What I’m watching/reading/listening to: Hidden brain, on marriage:

Wally Cleaver: Whenever we cook inside, Mom always does the cooking. But whenever we cook outside, you always do it. How come?

Ward Cleaver: Oh, it’s sort of traditional, I guess. You know, they say a woman’s place is in the home. And I suppose as long as she’s in the home, she might as well be in the kitchen.

Wally: Oh. Well, that explains about Mom, but how come you always do the outside cooking?

Ward Cleaver: Well, I’ll tell you, son. Women do all right when they have all the modern conveniences, but us men are better at this rugged type of outdoor cooking – sort of a throwback to caveman days.

Boy have times changed!

What I learned this week: Sports teams should maximize variance (instead of maximizing expectation) when they’re trailing in a game…and other strategies for underdogs, from Plan to Be Lucky

Really good and unobvious advice that work out if you just stop and think about how things plays out statistically

What I enjoyed this week: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. This is the most amazing site and idea. All the words are made up, but we should definitely add them to the dictionary…words like:

Mauerbauertraurigkeit: The inexplicable urge to push people away, even close friends who you really like.

Quote o’ the week: Paradise is exactly where you are right now, only much, much better. -Laurie Anderson

Song o’ the week: You get a two-fer…the music is good, but the idea is even better.

What I’m watching/reading/listening to: The book Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss. SO MUCH wisdom here
e.g. from Drew Houston, founder of Dropbox: When I was 24, I came across a website that says most people live for about 30,000 days – and I was shocked to find that I was already 8,000 days down. So you have to make every day count.

What I learned this week: Is everything you think you know about depression wrong?
if you’re remotely interested in learning about depression or psychology, you should read this”

What I enjoyed this week: Better Late Than Never. Touching and hilarious. I wish I could be like that when I get to that age

Quote o’ the week: Fairness is just what we call it when we get what we want and what we complain about when we don’t. -N.C.

Song o’ the week: Iarla O Lionaird – Glistening Fields

What I’m watching/reading/listening to: How to Beat Procrastination – Wait But Why
“A remarkable, glorious achievement is just what a long series of unremarkable, unglorious tasks looks like from far away.”

…a fun and in-depth analysis of how procrastination works and how to beat it

What I learned this week: Out in the Great Alone

“…you could feel it: this fragile human warmth surrounded by almost unmanageable sadness.”

I want to need to experience this…

What I enjoyed this week: Counterpart. J.K. Simmons doing Fringe/Walter Bishop as a spy thriller. A slow burner with a gorgeous soundtrack.

And it’s got subtitles! I like subtitles!

Quote o’ the week: These days, I guess a lot of kids interact with each other over screens. But I’m grateful that all of my early interactions were in person. It’s a real gift for young people to be able to see the face of someone they’ve just hurt. In that moment, you learn whether or not you have what it takes to be a killer. Anyone can kill you, but it takes someone you know to really HURT you. It takes someone you love to break your heart. -Saga

Song o’ the week: Choir and Crickets

What I’m watching/reading/listening to: Ascenseur Pour l’Échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows)
It’s kind of wild, kind of lonesome, kind of dark, kind of not. And it has a great soundtrack by Miles Davis

What I learned this week: Wow…this was a really good interview. Really life-changing actually.
In summary: Reality is bliss. Ignorance is suffering.
Finding Joy in a World of Suffering

What I enjoyed this week: Another Period. Craziness at its deadpan best

Quote o’ the week: One of the great attractions of tribalism is that you don’t actually have to think very much. All you need to know on any given subject is which side you’re on. You pick up signals from everyone around you, you slowly winnow your acquaintances to those who will reinforce your worldview, a tribal leader calls the shots, and everything slips into place. After a while, your immersion in tribal loyalty makes the activities of another tribe not just alien but close to incomprehensible. –Andrew Sullivan

Song o’ the week: Bjork – So Broken
Devastating. I like the studio version is better, but watching her perform is just something else

What I’m watching/reading/listening to: The Good Place. never has a show been more enjoyable the more you know about psychology and philosophy. I mean seriously, an entire bit based on the “Trolley problem”?!? awesome!

