The other night, my friend Tim and I were driving to Dodger Stadium to catch the Dodgers play the St. Louis Cardinals and I stumbled upon another reason to retire — Albert Pujols is doing it. The Cardinals are the only baseball team to which I feel emotionally attached. I was born in St. Louis in a year they won the World Series, and my parents took infant me to the celebratory parade. Legendary shortstop Ozzie Smith’s son, OJ, went to preschool with me and there are pics of him at my third birthday party. And I spent the summer before 9th grade in box seats along the first base line at Busch Stadium watching John Mabry, courtesy of a friend with amazing season tickets.
What a treat for us fans, all these years, that the homerun master, Albert Pujols, has called St. Louis home for most of his MVP career. Now that the 42-year-old slugger is going to retire, I really wanted to see him play, in the flesh. Friend Tim was smart enough to make that happen, though I went to the losing game on Saturday night, not the blowout Friday, when he hit his 700th career home run in LA. But I feel so fortunate to have gotten to see the legend at all.
It capped off a day I spent watching Serena Williams clips (recently retired from professional competition at 40), and a clip of Nadal get teary-eyed after Federer’s final pro match (retiring at 41). As someone who’s now 40, I found myself filled with envy. CAN I RETIRE, TOO!??
Reading
Helpful maps of the territorial losses, gains and struggles in Ukraine. America is a rich death trap. An argument against Botox, and against marriage, which are related. This exists: sleepover kits. The lone locksmith serving 14,400 square miles of Texas. A guide to all the ways Trump is legally screwed. Seems shady: Podcasters are buying downloads through mobile game ads. A lot between the lines here, but the NPR News boss (who’s been there about four years) is out. And Mike Judge is making an Officespace, but for NPR! An NPR parody from Mike Judge is coming!
Werk Werk Werk
I’ve been hosting two NPR podcasts at the same time this month — It’s Been a Minute, and LifeKit. We’ve made so much satisfying audio: On thinking traps and how to combat our cognitive biases. On a connection first approach to parenting, from Dr Becky — known as the parenting whisperer. On the legacy of Girls Generation, as the group marks 15 years(!) together. Also, why the Airbnb aesthetic of grey floors is EVERYWHERE. And a convo with the great Judy Greer, as part of an entire episode exploring reboots.
Separately, really proud that my podcast company (co-founded with my partner Rachel Swaby) is releasing a lot of our fall slate this month: Season 4 of WeTransfer’s Influence podcast, Season 3 of Microsoft’s WorkLab podcast, and Season 3 of GitHub’s ReadMe podcast, which our team just began working on this season, as part of their new format for the show.
Recommendations
TV: Reboot on Hulu. Some really excellent one-liners and a bravura cast. And watch Carlos Alcaraz play in anything, really.
Books: Dr. Becky’s new NYT #1 bestseller, Good Inside. Celeste Ng’s new one, Our Missing Hearts (feels a little too real, but god she’s such a beautiful writer).
As usual, I want to hear about your recommendations and hacks and little discoveries worth mentioning on this here newsletter, so write me back!
Happy Retirement to the winners out there,
E