A quick look at the movies, television shows, and books that have captured my attention over the past two months.
Shrinking
TV shows about father-daughter relationships will always have a cherished spot in my heart, and this one tugs at the heartstrings in all the right (and somewhat manipulative) ways. It isn’t a perfect show, but it is packed with laughs, great performances (Christa Miller and Ted McGinley are especially good), and some heartwarming moments that make it an enjoyable way to spend an evening.
Oppenheimer
How would you feel if you created something that could kill thousands of people in one fell swoop? That’s the question that I hoped Oppenheimer would answer, and while it did veer into that territory from time to time, it wasn’t the central premise, and that’s to its detriment. I never thought I’d be so enthralled by watching middle-aged white men doing science, however, so I remain a fan of the film, but there were some areas I think could have been further explored—specifically around the moral quandaries of the work—that would have benefitted the movie. The political intrigue was surprisingly more gripping than I expected it to be, and actually complemented the science-y narrative perfectly well. The standout of this film, however, is the sound. The score is perfectly used and I can still hear the movie run through my head all these days later.
Holler, Child
These are stories about family, about trauma, about the space we fill with those we love and the secrets we hold for them. Set mostly in West Texas, the short story collection grapples with themes like systemic racism, deep disappointment, and dysfunctional relationships, but amidst it all, there is also room for joy and love. A brilliant collection of stories of the Black experience with a steady voice and a strong point of view, and a reminder that we are not only borne of the choices we make, but of the world that forced us to make those choices.
Baby Reindeer
I may be the only person in the world that wasn’t completely ga-ga for this show. It was good—very good, in fact—but something about the pacing didn’t quite resonate with me. I’ll admit: I’ve never really seen something like it before, and the subject matter is riveting yet disturbing, but I don’t think the storytelling was as strong as it could have been. Would love to see the one-man show it is based on; I’m curious if the translation to television did it a disservice.
Girls5Eva, Season 3
The premise for the show is hilarious, and it mostly delivered on that hilarity in the first season. It has gone progressively downhill since, with this third season, while being entertaining, not quite hitting all the notes and missing quite a few punchlines. Still, a fun diversion; not sure if it needs, or can sustain, any more seasons after this one.
The Idea of You
Is this a good movie? Not at all. Does Anne Hathaway make any movie, even the bad ones, very watchable? Yes she does.
Hacks, Season 3
It’s rare to find a television show that gets better and better as the seasons go on, but Hacks is one of those shows. This season was packed with laughs, all balanced with poignancy and insight, and served as an incredible showcase of the delightful relationship between Deborah and Ava that is the heart of the series. The supporting cast is hilarious, but this season leans heavily into the story of the leads, and for that it is richer. Already eagerly anticipating the next season.
How Should A Person Be?
There are times when I read something and realize halfway through that I’m not smart enough, or cultured enough, to fully understand what the author is trying to do. It’s clear that Heti is trying to write an “ugly” novel, but a lot of that intent seems to have passed me by. Mostly, I found this book to be a lot of words about art and friendship and self-questioning, without really saying much about all of them. The prose is heavy, but that is likely done in purpose; there were some beautiful moments in its leadenness, but overall it didn’t quite resonate. It’s probably a great book—I’m just not “with it” enough to get it.
Fair Play
Selling this as an erotic thriller is a bit of a misnomer; sure, it’s a sexy movie, but a thriller it is not. Mainly, it’s an exploration of how jealousy, when coupled with toxic masculinity, can lead to disaster, and also why you should never sleep with anyone that you work with, either. The tension between the two main characters is believable, and makes the movie a good watch despite many holes in the plot.
Bridgerton, Season 3
A delightfully entertaining season, particularly when it came to side characters and plots that are not the central storyline. Hard to get over the fact that Colin is not an interesting character and doesn’t deserve the kind of adulation that Penelope gives him; this takes away from the central relationship, and all its drama, that drives the season. Still, a fun season and the side characters and plots were fun; will definitely watch the next one.
A few albums I’ve really been enjoying recently:
Below, a quick roundup of a few of the things I learned over the past few months.