What I learned this week: The idea of moral luck is pretty mind-blowing
Why do we blame drunk drivers who hit someone more than drunk drivers who make it home OK? We all do this. But have you ever stopped to think about why we think that or how that makes sense?

What I enjoyed this week: Why Trying New Things Is So Hard to Do

Quote o’ the week: There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there. -Indira Gandhi

Song o’ the week: Miles Davis – Générique. Part of an amazing soundtrack for an amazing movie.

What I’m watching: kulning. what the heck? it’s transcendent. it’s magic. all is right with the world if this exists

What I learned this week: 30-40% of produce is wasted because of looks…*looks*…can we possibly be more wasteful?

What I enjoyed this week: No food is healthy. not even kale

Quote o’ the week: Brave men are all vertebrates. They have their softness on the surface and their toughness in the middle. But these modern cowards are all crustaceans; their hardness is all on the cover, and their softness is inside. -C.K. Chesterton

Song o’ the week: 100 Days, 100 Nights by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

What I’m watching/reading/listening to: Touch of Evil (reconstructed version).
The plot is iffy but the b&w cinematographgy is just incredibly atmospheric. I mean, even if you watch the entire movie with the sound off, your life will be better for having done it.

What I learned this week: stick figures can be incredibly touching

What I enjoyed this week: Gardening as metaphor. That…wow…that makes so much sense!

Quote o’ the week: Do not bleed before you are wounded. -American Gods

Song o’ the week: Max richter – the Trees

What I’m watching/reading/listening to: Force Majeure, a Swedish movie. And it’s got Kristofer Hivju!!
Then listen to the Very Bad Wizards podcast where they discuss this episode.

What I learned this week: 52 Things I learned in 2017, which contains such gems as GPS signals are being spoofed in some areas of Moscow: “the fake signal, which seems to centre on the Kremlin, relocates anyone nearby to Vnukovo Airport, 32 km away. The scale of the problem did not become apparent until people began trying to play Pokemon Go.”

Hmm…Pokemon Go as an instrument of government transparency…interesting!

What I enjoyed this week: NPR’s How I Built this podcast. Ben & Jerry’s: Ben Cohen And Jerry Greenfield
Such a good story, with so many good lessons about business and life.

Quote o’ the week:
Why’re you always in a foul mood?
Experience.
-Game of Thrones

Song o’ the week: The Black Mighty Orchestra – Ocean Beach (Cybophonia Cinematic Remix)
A great remix of Henry Mancini’s Lujon
“

What I’m watching/reading/listening to: Will, on TNT. It’s more of a guilty pleasure…production values are high, the script is a bit melodramatic, but there’s an earnestness in the acting that’s fun and touching to watch.

Recently affected by: Patton Oswalt: Annihilation. The first half or so is so-so, but when he starts talking about the aftermath of his wife’s death…wow…devastatingly raw

Weekly bits: How the sandwich consumed Britain. I know you can great sandwiches in London, and the last time I was there, Pret a Manger was my go-to place for a great and cheap lunch. But I had no idea the industry was such a behemoth. And the top selling sandwiches is a real eye-opener (spoiler: I doubt many Americans have had these flavors)

Quote o’ the week: He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery. -Harold Wilson

Song o’ the week: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, by Ryuichi Sakamoto. I’ve literally listened to about a dozen+ versions. This is one of my favorites.

What I’m watching/reading/listening to: Cerebus, the comic book. I’m (re-)reading all 300 issues. Can’t stop reading. This was really made for binge reading. It’s actually better than I remember.

Recently affected by: Radio Lab’s episode on Oliver Sipple
Why are people so threatened by other people who are different from them?

Weekly bits: Can Our Democracy Survive Tribalism? A very thoughtful read. I also just realized that this goes along with the above Radio Lab podcast and the quote below…for better or worse…

Quote o’ the week: You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do. -Anne Lamott

Song o’ the week: Poor, poor Ed