Hey there,
Happy Saturday and Happy Diwali to those who celebrate!
For the past few months, my wife and I have been taking advantage of LA's public outdoor pools. There's a small one near our house that's heated and open year round. This is the big perk of living in Southern California! It almost makes up for the part of the year when ash rains down from the sky. Anyway, this pool is completely outdoors and you have to reserve a lane to swim, so there's only about 5 or 6 people in the pool at a time and everyone has their own lane. It feels pretty safe. We've been going three or four times a week at the same time in the morning, so now we recognize and say hi to the other regulars.
One of those regulars is an older woman named Maureen. She's a real character, who's always winking and flirting with the lifeguards, complimenting people on their strokes, and doing pull-ups off the pool starting blocks. I love it. I thought Maureen was just a charming celebrity in our little community pool. But Mollie discovered that she's actually a legend worldwide. Maureen is 99-years-old, has set 28 world records, and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame! What's even more amazing is she only started swimming at the age of 65. Apparently she's known in the swim world as "Mighty Mo," which I love. She's also a social worker who got a masters from the University of Chicago and gives art tours in the LA Metro. All that and she's throwing winks around? Mo is my new hero.
My goal is to become best friends with her. I will keep you updated.
Upcoming Events
LIVESTREAMS
- Wednesday, November 18th at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET
HIDDEN EXPERT. I’m hosting the third edition of this storytelling series for LabX and the National Academy of Sciences. More info here.
PODCASTS
- Truth at Midnight with Robin Truth
I was a guest on the latest episode of my friend Sam Weiner's podcast where he plays the host of a supernatural call-in show. Every episode is short and very funny. On my episode, "Full Moon Were-Raccoon," I played a man worried his neighbor was turning into a terrible beast to dig up his vegetable garden. Link
This week's list
GREAT:
I love Atlantic Public Media's Sonic IDs. While I'm almost never actually on Cape Cod to hear them live on public radio, I search them out online. Each thirty second clip is a ticket straight to a very particular piece of New England. They're just perfect. Here's a guy from Cataumet describing what it takes to be a true fish cook. Or Joe from Hyannis talking about his regrets while stuck in traffic. Or Genevieve, a retired farmer, on her love for candlepin bowling. Last one, because I can't resist: Richard, who lost his wig while waterskiing.
FUNNY:
Liana Finck is a great cartoonist and graphic novelist. She also seems like such a fun person to hang out with. I love watching her and New Yorker humor editor Emma Allen break down her cartoons and discuss what makes them funny. Watching Liana do impressions of her characters' facial expressions really made me laugh. Liana Finck Demonstrates How to Draw Feelings
INTERESTING:
Noah Hutton has spent more than a decade following a multimillion-dollar scientific project attempting to build a computer simulation of a human brain. Is it a breakthrough that will change the way we understand consciousness or a colossal waste of money? I'm a big fan of Noah's work as a director and he's done a great job of making some of the biggest debates and questions in contemporary neuroscience feel like a thriller. IN SILICO is available to stream online for the next week only. You can also watch the trailer here.
That's it for this week. Thanks for reading! If you're enjoying these emails, please forward to a friend or spread the word. If someone forwarded you this email but you're not yet on the list, you can subscribe here.
Stay safe,
Chris