A quarter of Paris residents live in government housing—an aggressive effort “to keep middle- and lower-income residents and small-business owners [in the heart of the city.” (NYTimes)
In 2023, humans launched a record-breaking 2,664 objects into space, with American companies and government agencies being responsible for 81% of them. (chartr)
As of December 2019, OverDrive controlled digital lending for “more than 95% of public libraries in the US and Canada. (Nine Lives)
Researchers have identified a link between car exhaust and signs and symptoms consistent with Alzheimer’s disease. (University of Technology Sydney)
The amount of American adults who’ve had coffee in the past day has increased by 37% since 2004, a 20-year high. (Sprudge)
A newly sequenced genome suggests that Coffea arabica developed more than 600,000 years ago in the forests of Ethiopia via natural mating between two other coffee species. (Phys.org)
Scientists at UC Riverside have demonstrated a new, RNA-based vaccine strategy that is effective against any strain of a virus and can be used safely even by babies or the immunocompromised. (UCR)
H5N1 has now been detected in raw milk from infected animals. (Barron’s)
Global defense spending grew 7% to a record $2.4 trillion in 2023, the fastest annual rise since 2009. (Reuters)
Costa Rica consistently gets more than 99 percent of its electricity from renewables (Verge)
Yale researchers say that nasal application of neomycin shows promise in the prevention and treatment of respiratory viral infections including COVID-19 and influenza. (Yale)
A team of British palaeontologists discovered the remains of a giant Ichthyosaur with a jawbone measuring 2.3 meters, potentially making it the largest marine reptile ever, at 22-26 meters long. (Ars Technica)
Nearly half a million hectares of Crown land, including more than 200 islands of the Haida Gwaii archipelago, has been returned to the Haida Nation. It’s the first time in Canadian history that the government has recognised Indigenous title across an entire terrestrial territory inclusive of land area as well as surrounding airspace, seabed, and marine waters. (Hakai)
A new report estimates that since the 1970s, global immunisation efforts have saved_ an estimated 154 million lives–_the equivalent of six lives every minute of every year. Vaccination against 14 diseases, including diphtheria, measles, polio, rubella, and tuberculosis, has helped reduced infant deaths by 40% globally and by more than 50% in Africa. (Vox)
Japan’s Kansai International Airport hasn’t lost a single piece of luggage since it opened 30 years ago. (Nikkei)
A Sumatran orangutan has become the first wild animal seen self-medicating with a plant to heal a wound. (ABC)
From 1912 to 1952, the Olympics gave out medals for the arts in events like graphic works, compositions for orchestra, epic works (literature), statues, and drawings & watercolors. (NYTimes)
In 1987, countries around the world signed the Montreal Protocol to reduce emissions of ozone-depleting substances — such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), and halon gases. Since the Montreal agreement entered into force in 1989, global emissions of ozone-depleting substances have fallen by more than 99% as manufacturers have substituted them for less harmful alternatives. (Our World in Data)
Thanks to a newly deciphered Herculaneum scroll, researchers have pinpointed the location of Plato’s grave in Athens and know what he did on his final day. (Guardian)
According to the US Department of Agriculture, consumption of avocados in the United States has tripled since 2001, climbing to more than eight pounds per person each year. (USDA)
Renewables produced just over 30% of the world’s electricity in 2023. This growth was mostly driven by the rapid rollout of solar and wind technologies. (Our World in Data)
Once a mainstay of the Billboard charts, a cover song hasn’t entered the top 100 in nearly 20 years. (Reddit)
Although about 300,000 women still lose their lives to pregnancy-related causes every year, the global community has made significant strides in reducing this number. According to recently published WHO data, maternal mortality has decreased by 50% since 1985, thanks to improvements in access to care. (Our World in Data)
Vaccines have saved 150 million children over the last 50 years. Vaccination against measles has had the biggest impact, saving 94 million lives over the last 50 years. (Our World in Data)
Late bedtimes are linked to higher rates of mental health disorders, regardless of chronotype—both morning and night types benefit from going to bed earlier. (NeuroscienceNews)
Movie titles are getting longer each decade—especially for adventure and fantasy films. The number of films with a colon in the title has increased more than tenfold during the last fifty years. (Stat Significant)
Scientists find that 50,000-year-old Neanderthal bones have remains of human viruses. The preliminary analysis is a first step in testing the theory that infectious diseases played a role in Neanderthals’ extinction. (Smithsonian)
Flamingos have been largely missing from Florida since the early 20th century. Now at least 100 are back, possibly carried there last year by Hurricane Idalia. (Smithsonian)
The world’s first entirely 3D-printed neighborhood is currently being built in Mexico, providing affordable housing solutions for families living on $3 a day. (CNN)
Paris has closed more than 100 streets to motor vehicles, tripled parking fees for SUVs, removed roughly 50,000 parking spots, and constructed more than 1,300 kilometers of bike lanes since Mayor Anne Hidalgo took office in 2014. Those changes have contributed to a 40% decline in air pollution, according to city officials. (NBC)
There was a morning last week when everything was so still, it was as if the world was on pause, frozen in time, waiting for us to hit play so that the hubbub could start again and the roar of the world could return.
