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Hump day recommendations, Feb. 26, 2025
Listen: Ten Things I Don’t Want to Hate About You. The latest This American Life episode was poignant, moving, and deeply cultural – as more and more of us know friends and loved ones who fall prey to conspiracy theories online. The episode follows the true story of a son trying to reach his father who has been transformed by online conspiracy theories – to the point of destroying his marriage and facing financial ruin – through a bet on the political events he expects to happen in 2024. It made me cry listening to it on the subway. – Riley
Read: “The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions.” This book by Jonathan Rosen combines true crime and a psychological thriller with the coming-of-age tales of two friends, Rosen and Michael Laudor, who grew up in New Rochelle, NY, in the 1970s. Both were intellectuals and aspiring writers who studied at Yale. They were competitive, and everything seemed easy for Laudor – until he developed schizophrenia and watched his dreams go up in the hallucinatory flames consuming his mind. His mental illness would end up costing everyone in his orbit – one tragically so – and the book poignantly describes how helpless those around him felt. The book details how little support there is for the families of schizophrenia sufferers – and the huge challenge these people face in carving out stable, safe, and rewarding lives. – Tracy
Watch: “The Brutalist.” The older I get, the more I want to see films that were made for reasons other than to entertain an audience and make money. “The Brutalist” is a strikingly original film. The Oscar-nominated performances of Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce, and (especially) Felicity Jones give the movie its “hard core of beauty,” and I don’t care thatAI was used to tweak the Hungarian accents of its stars. I’ve seen “special effects” before. – Willis
Read: TL;DRussia. Sam Greene, the Russia expert who writes this weekly-ish Substack newsletter, always gives a thoughtful, nuanced look at Russian politics and geopolitics. I’ve always found Sam to be adept at cutting through hype and anxiety about Russia’s place in the world, while also making it clear that there’s simply a lot we can’t know, and that conjecturing isn’t that helpful. If you’re ready for a Russia deep dive, I’d start here. – Ellen
Watch: “North of North.” Coming soon to Netflix, currently streaming on CBC Gem and APTN in Canada, this delightful comedy follows the travails of a young Inuk woman, Siaja, who after a very public breakup with her seal-hunter husband Ting, finds her purpose, inspires her community, and learns a shocking family secret. Set in the fictional Arctic town of Ice Cove, the show was filmed in Nunavut and features spectacular scenery, colorful characters, great lines, and a unique window into the Innu world. A must-watch – and hoping for a season two. – Tasha
Hump day recommendations, Feb. 12, 2025
Watch: “Flow.”OK so hear me out. It’s a 90-minute-long animated movie about a cat that gets caught in a flood. It has no dialogue. It has no people. But it does have a capybara, a quasi-magical bird, and some questionable dogs. It’s from Latvia and it was nominated for an Oscar, and it’s completely hypnotic. At some moments, the animals’ expressions and motivations feel vaguely human, at others they are veiled by a kind of basic and impenetrable natural mystery. You can watch it here. – Alex
Read: “The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings,” by James Baldwin. First published in 2010, this collection of Baldwin’s previously unpublished work reveals again the elegantly expressed outrage and provocative musings of a great American writer. – Willis
Listen: "The Blueprint with Jen Psaki." If you’re a fan of Jack Schlossberg’s social media antics and have been wondering what on Earth is going on with him, you need to check out Jen Psaki’s latest episode, “Why are we so Cautious? With Jack Schlossberg.” JFK’s grandson tells Psaki about his social media experiments — he taunts, teases, and dances a lot, for the uninitiated — and compares his approach to how Republicans use social media while noting that Dems need to be far more daring. Did he really get dumped? Nope. Is he Justin Baldoni’s lawyer? Nah. Is he studying ballet? Yep, and he’s poking holes in the notions surrounding masculinity with every twirl. Does he have a bigger project brewing? Listen to find out. – Tracy
Hump day recommendations, Sept. 25, 2024
