, Louis Virtel, and Aida Osman discuss the current celeb scandals, memes, TV and tech news that may be affecting the world in ways we didn’t realize

7. must watch sporting events june 2020

The IndyCar series will begin its new season in Fort Worth, Texas – Jun 6

The PGA Tour plans to return with the Charles Schwab Challenge in San Antonio, Texas.  The tournament will be played without spectators as well as the next three tournaments. They are scheduled for June and early July – Jun 11 – 14

The most-watched sports league in the world plans to return this month, pending a sign off from health authorities.  English Premier League will play in stadiums without fans and with stringent health protocols – Jun 17

The Belmont Stakes, one of horse-racing’s biggest events and normally the third leg of the Triple Crown, will take place without spectators in attendance.  The event will also now feature a shorter distance. It will be changing from a mile and a half to a mile an eighth – Jun 20

the best in entertainment, culture and sports this june 2020

That’s it. Our top picks for the best in the world of entertainment, culture and sports this June 2020.  Are you ready?

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Jillian Tangen is the Head of Research at Dandelion Chandelier and a former Senior Research Analyst at McKinsey & Co and Analyst at Shearman & Sterling. She is an avid fan of Nordic design, having owned an independent lifestyle store and sales agency focused on emerging Scandinavian design. She loves cross-country skiing, the New York Rangers, reading, travel and discovering new brands.

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