Cool Things June 2022
Sharing the best of what I read, watched, and listened to in the past month.
Hello there. I hope you’ve enjoyed the launch of Samsara Days and gotten the chance to read my first essay. I’m hard at work on next month’s now. In the meantime, I thought I’d try something different. I’m taking a little time to talk about some of the cool things I’ve read, watched, and listened to over the past month. Getting a glimpse into my media consumption habits might help you to better understand the perspective at work in my articles—and if you’re into my thoughts, I figure you might share some of the same interests as me. Besides, I have a platform now (an audience in the single digits is still an audience, mind you), and I’d like to use it to uplift the work of creators I admire, and who inspire and inform my own creativity.
For now, I’m going to publish these monthly every 21st, keeping in line with the regular essay that comes out every 7th. I may keep going, or I may get bored and stop. Guess you’ll have to wait and see!
So without further ado, here comes the inaugural “Cool Things.”
Things I read
Lately, I started reading Sally Rooney’s newest novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You. It’s my first time reading her, although I’ve heard great things about her work from friends and the Internet. I don’t read a lot of contemporary fiction, so it’s refreshing for me to read a story set in the present day, complete with texting, social media, and the deep ennui that’s draped itself over us all. So far, I’m liking it a lot! It’s obviously more immediately relatable and accessible than, say, Tolstoy, and it certainly isn’t dry, which is often a worry of mine when it comes to literary fiction. Plus, I’ve been told that Rooney is a Marxist and a BDS supporter, which are big pluses in my book. I’m not used to famous people having good politics, although I think writers are usually better in this regard. And I’m not just saying that because I’m biased.
There’s a good number of articles I read over the last month that I found informative, relevant, and well-written. A few too many to talk about in detail, in fact, so I’ll just link them below in no particular order, and you can see for yourself if any interest you:
“Ruth Wilson Gilmore Talks Abolition Geography and Liberation” by Lexi McMenamin
“Why Are Police So Bad at Their Jobs?” by Alexander Sammon
“Uvalde Shooting: A Case for Defunding the Police and Disarming Teens” by Olayemi Olurin
“Dreaming Accountability” by Mia Mingus
This one was really wonderful. It spoke to me intimately, and effortlessly articulated ideas I have struggled to even attempt to express in my head. We used it for an event on transformative justice hosted by DSA’s Afrosocialists and Socialists of Color Caucus, where it was highly well-received. If you read one thing on this list, make it this!
“It’s Not Enough to End Private Prisons. We Need a World Without Prisons” by Micah Herskind
“Liberals Never Cared About Substantive Criminal Justice Reform, They Just Liked Slogans” by Adam Johnson
Things I watched
Old friends of mine recently introduced me to the wonderful world of Joe Pera Talks With You, which, I think, was made for me. To me, it’s one of those shows that’s so good you can’t help but become a missionary for it. I’ve been showing it to family and friends ever since I first watched it, though I’ve noticed it to be rather polarizing—you either love it or hate it. My father, for example, couldn’t finish more than a couple episodes. My reaction couldn’t have been more different. I binged all three seasons within a week, although this is less impressive (or embarrassing) as it sounds, since most episodes are only 10 minutes long. I am madly in love with Joe Pera’s character in the show. He strikes me as someone to emulate, even if you’re meant to laugh at him half the time. He’s soft-spoken, kind-hearted, tolerant—he has all those qualities I try, and too often fail, to embody. But the show doesn’t place him on a pedestal, either. He’s more often than not the butt of the joke, and a good few characters are, quite understandably, weirded out by him. Beyond the comedy, the show gets sneakily philosophical, and even quite sad, though always in a way that affirms the humanity of its cast. I think it’s a very Buddhist show in a way—or at least one that Buddhists are distinctly poised to appreciate—in its reverence for gentleness, moderation, and a quiet life. I hope Joe discovers the Dharma in the fourth season. Something tells me he’d really like it!
Things I listened to
I’ve been a fan of The Mountain Goats ever since I was in high school. In fact, I’ve often felt that I was destined to love them. They made an entire album centered around the place I lived in my college years, Full Force Galesburg, which is about as close an album can be to an old friend. Their song “This Year,” which has grown more and more relevant with each passing year of my life for self-evident reasons, was used to stunning effect in the documentary Minding the Gap, which is set in my hometown. Lately, I’ve found myself falling back on the old favorites: “Jenny,” “Riches and Wonders,” “Going to Georgia,” and “Color in Your Cheeks.” “Hebrews 11:40” is a hidden gem of theirs; for such a beautiful song, I’ve never actually heard anyone talk about it. I only discovered it by chance.
I’m not afraid to admit that my morning commute usually features me screaming along to one of these titles, if not more. There’s something I really admire about The Mountain Goats, which is that they’re so raw. The vocals are raw, the guitar is raw, the lyrics are raw. There’s no artifice in a Mountain Goats performance. Nobody’s putting on any airs. It’s as vulnerable as it is pure. As someone who typically hides their emotion under as many layers of misdirection as I can produce, I find that distinctly admirable.