Everything New (In March)
A recap of everything new (to me) this past month.
Welcome to Everything New, a monthly recap of things I haven’t already written about that I feel deserve a chance at your attention. As always, please share what grabbed your attention recently, via email, the comments, or the next time I see you (call me!).
That’s right, this is just going to be a big ol’ list of stuff that has impacted me recently. There can never be enough human-devised curation, so let’s keep recommending things that people have made for us.
On the Screen
The Pitt
This is the most I’ve enjoyed, and been invested in, a television show since Succession, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men. The best part about this show, however, is that it doesn’t require extracurricular research into the lore or easter eggs or theories; it is simply a medical drama, executed at staggering heights. The characters are vast and varied and human, the action is 98% realistic to the ER experience (I will begrudgingly admit that it is, in fact, 2% soap operatic), and it is not afraid to throw punches. This is a weekly dose of the human experience, handed to you so purely that it feels real. The magic of the experience is that it is fiction, which lets us off the hook for being emotionally thrown against every wall in the room. It’s okay to feel your feelings in this show; these aren’t real people. You can hate that nurse, you can disagree with that doctor’s methods, you can fall in love with that patient, and you can fall to your knees crying when that kid doesn’t pull through. Living life is about feeling things. The Pitt lets me live deeply.
Special shoutout to all of the actors who are playing smaller parts as complete, believable assholes. It must be hard to commit to being the least likable person in a show about likable people, but their contributions allow us to feel perhaps the best feeling: “at least I’m not like that person”.
You can watch it on (HBO) Max.
Other Upcoming Excitements
I am notedly not a TV guy anymore. But that might be changing with the introduction of The Pitt, as well as a couple of other shows that I am excited about. Most notably is The Studio, a new comedy about a Hollywood producer, starring Seth Rogan and created by Rogan and his long-time creative partner Evan Goldberg. I don’t think Rogan and Goldberg have made something that I haven’t enjoyed at worse, loved at best. Now is a prescient time to poke, prod, investigate, and laugh at the state of Hollywood production, and these two producers are the perfect insider duo to point fingers.
A New Spike Jonze Movie
There is, finally, a new Spike Jonze movie. Well, okay, it’s a commercial for AirPods, but it filled me with such joy and excitement when I saw it drop on YouTube last week. Jonze is one of my favorite creatives, and I miss him working in moving images. Here, he pairs with our finest American Icon of the Moment, the proud Chilean Pedro Pascal.
Additionally enjoyable was this little “making of” featurette that Apple posted shortly after the commercial was released. Bless these silly men.
Letterbox’d List
Here’s what I watched this month. As always, I wish I had watched 50 more things these past 31 days.
On the Page
Dominic
A year ago I wrote about the joys of reading William Steig’s children’s novel Abel’s Island, one of my favorite reading experiences of the year. Now, I’m reading another work of his: Dominic, a story about a dog who decides to wrap up his essential belongings – including a different type of hat for any possible occasion – and go on an adventure, whatever that means, wherever it leads. He follows his gut, and his nose, and he certainly finds adventure: a band of thieves, a cache of buried treasure, a witchy crocodile. There’s magic in the simplicity of books for younger readers, and in the presentation of the biggest ideas that humans can think about. Steig, again, has it nailed down beautifully.
Say Nothing
I just wrote about this, but I just want to promote it again. It seems that every year, I tackle a big non-fiction book that really sticks with me:
2022 - The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act
2023 - KING: A Life
2024 - KUBRICK: An Odyssey
Say Nothing is 2025’s, and I don’t see that changing in the next eight months.
Meditations for Mortals
A follow up to the magnificent and life-changing Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman has written Meditations for Mortals, a four-week read-along book that makes putting his simple ideas into daily thought. His work aligned with the places I was trying to go, and the things I was trying to do, when I read Four Thousand Weeks in 2022, and I carry those ideas with me every day, to this day. Meditations is a wonderful way to break life-changing ideas into sizable, daily chunks that you can take or leave as you see fit. I would recommend it to anyone who feels like they need help managing their time in this life (that’s you [it’s everyone]).
In the Ears
Brian Eno
Our ambient king stays working. His newest album is dark, brooding, and perfection for bus commuting to work while reading brutal non-fiction (see: above).
Listen to it, exclusively, on Apple Music.
Bon Iver
Justin Vernon, a.k.a. Bon Iver, went on Popcast recently to talk about his upcoming album, but mostly just to hang out, answer questions based on playing cards, and to eat snacks. Vernon hasn’t done too much press like this before, and explains why he hasn’t, and why he is now. His new record is bright, warm, a celebration, a change of pace for the sad auto-tune distortion master. It was a pleasure to hear him talk about his craft, about his basketball acumen, and just to hear his remarkable, booming, growling speaking voice. Jackson Maine wishes.
Derrick Gee and Max Richter
Also sitting down to talk music recently was Max Richter, a German-born British pianist and composer. Richter’s work has mostly skirted on the outside of my peripheral listening habits, but when he sat down to trade tracks with curator Derrick Gee, on Gee’s Patreon radio show Solid Air, his good nature and great taste immediately connected with me. I’ve been listening to his work a bunch recently, and it is guiding my days in gorgeous days. The radio show is a great way to spend an hour, too.
The albums I haven’t listened to
After spending two weeks reading about Michelle Zauner’s Japanese Breakfast project, I bought her new record
For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) on vinyl. It has been sitting on my “now listening” shelf for a week, and I have not had proper time and space to listen to it. This fact is slowly killing me.
Additionally, Lucy Dacus’ new record just dropped, and I have read some very cool details about her new sonic adventures.
Like movies, I think taking in brand new art as soon as it comes out almost replicates the electricity of live events, like a sport or a concert. To take in something along with the rest of the world, to react in real time, to react in community, is wonderful, even if you don’t actually see anyone else in your community reacting.
I recommend taking a look at some “Coming Soon” music resources, picking something that excites you, and giving yourself an hour on an upcoming Friday to just sit down and listen to something new.
Thank you, as always, for reading. I’ll see you next month.