Trying to Remain Calm [#143]

I've been checking Twitter again and that can't be good.

July 2024: Reporting on vibes

“May you live in interesting times.” I’m not even sure it is an actual Chinese saying, but it gets attributed to my people. For once I would love to live in spectacularly boring, uninteresting times. These past few weeks have really been giving 2017-2021 vibes and I am not about it.

Thankfully, I spent this past week in breathtakingly beautiful national parks — Grand Teton and Yellowstone — and they gifted me with hours and hours sans cell service. The peaks and glaciers remind me that we are but a speck in time. And what a relief, because my bete noire is the utter selfishness of baby boomers, and despite real red flags about either of their fitness to serve, here we are, still facing a presidential choice between two stubborn old men born in the 1940s.

Reading

It turns out a Korea scholar so many of us knew and trusted was a spy? The most persuasive cases for Biden to step aside, imho, were from David Remnick, Scott Galloway, and Rebecca Traister. But as I write, Democrats are still languishing in the worst of all possible scenarios, and let’s not forget that Americans have already lost. It’s crucial to understand the incel + white nationalist overlap, and how these corners of the internet bled into mainstream politics. An oldie but still relevant: Why facts don’t change our minds. It has never been more essential to have a work best friend. If you missed the much-shared Roger Federer commencement speech, be sure to catch it. And pair it with this, on why the speech deserves to be watched or read.

On my nightstand: All Fours by Miranda July. Get any of my 2024 reads or other book picks from my Bookshop.org page to support indie booksellers.

Werk Werk Werk

A revealing, funny and motivational interview with my friend Sam Sanders, for Forever35. And Sam and I switched who did the questioning when he interviewed me for Apple News in Conversation, a few weeks ago, where we talked about how being extremely online is driving plastic surgery rates higher.

On Forever 35 I also spoke with Caitlin Thompson, the founder of Racquet Magazine, about the way tennis can be a container for so many larger social issues, and more.

Over at TED Talks Daily, we just produced a special about reducing toxic political polarization and what it takes, which is a lot.

Watch and/or Listen

Hit Man, directed by Richard Linklater

The Daily Show on Biden’s jarring whispering

And each month on the Forever 35 patreon, Doree and I will be talking through and listing our pop culture recommendations of the month. Our June recommendations are out now,

IRL Events

July 26-29, Kathmandu: US Embassy Nepal’s Creator Mela, where I’ll be speaking on the machine gaze and beauty standards, and hosting a podcasting workshop, all near Mount Everest!

August 4, Los Angeles: Forever 35 Live Taping at Village Well Books with Sable Yong, author of the new book, Die Hot with a Vengeance. The event is free but an RSVP is encouraged. Join us, come hang out.

Hoo boy that’s it for now. Let me know how you’re coping lately, how you’re maintaining boundaries, and taking care of yourself.

Until next time,

E