Hey there,
Quick fun story: Jo Firestone and I are in a book club together and we scheduled a Zoom meeting, but I read the date wrong. So I popped in to her Zoom a full day early. I thought I was going to be joining a group of adults discussing a Sally Rooney novel. Instead, it was Jo and a bunch of children who were all screaming about cookie monster.
I was so confused and tried to leave but they insisted that I stay and record the Dr. Gameshow podcast with them. A truly rare case of accidentally Zoom-bombing a friend's podcast recording. But that's how this episode came to be. Jo and her co-host Manolo Moreno are so hilarious. I laughed so hard doing the show. And in the episode, you can hear a five-year-old named Sofia roast me for copying her. It's wonderful.
Upcoming Events
LIVESTREAMS:
- Wednesday, September 30th at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET
HIDDEN EXPERT I’m hosting this new storytelling series for LabX and the National Academy of Sciences. Tickets are free and you can register here.
This week’s list
GREAT:
I just finished Trevor Noah's Born A Crime. It's an incredible book. Both the events he and his family have lived through and the actual writing itself are unbelievable. After reading his life story, I understand why he's so uniquely able to make sense of this particular moment in American history. It's because there are so many parallels to what he lived through in apartheid South Africa. As a comedian, he can turn on a dime. Just this week, he put together a very funny spoof ad and then turned around and put out this scathing indictment of yet another police killing: Why Did the Police Shoot Jacob Blake? (h/t Karen Chee)
FUNNY:
No one else makes comedy like Zach Sherwin. He combines punchlines and music and wordplay and deeply researched Internet rabbit holes into something completely new. I'm a huge fan of his standup, an even bigger fan of his live Crossword Shows, and I'm so glad he's started putting out little mini samples of his live shows as "solos." Check out the first one here or jump right to the most recent (and never forget Canada's provinces again).
INTERESTING:
The best nonfiction changes the way I see the world or makes me pay attention in a new way. And I will never buy a cherry again without thinking about this story by Brooke Jarvis. I never realized the Herculean effort it takes to get them from the tree to my shopping cart. I never put much, if any, thought into the people involved in that process before. But Brooke's reporting (and beautiful writing) opened my eyes. The Scramble to Pluck 24 Billion Cherries in Eight Weeks
Ok, that's it for this week! 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.
Thanks for reading,
Chris