Loners!
Above is a very long, rambling voice note about my list, but if you want a more succinct take, keep reading.
Quick bit of housekeeping, I filmed an episode of Where Does The Good Grow with Stacy and a special guest (Tegan is still on a break!) and it will come out next week for paid subscribers only!
It’s a tough time, and while I know some may need to check out, I find staying checked in to be the most comforting. Here are some political and non-political things I’d love to recommend.
—Sara
Podcasts:
Ezra Klein lowers my blood pressure even while discussing topics that remind me we’ve all been dropped into a horror film.
Search Engine continues to deliver episodes that are both surprising and topical (Are we all pretending to understand inflation? Who buys luggage at an airport?)! Also, PJ’s voice is such a balm!
I’ve posted about it before, but if it were up to me, Hard Fork would broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s a podcast about tech, which used to seem niche—but not anymore. Are you prepared for AGI? Here’s a helpful place to start, with plenty of laughing to ease you into the (existential) crisis that awaits us all.
Audiobooks:
All Fours by Miranda July (I can’t tell you how many times I have fantasized about redecorating and renovating hotel rooms, backstage dressing rooms, and other people’s homes, which made this book a very exciting listen)
The Friday Afternoon Club by Griffin Dunne (One of my favourite things to read or listen to while on vacation is memoir that is both gossipy and high-brow. This was a total ace on both fronts)
I Heard Her Call My Name by Lucy Sante (This was one of my absolute favourites of the year)
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (Did you like Portrait of a Lady on Fire? Read/listen to this!)
Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Gorgeous)
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Devastating, illuminating)
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (So absorbing, and funny)
Books:
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez (Made me want a dog)
Playworld by Adam Ross (Stayed awake for hours past my bedtime to read this one, going to be a big year end list book …my guess)
Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (Strange, and made me think fondly of The Corrections …if you haven’t read it, you should)
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin (Fucking great)
Bonding by Mariel Franklin (Like this season of White Lotus? Industry? You might find this fascinating and slightly less stressful!)
Film:
I see most things stamped with an NYT critic’s approval and most of what ends up on award shows but my standouts this year: I wept through The Brutalist and I’m Still Here.
TV:
Mad Men, always and forever. I’m on a loop again, finding it hard to stop. I did binge Adolescence on Netflix, which was astonishing and devastating.
Music:
I’ll post a new playlist next week, but god, this song is sick: This Is Real.
Let me know what you’ve been reading and listening to!
-Sara
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