Friday Faves 9/27: Newsletters, Honeycrisp apples, The Hottest Takes, and RFK

Best Activity (more just a quick story this week… about an old activity.)

September has always been a special month in my life. It happens to be the month I was born. Pair that with the start of the school year, and September would unofficially mark the beginning of a new year for me.

September, as I got older, also became an important month for another reason. It’s the month that I met my wife, who came to my apartment when she answered my roommate posting on Craigslist. I was presented with quite the quandary, allow this very pretty girl to move in or tell her “no, thanks” while trying to keep her around somehow (that story will wind up here another time…). Three years after that first meeting, I used another date in September to propose in the apartment where we met (we still live here, so it wasn’t some weird apartment invasion… but that would have been a good story!).

Now, seven years after that ridiculously fortuitous first encounter (thanks, Craig!) we are finishing off another September together. Thankfully, she’s less angry now than she was during the end of that first September when I told her she couldn’t move in…

Best Listen

RFK Tapes: If you enjoy history, conspiracy, and the Kennedy family, this might be the podcast for you. It delves into the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968, just months after Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. Before listening to this, I couldn’t have told you that RFK was shot the night of the California primary. I have not listened to this all the way though yet. However, the storytelling is compelling and there is a bevy of real sound from newscasts and speeches. It’s a great window into a time of history that I wasn’t around for.

The Hottest Take: This is a low stakes, quick listen from the world of The Ringer. Each episode is 7 minutes. One person puts a ridiculous take on the table, and the group of rotating talking heads hashes it out. They cover things as trivial as reordering the alphabet to stuff as serious the very real prospect of a different first president of the United States.

Best Watch

Unbelievable: You might read that title and wonder if there’s an EMF documentary covering the ‘90s one hit wonder. Not yet. Instead, “Unbelievable” is the true story of a serial rapist in Colorado and Washington. The title comes from the first victim’s experience, which was deemed unbelievable due to the lack of evidence. I’m realizing as I do these weekly recaps that I consume a lot of shows like this. I am not sure what it says about me or my life.

Maggie Rogers and Pharrell: Imagine sitting down with a person at the top of their industry and sharing something you created. Maybe you’re sitting with Mark Zuckerburg and have a new way of destroying democracy (you probably got to this website via Facebook, didn’t you?). Maybe you’re reading a chapter of your new piece of fiction to Stephen King. Well, Youtube has a video of Maggie Rogers playing her song “Alaska” for Pharrell. I’m not entirely sure the background of how all this came to be, but it’s a great 10 minutes.

Best Read

Email Newsletters: Why comb the internet when other people do it for you? I have three newsletters I receive that I really enjoy and I think you should subscribe to. Here they are:

1) Next Draft: Dave Pell calls himself the “Managing Editor of the Internet.” His daily, afternoon newsletter is full of punny headlines, some editorial commentary and links to the top ten news stories of the day. Here’s a link to subscribe.

2) 3 ideas, 2 questions, 1 quote: James Clear’s weekly email is a punch of inspiration, and I have found myself forwarding it to people every time I receive it on Thursday. Clear is the author of multiple books, most recently Atomic Habits. If you’re looking for some thought provoking, habit changing ideas, this newsletter is for you. Here’s a link to subscribe.

3) SPORTS STORIES: A brand spanking new weekly newsletter that mixes history and sports, with some beautiful illustrations too. Here’s the link.

Best Eat

Honeycrisp Apples: It’s the season of delicious apples, and the honeycrisp reigns supreme in my apple power rankings. I thoroughly enjoy a good apple, toss in some peanut butter (and a dash of honey if you’re feeling adventurous) and it’s the perfect mid-afternoon, hold-you-over-before-dinner, snack. I have a vivid memory of my dad eating apples every weekend on our ride to church. He’d be driving, crunching on an apple as NPR voices purr through the speakers; he’d typically eat the whole freaking apple, core and all. He’d roll the window down and toss the tiny remaining stem out. It was astounding.