It was among this stillness that we entered the lake. There was no surf, no waves in the water; walking in from the shore was like disturbing a blank canvas, causing small ripples to emanate around us as we waded into the shallows. At the horizon, the waterline melded into the skyline so that you could not tell where one ended and the other started—just a massive expanse of blue as far as the eye could see. There were no birds flying above us, no people around us, no boats in the lake just yet. Even the bugs, which were perilous for most of the week, seemed to be lying in wait for some kind of sign that their frenzy could recommence.
The three of us took in the stillness, and then broke it: we played in the water and laughed and swam and made sandcastles on the beach. We sang songs and danced and splashed and let the world know that in all its calm, there was life being lived, life being enjoyed.
**
We spent every single day of our trip up to Lake Huron in the water. It helped that the cottage where we were staying had a staircase that led down directly into the lake, and that a small beach had been exposed by the low water levels so Zoya could make sandcastles while we waded into the shallows. It was almost too easy to decide to spend a morning or an afternoon in the water, especially when the heat outside felt oppressive and we lacked the energy to do anything more strenuous.
On the days when the lake was a little choppier and the surf a little stronger, we ventured out to the small beach nearby which had more space for us to sprawl out, more room for Zoya to play in the sand. Even on the windiest days, the water was still swimmable and extremely shallow: we could walk out for over a hundred feet before the level passed our waists.
Lake Huron is large—it is only by the lack of salt water that you are reminded that you are on a lake instead of the sea—and the part of it we explored was minuscule, but for a week, we felt like the lake was ours, our own space to connect and play and be recklessly joyful.
**
If you would have told me that I would be swimming in a lake in June, I’d say you were out of your mind. I do not like cold water at all, and generally only enter our pool at home when the water is over 28°. Lake water is definitely colder than that, even in the warmest of the summer, and I am usually averse to doing more than submerging my feet whenever we are at the beach.
This year, however, a change has come over me. I was swimming in our pool in late May when the temperature was barely above 24° (the perils of having a solar heater is that you can’t quickly warm up your pool like you could with a gas heater), and was slowly getting acclimated to the colder plunges. (The pool temperature now is much above 30°, so the worry is now that it might be too warm.) When we started planning to go to the cottage, I was determined that, this year, I would do more than just dip my feet into the lake, no matter how cold it might be.
The lake water was a balmy 21° the week that we were there, much warmer than it usually is at this time of year. Part of that was because the shallowness of the coast—there was less water for the sun to warm up—and part of that was because of the incredible heat wave that descended upon this part of the world during the same week. The world was telling me that this was the year to get over my aversion to the cold, and the warmer-than-usual water was the world’s way of easing me in.
And so, I plunged into the lake.
**
I’ve been thinking about “truths” I tell myself, about the narrative I construct about the things I like and do not like, the things I do and do not do, the way I am and am not. I have always told myself I do not like, and do not swim in, cold water, but this past week, I found myself relishing the swims in the lake, looking forward to being in and under the water, no matter what the temperature.
