Last week on leave edition [#9]
Annyeong from my last week on maternity leave. My brother-from-another-mother, Justin, is visiting tomorrow and I imagine things are going to go down like this:
To prepare to work again, I’m taking an online course on “How To Become a Morning Person.” It’s probably too earnest for me, but the class just started so let’s see how long it lasts. ANY class beats Korean lessons, IMHO.
What I Read
Microsoft paid the NFL $400 million to use Surface tablets and announcers still call them iPads. A convincing case for the rise of America’s ‘victim culture.’ Middle managers are the most depressed people in the work hierarchy. A study found Americans were stumped on basic science questions like ‘What does a light year measure?’ Given those results, this might non-issue: screening for gifted kids is broken, but completely fixable.
"You can be a good mother and a good soldier at the same time,” says one of the women in the awesome viral photo, above. Becoming a father changes your brain. A husband who’s lead parent at home explains why he put his wife’s career first, a refreshing read after you see the awful gender gaps in this study. It’s hard to get people to care about the environment because it’s too painful for us to acknowledge reality. Speaking of avoiding reality, this Korean columnist’s take on America is an avalanche of absurdity. I don’t even…
What I’m Watching
The underrated You’re The Worst is back for its second season on FXX. “You’re the Worst shows that modern-day relationships are less plagued by technology and more plagued by fear of giving in,” writes Fran Hoepfner. Watch it because it’s really good and really entertaining.
And I’m late to this but WOW, Mr. Robot is amazing. You can bingewatch it now that the thrilling 10-episode first season just finished airing.
Endorsements
Sneak peek episodes of NPR’s newest podcast, Hidden Brain! It’s about patterns that drive behavior, the biases that shape our choices and unseen forces that influence our relationships. And, it’s hosted by one of my favorite people, Shankar Vendantam, who last year gave me memorable career advice.
OK I’m gonna get back to my “morning person” course. You readers already ARE productive morning people, so I will endeavor to be more like you.
Your pal,
Elise