What I’m Reading
I’m a slow reader and take a while to catch up to my own “want to read” list. I stumbled upon How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell at several different thrift stores and took it as a sign that it was finally time to read it.
I’m three-fourths done and one idea that sticks with me is her use of Martin Buber’s 1923 concept of I-It and I-Thou, a way to shift how we engage with nature, the world, and others. I strive to view what’s around me as having the same depths and irreducibility as my own (I-Thou) – not simply as resources, instruments, or bodies (I-It).
I also enjoyed her interview with Ezra Klein.
What I’m Watching
I watched the first 4 episodes of Hacks on my plane ride home from Spain, and have kept going. Short, punchy episodes and a glamorous setting far from my own experience – solid TV for late nights after long days.
What I’m Listening to
The Next Big Idea podcast reposted their episode You Don’t Have Free Will. That’s Good News. It was my second time listening. Robert Sapolsky’s argument is provocative, but not self-important or unserious. A challenge to each of us to have a more generous outlook toward ourselves and others, who contain complexities and contradictions that may not ever be resolved.
Leave a Reply