Anticipate: Begin dreaming about your first post-vaccination getaway. The planning course of alone is usually a potent supply of delight.

Play: Take heed to tracks by H.E.R., Nile Rodgers and Cardi B in this week’s new music roundup.

Deal with your self. At Home has our full collection of ideas on what to learn, cook dinner, watch, and do whereas staying secure at residence.

As soon as a month, about 15 musicians, pop-culture figures and New York Instances writers and editors every choose the piece they might play for a pal, tied to a theme — be it an instrument, composer, style or voice kind. Right here’s a look at our series called “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love _____.” (This month’s theme is string quartets.)

The sequence goals to make classical music as accessible to readers as a High 40 observe. You don’t have to know the distinction between a cadenza and a concerto. “It’s about pure pleasure and exploration,” mentioned Zachary Woolfe, The Instances’s classical music editor.

Now two and a half years and a dozen segments into the mission, Zachary mentioned he was stunned at readers’ urge for food for the sequence, whatever the theme. “It’s like, ‘OK, ‘5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Mozart’ is tremendous interesting,’” he mentioned. “However ‘5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Baroque Music’? Or ‘5 Minutes That Will Make You Love 21st-Century Composers’? However these each did terrifically as nicely.”

The sequence has been expanded — first to particular person devices just like the piano, then to genres like opera and composers like Mozart and Beethoven. Regardless of the theme, it’s a five-minute interlude all however assured to convey you pleasure.

That’s it for this briefing. Have a peaceable Monday.

— Natasha

Thanks
To Melissa Clark for the recipe, and to Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the remainder of the break To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the break from the information. You may attain the crew at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our newest episode is on the $2.7 billion lawsuit towards Fox Information by Smartmatic, an election expertise firm.
• Right here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: New Zealand has 5 occasions extra of those animals than individuals (5 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Samantha Stark, who directed the brand new Instances documentary “Framing Britney Spears,” discussed the film’s fresh perspective on the star’s life.

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