5S Review -- Feb 3
What I'm reading, listening to and watching this week.
Trying something new with weekly(ish) recommendations in a newsletter – it will be sent out on Saturday mornings.
Shelf
I’ve been rereading “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation” by Kristin Kobes Du Mez, which is interesting to reread a few years after it’s release in light of other recent books. She spoke at Hope College the other night about the importance of being a Christian scholar. A great piece of history.
(news)Stand
My reading week got hijacked by all the Vision Pro reviews and other recent tech articles: Gruber’s and The Verge’s reviews, also the new Arc Search app and Act II news. It’s an exciting time for technology.
Also, finally got around to listening to the podcast The Trials of J.K. Rolling,
Sounds
I’ve been pretty much been nonstop listening to “The Last Dinner Party” since getting tickets to their show in Detroit this March. Really catchy songs -- reminds me a lot of a lot of my favorite musicians. Their debut album was released yesterday, and it’s spot on.
Speaking of new releases, I’ve also been listening to the excellent new Torres album.
Screen
I spent what felt like a good part of last Friday night scrolling through the menu pages of every streaming app, until I was surprised to find on Amazon Prime: Northern Exposure! I remember catching this show on reruns as a kid, but the memory is like a blur. It had been notoriously one of the last great shows not available on streaming -- I knew friends who bought DVD players so they could watch the show on disc. What’s the verdict in 2024... It’s good! I’m only a few episodes in, but so far, it feels like a sanitized Twin Peaks. It’s a slow show that’s immediately comforting... and it’s also gotten me playing Stardew Valley again.
We’re also watching Run the ‘Burbs -- a very positive, feel good family show for the 2020s. Once you enter their suburban world, it’s a delightful place to escape.
Sundry
I’ve spent a lot of time in the Voice Memos app this week -- using it as a way to better capture ideas and start dictating posts. There’s a lot of love this app needs -- mostly, you cannot batch select memos to export, move or even delete -- but the simplicity of starting a voice memo with Siri or from the control center keeps me coming back.