Prepare: “Newsroom Safety Across America.” Covering protests, extremist groups, or even just ordinary politics can expose journalists to death threats, doxing, and all sorts of danger. All of our readers who happen to be fellow journalists would benefit from this terrific training by the International Women’s Media Foundation and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. You’ll learn how to protect yourself online, in unruly crowds, from police harassment, and against people with the intention and capacity to do you harm. Shoot them a request for a training in your area today. — Matt
Watch: “The War Room.” In America,another Election Day looms. It’s a perfect time to revisit D.A. Pennebaker’s extraordinary documentary, “The War Room.” This groundbreaking look inside the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign provides a great opportunity to consider how much has changed in American politics and how much endures. – Willis
Listen: “News in Slow.” Care to kill two birds with one stone – one being that pestering Duolingo owl? The “News in Slow” podcast series lets you flex your language skills while keeping up with current events. There are varying difficulty levels and language options, including Italian, French, German, and Spanish, just in time for UNGA. Happy learning! – Billy
Enter: The Well of Death. “Ten toes in when we standin’ on business.” The Indian-born, Houston-bred, Hyderabad-based, formerly Goldman-employed rapper Hanumankind’s chart-topping single “Big Dawgs” has become the go-to soundtrack for any/all social media content that wants you to get hyped. But have you seen the video? It was shot in Kerala, in a traditional “Well of Death,” a fast-vanishing carnival act (invented in Coney Island in 1911, as it happens) in which cars and motorcycles speed around the vertical walls of a giant wooden cylinder, held up only by centripetal force. It’s wild. And it’s put Indian hip-hop squarely on the global map. – Alex
Hump day recommendations, Sept. 4, 2024
Watch: “Man on Wire.” Now 75, Phillipe Petit continues events to mark the 50th anniversary of his famous windy-day tightrope walk between New York’s two World Trade Center towers. The 2008 film “Man on Wire” detailed both the terrifying logistics and high emotions of that day in 1974. It was not just a brilliant documentary. In my opinion, it was the best film in any category released that year. – Willis
Watch: “Revolution of Our Times.” Hong Kong marked a dark milestone this week as a court wrapped up the trial of nearly four dozen leaders of the 2019-2020 protest movement against the encroaching authoritarianism from the mainland. Hong Kong’s democracy is dead, and this film provides a shattering, up-close perspective on how it perished. – Matt
Watch: “Chimp Crazy.” This docuseries is wild in every sense of the word. It focuses on a woman completely obsessed with chimpanzees — and her fight against PETA and law enforcement over one particular primate. It is bizarre, shocking, and entertaining. And you’ll probably learn a lot about the politics and laws surrounding exotic animals in the US while watching it. — John
Read: “War Is Draining Ukraine’s Male-Dominated Work Force. Enter the Women.” This article shows all the ways women are stepping up to keep Ukraine’s economy afloat during the war. An important and interesting read. — RileyHump Day Recs, May 8, 20224
Play: Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic. In this clever, lovingly made game from 3Division, you take control of the politburo of some anonymous post-World War II Soviet satellite with no industry or capital and attempt to build it into a Marxist worker’s utopia. Turns out running a planned economy is hard as hell, though, and you’ll have to navigate a complex global economic and political simulation as you try to build out supply chains and distribution systems that keep your economy afloat and the capitalist dogs at bay. It’s not going too well for me right now — the massive oil refinement and export system I spent ~40 million rubles to build is rusting away idle thanks to a global petrol glut. – Matt
Read: “The Politics of Resentment,” by political scientist Katherine J. Cramer. This book is an interesting analysis of the political consciousness fueling the growing divide between urban and rural voters. Using Wisconsin as a case study, Cramer's central argument is that the political resentment of rural Wisconsinites toward the “liberal elite” in Madison and Milwaukee played a major role in recent Republican successes in the state, even as their policies failed to meaningfully address the economic hardships faced by many rural residents. – Riley
Listen: to ESG. Today those three letters are an investment philosophy, but 40 years ago they were the name of an all-girl post-punk band from the South Bronx. You might have heard a snippet of their record “UFO,” one of hip-hop’s most-sampled tracks of all time, but their whole oeuvre stands the test of time as a lo-fi, high-energy call directly to the dance floor. – Alex