Listening, watching, reading
A list of recommendations
Big news: my book, Listen Like You Mean It, is officially off to the printers! After 22 months of work, I can officially say it’s out of my hands. I hope you love it. I hope I love it. I think we will.
Now that the editing and illustration touch-up is done and I’ve met my deadline, I can relax for a bit. With that, here’s some of what I’ve been listening to, watching, and reading these days.
PS. It’s still not too late to preorder my book so it arrives at your door on Day 1! Pre-orders tremendously help authors (especially first-timers like me) — they signal readers’ appetite for a title to retailers, and can make or break commitments for getting on shelves. So if you’ve enjoyed my (free!) work in the past and would like to support me, this is the perfect time to place an order. If you’ve already purchased, many thanks!
I’m listening 🎧
I’m listening to a lot of podcasts these days (hands-free and perfect for multitasking with the pup and little one). Here are a few I’m enjoying:
Sway with Kara Swisher
If you’re interested in topical conversations with a tough but fair interviewer, check out Sway with Kara Swisher from the New York Times. It’s a great pod to listen to particularly if you are interested in the craft of interviewing. Swisher brings a no bullshit approach to many of her conversations, and some interviewees are better able to navigate this than others (likely due to media training). Listen to Kara’s interview with Chris Best (founder of Substack, the platform used to distribute this very newsletter) to hear what I mean. A good follow up is her debrief with NYT colleague Kevin Roose, which offers an insightful analysis of the Best interview and brings a very different tenor to the conversation.
Longform Podcast
When am I not listening to this podcast? Truly, it’s one of my favorites. If you are a writer or creative and interested in learning about journalists, authors, and podcast hosts as people and experts of their craft, chances are good that you’ll enjoy it. I love hearing writers talk about writing and their process, and you can tell the hosts do, too. Check out this interview with Stephanie Clifford, author of the viral piece “The Journalist and the Pharma Bro” for a taste of where the show can go.
I’m watching 📺
The entire Gilmore Girls oeuvre
I didn’t watch Gilmore Girls when it came out (too busy watching Everwood, don’t judge), but after reading this piece about the enduring power of the show and its masterful and fast-paced dialogue, I dove in and have no regrets. I’m only on season 3 (no spoilers please) but I’ve been so impressed with the emotional intelligence these characters display, in a way I can’t remember seeing elsewhere. There’s heart and soul and messiness and mistakes and if you ever need to remember how to give a proper apology that puts the other person’s feelings before your own, or how to gently but firmly point out when someone is having an outsized emotional reaction to something (seemingly harmless) you’ve said, you can find that in almost every episode. These women are expert listeners and observers of what others are experiencing, making them model citizens on how to empathize and really mean it. It’s also a little goofy, and very funny.
I’m reading 📚
Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation, Anne Helen Petersen
AHP is a former senior culture writer for Buzzfeed and now runs the popular Substack newsletter Culture Study. She’s the author of this viral piece on “errand paralysis” and burnout that struck a nerve among millennials. Her book is an in depth historical look at the origins of our always be hustling burnout culture and its implications on the millennial generation.
Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork, Reeves Wiedeman
The story of WeWork’s rise to glory and fall from grace is one you’re probably aware of already given the bright media spotlight that has been focused on it in the years leading up to and following their disastrous IPO attempt. But even for those following the story closely, Wiedeman gives us a heavily reported narrative rich with detail and handled with care to help readers understand all the kooky characters and mind-boggling ecosystems in place that made WeWork possible. Fast, escapist, absurdist, baffling — I can’t wait for the movie version.
These Precious Days, Ann Patchett
Ann Patchett’s essay in January’s Harper’s Magazine is warm and kind and wandering in all the right ways. A lovely portrait of a budding friendship and what it means to know someone.
What are you listening to, watching, and reading? Drop a comment or reply to this email directly with your recommendations.