Hi (Hi, Hi There) Friends!
Hope that your Septembers are going well! You all get your covid boosters? I got mine yesterday and it took me the F out. I don’t know if I’ve been vertical for a full hour and it’s 6:15 PM. Nevertheless, it’s important to get vaxxed! People are still getting very sick and dying!
Here on Planet Brooklyn, we are (presumably) experiencing the last gasps of summer. I've spent a good chunk of the weekend outdoors, and I also spent a good chunk of the day yesterday hanging out with my friends Eric and Greg, recording an episode of their podcast Talking Schmidt. Eric (the titular Schmidt) is a comedian, so this particular podcast appearance is a little lighter in tone than the majority of recorded conversations I have. I'm not serious all the time or even much of the time (as those of you who know me in person are aware), so it was nice to laugh a bit and flex my comedy chops. That podcast goes live this coming Thursday, so I'll share it in the next newsletter!
Speaking of comedy chops, Detoxicity segued from Josh Gondelman in Episode 183 to Nore Davis in Episode 184, which was released last Wednesday. Josh actually recommended Nore to me, and I'm grateful to him for that. Nore has an interesting take on life (which I assume most comedians do), but is also doing a lot of self-reflection and learning, which is also evident if you go to his website and check out his most recent comedic short film, Element.
Those of us that had less than idyllic childhoods spend a lot of our adult lives consciously or subconsciously attempting to protect that child version of ourselves from the things that hurt and/or traumatized us. "Inner child work," which Nore discusses passionately, is about recognizing that child within us and working to bring them to a place of comfort and safety. Our conversation also hits on generational trauma, which is often discussed within the context of cultural minorities, but affects everyone (although thanks to colonization and slavery, means Black folks like me arguably have a lot more of that to unpack than others). Nore and I are both self-described geeks (#blerds4life), so our conversation takes some lighter detours into everything from astrology to superheroes. Like (almost) every pod I post, I loved the chemistry of our conversation as well as the breadth of topics covered. I hope you feel the same way.
More where that came from! Nore was on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last week! Check out his set here.
And, as always, here are a few non-pop related things capturing my attention lately.
The Wonder of Stevie (podcast) - I'm grateful every day I wake up and Stevie Wonder is still with us. Not only is he (in my opinion) America's greatest living songwriter, he is one of the few icons from my youth completely untainted by scandal. This podcast, narrated colorfully by Wesley Morris, focuses on his insane (and also IMO, unparalelled) genius run of five consecutive perfect albums: Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale, and Songs in the Key of Life. Contributors to this podcast include Questlove, Smokey Robinson, and Barack AND Michelle Obama. Get a 30 day free trial to Audible and give your ears a treat. Then go listen to those albums and give yourself a bigger treat.
Ten Strong Suggestions for Surviving the Age of Misinformation - This one is self-explanatory, I guess. We live in a post-facts era. The technology-fueled democratization of many facets of our lives that used to have gatekeepers is dizzying and confusing and has allowed the worst of us to run rough shod. Subscribe to A.J. Jacobs' newsletter and get some good tips on how to deal with it all. Thanks to my buddy Jason for bringing it to my attention.
Of course, I appreciate your support of this newsletter and the podcast and all my other endeavors! If you haven't already, I'd love it if you threw me a follow on IG. You can also subscribe to my Patreon for as little as $3/monthly. You'll get extended episodes and get the pod a week earlier than the general public!
Like Jerry Springer always said, take care of yourselves--and each other. Till next time!