I wonder what other things I tell myself about myself are malleable; what are the parts of me that I haven’t embraced because of the story I have told about who I am. Maybe it is time to challenge some of the notions I have of myself—maybe it is time to plunge in.
Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why)
Nikki Giovanni
I was born in the congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built
the sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
that only glows every one hundred years falls
into the center giving divine perfect light
I am bad
I sat on the throne
drinking nectar with allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to europe
to cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is nefertiti
the tears from my birth pains
created the nile
I am a beautiful woman
I gazed on the forest and burned
out the sahara desert
with a packet of goat’s meat
and a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift
so swift you can’t catch me
For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son hannibal an elephant
He gave me rome for mother’s day
My strength flows ever on
My son noah built new/ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
as we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
jesus
men intone my loving name
All praises All praises
I am the one who would save
I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium
the filings from my fingernails ars
semi-precious jewels
On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the arab world
I am so hip even my errors are correct
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
the earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
across three continents
I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended
except by my permission
I mean … I … can fly
like a bird in the sky …
I’ve got Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation on my hold list at the library, so I can’t say much about it, but I’ve been hearing him on podcasts recently and have been torn between wholeheartedly accepting his thesis on how technology has worsened the mental health of our children, and thinking that there are larger systemic issues that we need to grapple with first. This critique from Courtney Tenz captures the latter quite succinctly:
It is easier to blame a shiny inanimate object and ineffectual parenting for our individual ills than to admit that policy mistakes have been made and targeted moderation could limit some of this harm — and that arrayed in opposition to systemic change are the people profiting off the flood of shit streaming onto those devices at all times. Laying the responsibility at the feet of overburdened parents (let’s be real, mothers) and suggesting that we should be the ones to resolve it is not only insulting, it’s pushing conservative notions of individual responsibility while ignoring the broader societal structures at play. One doesn’t have to strain to imagine a phone-free childhood becoming yet another marker of intensive parenting and breaking down along class lines. To actually help all children, not only would a not insignificant portion of the American families have to agree to this shift away from smartphones, we would have to repave the well-worn roads of modern socialization all while neglecting corporate responsibility measures to rein it all in. […]
As parents, there is only so much we can do individually without greater societal support. We aren’t handing off phones to our kids because we prefer spending our leisurely summer days indoors in front of a screen; we’re doing it because camps cost upward of our entire salaries and we don’t have 12 weeks of paid vacation. Our kids aren’t choosing to play Minecraft instead of hitting the swimming pool during yet another record-breaking heatwave — the pool’s closed because there’s no funding for lifeguards, and anyways, the air quality index is off the charts again because the oil companies won’t stop pumping or adhere to emissions limits. After all, kids can’t pass a math test if there are no math classes taking place. What are they supposed to do: log in to Khan Academy and take lessons on their phone?
Another good take on the screen time for kids discussion: what if they are just modeling adult behavior, and how can we fix that?
This whole societal catastrophe of excessive screen time eroding real-life interactions and experiences has very little to do with kids and everything to do with the adults who raise them. This is an adult problem, not a kid problem–because if the adults didn’t have trouble putting down their phones for prolonged periods of time, it’s less likely that the kids would.
I worry that our suburban life has me participating less in public systems: sure, we will send our child to public school and we use city-run recreation programs and my wife works at a public hospital, but we drive almost everywhere now and have a pool in the backyard, both things that are inherently private and not supporting public community infrastructure. I’m reflecting upon this passage by Hamilton Nolan as I evaluate my life these days:
Rich kids should go to public schools. The mayor should ride the subway to work. When wealthy people get sick, they should be sent to public hospitals. Business executives should have to stand in the same airport security lines as everyone else. The very fact that people want to buy their way out of all of these experiences points to the reason why they shouldn’t be able to.
