Your Weekly Pop Culture Mandate

Five things you must not miss this week, including the Wall Street sequel and Jon Stewart's book, Earth, chronicling the entire history of the human race.

BY RAY RAHMAN

MUSIC Frankie Rose & The Outs, Frankie Rose & the Outs

Frankie Rose, a veteran of Vivian Girls, The Crystal Stilts, and Dum Dum Girls, has a new band. Here’s the deal: it’s better than her old ones. The band's warm fuzzed-out sound feels like a reference to girl-groups from the ‘60s, but it also evokes the spirit of more recent stellar bands like The Breeders, The Amps and, at times, even Black Tambourine. September 21

BOOKS Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race, Jon Stewart

“After two weeks of hard work,” explain the press materials for this work of post-nonfiction (sorry), “Jon Stewart and the Daily Show writers... had Earth, the most definitive guide to our species.” Stewart and his team are people who consistently outsmart the smart and powerful objects of their ridicule, so it’s likely that this book will contain just as many deep, human truths as deep, human fart jokes. September 21

MUSIC My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky, Swans

"SWANS ARE NOT DEAD,” reads the band’s MySpace page. That is no lie. In fact, they’re still one of noise/post-punk’s best and yet consistently under-appreciated bands. And they sound as good today as they did in ‘82. This isn’t a shocker to fans who have been keeping up with them: founder Michael Gira, as The Angels of Light, has been responsible for some of underground music’s best albums and live shows, while vocalist/keyboardist Jarboe still puts out some of the scariest music you’ll ever hear. September 21

MOVIES Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Oliver Stone

Twenty-three years is a long time to let pass between sequels, yet Money Never Sleeps couldn’t be any more timely. Prompted by the beginning of the current recession in 2008, director Oliver Stone decided to make another comment on the ills of the financial world. And since Charlie Sheen, an older white man, is probably a little too realistic for audiences, Stone subbed in Shia LaBoeuf, the cutest little corrupt trader of all time. September 24

TELEVISION Eastbound & Down, HBO

Of all the funny, funny shows on television these days, Eastbound & Down might be one with the most characteristically provocative style. Anyone familiar with the creative work of Jody Hill and Danny McBride (The Foot Fist Way is a fine introduction) will know how to handle their dark, awkwardly deadpan humor. If you missed the first season, catch up here. Then prepare yourself for the return of the only television series that effortlessly turned premature ejaculation into a memorable plotpoint. September 26