November 1, 2019

This week was a peculiar one! Not only did we reach the mountaintop of Spooky Season last night with Halloween (and the ragers attached to it), we hopped in our mobile studio and headed to New York for some much needed time with our Brooklyn family.

1. Watching: Us.

There is linear and understandable comparison between Us and Jordan Peele’s 2017 release, Get Out. We haven’t seen Get Out, so we’ll not be doing any comparing of that sort here. Here’s what we can tell you: it’s awesome. One part slasher film, one part sci-fi thriller, Us is eerie and anxiety-inducing in all the best ways. The plot, which to be perfectly honest I’m still wrapping my head around, tells the story of a family stalked and hunted by their mysterious subterranean counterparts. 

2. Reading: Lying by Sam Harris

In 2011, neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris published an essay style book called Lying. The book, a short read/listen, dives deeply into the concept of deceit, ‘white lies’ and the damaging and scalable effects lying can have on a community. We all lie; evolution built it into us over 3.5 millions years of trial and error. This book seeks to, in part, dissuade one from giving into the temptation to lie, even if the matter seems trivial and it does so empathetically. Reflexively replying ‘no, of course not’ in response to the question echoed through households for generations, ‘does this outfit make me look fat?’ may not be the long term solution for a healthy relationship. And so on. I (Nat) highly recommend this book

3. Listening: Valentino

Hey, it’s Friday, so how about a pump up jam. We never know if we’re late to the game with this stuff, but Valentino by 24kGoldn is the studio’s go to ‘let’s party’ song. Did we find it on Tik Tok? Maybe. Should I write an article on Tik Tok? Probably. Should roll the windows down and bop to Valentino tonight to celebrate the end of a long week? Absolutely.