You’re reading Fanfare With Will Leitch, a newsletter on the cultural moments capturing America’s attention. Click here to get the full edition in your inbox, including bonus musings on trends and recommendations for the weekend.

To be a consumer of popular culture and entertainment is to be exhausted and overwhelmed. There is just so much out there, so much you still haven’t even heard about, so much you’ll never catch up on. It’s little wonder that so many people have surrendered their decision-making to the algorithms. When you have seemingly infinite options, making a choice can feel impossible.

Which is why it’s exciting when a piece of popular entertainment becomes inescapable the old-fashioned way: because people you know can’t stop talking about it. There is something charmingly, enduringly lo-fi about having, from out of nowhere, all corners of your life suddenly filled with people whispering to each other: Did you watch that last night? Oh my gosh, you have to try that show. It can feel, in a splintering culture, like we are gathering around the watercooler again.

I don’t remember when I first heard about “Widow’s Bay,” the runaway hit that was awarded 19 Emmy nominations Wednesday, including five in the top categories. I noticed it showing up on my Apple TV app — I want to be careful not to........

© Washington Post