Hello there,
It’s August, and the world is on fire in so many ways, literally and figuratively. So here are some new ways to distract your brain.
Watch
Until What We Do in the Shadows and Reservation Dogs came back recently, I’d felt like I was scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to find something good to watch. So when I first tried watching The Bear (Hulu), I thought I’d found another dud and was immediately turned off by the chaos and what seemed to be people constantly yelling at each other. But I gave it another shot and ended up really loving it — it’s more than just kitchen fires and co-workers screaming at each other. It gave me a whole new appreciation for restaurant culture and how people deal with trauma in different ways.
Recommended to me by my aunt and uncle, 14 Peaks (Netflix) is a delightful documentary about a fearless, charming Nepali climber. Along with his Nepali team, he scaled the 14 highest peaks in the world in just seven months — although he received far less acclaim than a Westerner would.
Read
I never really liked science classes growing up, and I think it might have been because science is just straightforward, no-nonsense facts. In school, this wasn’t a subject that involved storytelling or narrative. And I think that’s why I enjoy Ed Yong’s books so much: he’s an incredibly talented, empathetic writer who makes science come alive with storytelling. (When I was working at The COVID Tracking Project, Ed was something of a celebrity figure, and his Pulitzer Prize-winning essays on COVID are also well worth reading.)
I’ve read both I Contain Multitudes — and was shocked to find out how much there is to know and appreciate about bacteria — and his new book, An Immense World, about the incredible variety of senses in the animal world. (Did you know that humans can echolocate? Not as well as bats, but they can.) I find that reading nonfiction forces my brain to focus in a way that fiction doesn’t, especially when it’s so well written.
See the full list of recommendations here.
Follow
My husband, a nature person, has really gotten into the flora and fauna of the Southwest. He has a dedicated Instagram account where he shares what he sees and learns about desert wildlife and climate, and it’s not just me who thinks it’s great — it’s a hit among our friends, too.
Do
Be careful with CBD products, especially gummies. I started taking CBD gummies made locally at an allegedly FDA-approved facility; they had a mild effect and seemed to help with sleep. But a few months later I found out the hard way that manufacturing errors can lead to some pretty unpleasant side effects from just a single contaminated gummy. (I am fine, but had a rough night!)
Until next time,
Rachel