Hi friends,
It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. Feel free to spread the word and share these emails with friends. If you're checking this out for the first time, you can see the archive and sign up to get these emails here.
Upcoming shows
EVERYWHERE:
Later today, a new episode of You're the Expert will be out, all about the science of climate change. Jo Firestone, Aparna Nancherla, and Josh Sharp learn what it's like to live in Antarctica, what happens when a scientist goes insane, and how best to deal with climate change deniers. Link
Wednesday, February 8th A new episode of The Payoff comes out this Wednesday, where Antonia Cereijido and I learn how to negotiate salaries, why reporters care about the "jobs report," and interview Alexandra Cavoulacos, founder of jobs site The Muse. Link
Wednesday, February 8th at 8 p.m. ET Evan Kaufman and I host the second week of Comedy at Dreams live and you can watch from anywhere on your phone. Great comics, futuristic technology, and our faces, all from inside your phone. Link
NEW YORK:
Sunday, February 5th at 3 p.m. at The Wild Project. You Get A Spoon is back in NYC with music from Julia Anrather, comedy from Gary Richardson, surprise guests, and so many prizes. Come for an afternoon of performances, prizes, and kitchenware. The Comedy Bureau called it "one of the 100 best things in comedy." Link
Tuesday, February 7th at 9:30 p.m. at New York Comedy Club. I'm telling jokes along with some of NYC's best comics on a showcase for the Montreal Just for Laughs festival. Watch as I try my hardest to impress the producers and earn the right to escape to Canada. Link
CRAWFORDSVILLE, INDIANA:
Friday, February 10th at 8:00 p.m. at Wabash College. If you're in Indiana and you're looking for a panel-based comedy show, I feel confident saying that you cannot do better than You're the Expert. We're going to be there with a great scientist and comedians Matt Porter, Charlie Hankin, and Shalewa Sharpe. Also, it's free. Link
My full calendar with all upcoming shows is online here.
This week's list
1 Thing I Think Is Great:
San Quentin State Prison partnered with design firm IDEO in an effort to redesign prisons for young men. What would it look like if incarceration rehabilitated inmates rather than destroyed them? The experiment was featured on PBS NewsHour's "Brief but Spectacular" segment last week. It inspires me to believe that big institutions can be changed and that people are worth more than their worst mistake. I'm proud that my wife works at IDEO and that her colleagues are taking on these kinds of challenges. PBS NewsHour on San Quentin
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
If you haven't already seen this video, prepare yourself for a treat. It's Swedish people trying to convince themselves to jump off of a very tall diving platform. It's simple and hilarious and amazing. You've probably already seen it, but I feel compelled to share it again because I love it so much. Terror and joy and love and indoor pools. Ten Meter Tower(h/t Max Tuttman)
1 Interesting Thing:
If you're a screenwriter, one of the biggest honors you can get is to find your script on The Black List. It's an anonymous survey in which movie execs, agents, and producers name the scripts they liked the most that year. The Black List was started in 2005 "by a 27-year-old film executive from west Georgia named Franklin Leonard, and has become an influential index of the most original and well-written—if not the most bankable—screenplays in Hollywood. Its power to launch careers and expedite projects is astounding." Leonard's survey not only recognized four of the past eight best picture winners, but it's pushed Hollywood to look beyond sequels and action movies, and given a leg up to diverse filmmakers. The Hollywood List Everyone Wants to Be On
Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend,
Chris