Really fascinated by the changes happening in post-secondary education recently, and the deepening criticisms of academia as it currently exists. I loved my time in university because it was focused on deep reading and analysis instead of the memorization of facts; it seems like that is not common for most students. This piece on the importance of reflection and conversation in education had some interesting ideas:
Not everything in the world is a problem, and to see the world as a series of problems is to limit the potential of both world and self. What problem does a song address? What problem will reading Voltaire help you solve, in any predictable way? The “problem” approach—the “engagement” approach, the save-the-world approach—leaves out, finally, what I’d call learning.
Thoughts on solitude by Joseph Epstein:
Aging can in itself be an agent of solitude. When young, I made it my business to know the top 10 songs. Now I know no top songs or even the names of popular singers beyond those of Beyoncé, Adele, and Taylor Swift. I once saw every new movie and knew the names not only of the stars but of most character actors. Now, in the checkout line at the supermarket, I read a headline in our version of the gutter press, “Jen Leaves Justin,” and after wondering briefly if Jen is Jennifer Aniston and Justin is Justin Timberlake, remind myself that in any case I could not care less.
When do we stop finding new music? I think I do a good job of keeping up with current pop hits, but I do often just revert to listening to ’90s r&b and hip hop (and Prince and CRJ, of course).
Survey research from European streaming service Deezer indicates that music discovery peaks at 24, with survey respondents reporting increased variety in their music rotation during this time. However, after this age, our ability to keep up with music trends typically declines, with respondents reporting significantly lower levels of discovery in their early thirties. Ultimately,the Deezer study pinpoints 31 as the age when musical tastes start to stagnate.
Resonant and true: Douglas Adams’ on reactions to technology, by age:
We went to a botanical garden in Martinique and the entrance was swarming with hummingbirds. I don’t often think too much about them, but after reading this ode to hummingbirds by Zito Madu, I know they will be on my mind more often:
Often, when we encounter a presence in the world, it goes from a singular physical reality to a memory, and then eventually a meaning. An idea. When I was with the green hummingbird, it became the company I didn’t know I needed. We spent our mornings together, and after it went its way, I read and wrote.
Related: I’m not a birder, but when I read ruminations on birding I always feel like it’s a hobby (not a hobby, but a lifestyle?) I should take up:
When I step out my door in the morning, I take an aural census of the neighborhood, tuning in to the chatter of creatures that were always there and that I might have previously overlooked. The passing of the seasons feels more granular, marked by the arrival and disappearance of particular species instead of much slower changes in day length, temperature and greenery. I find myself noticing small shifts in the weather and small differences in habitat. I think about the tides.
What if, when you took a photo, a poem came out instead of an image? That’s what happens when you engage with this art piece by Kelin Carolyn Zhang and Ryan Mather, and I would love to try it out.
It’s no secret that I’m in love with mangoes (biting into the flesh of a Gujarati kesar is one of the joys of life), so this piece about a Chicago warehouse being the mango capital of the world has me thinking about planning a visit.
I used to keep a commonplace journal, and this newsletter by Ingrid Burrington collecting “perfect sentences” has me wondering if I should start keeping one again.
A delightful read about the most mundane of objects: the drinking fountain button.
Some amazing news on the medical front: NHS patients in England to be offered trials for world-first cancer vaccine, and “results from a large clinical trial in Africa showed that a twice-yearly injection of a new antiviral drug gave young women total protection from the virus.”
The Idea of You was perhaps not a very good movie, but I’d watch Anne Hathaway in almost anything. This interview with her in the NYTimes is entertaining and excellent.
So many gems in this piece on how to help someone use a computer, but this one stands out for me: “Your primary goal is not to solve their problem. Your primary goal is to help them become one notch more capable of solving their problem on their own.”
The excellent CBC podcast, Spark, just aired its last episode. It’s worth a listen — on reasons to be hopeful about the future of tech — and it’s worth diving into back episodes if you haven’t heard the show before. Kudos to Nora Young and her team for making an excellent show over 17 years.
A few Tiny Desk concerts that have had me riveted these past few weeks:
https://youtu.be/tajoGudOj70?si=2Uh6ysgSZ2–QoH4
Get weekend reading posts in your inbox: subscribe to the when-I-have-something-to-say newsletter.