2021 Favs
As tomorrow is the end of the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, I thought I’d drop some of my favorite stories I came across this year. They may not definitively be my absolute favs, but consider this a ladle dip into my year, and maybe you’ll find something you will enjoy too.
Books
The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win by Maria Konnikova - A psychologist decides to become a professional poker player and uses her knowledge of human behavior to get an edge and win hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Running Man by Charlie Engle - a drug addict overcomes his addiction through running ultramarathons, but then gets falsely convicted of mortgage fraud and has to again use running to get through his prison sentence.
Pods
Heavyweight, #37 John - The John in this episode is John Green, who wrote the books The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns. Before he was a writer, he planned to dedicate his life to God until one stressful night in the hospital.
This American Life, #307 In the Shadow of the City - I specifically like act one, where a group of teens set out on a casual afternoon boat ride around New York City. But then they somehow end up stranded on a deserted island, all within view of the city.
TV/Movies
14 Peaks - The wild story of Nims Purja from Nepal who set out to climb every peak above 8,000 meters in 7 months. The previous record was 7 years. When summiting Mount Everest is one of the least exciting parts of your story, you know you’re living a pretty crazy life.
Mixtape - Nothing groundbreaking here, just a fun story that was a total nostalgia trip. I really miss 1999.
Pivotal Compositions
In high school, when a girl would reject me or some teenage angst would bubble up, I would hop in the car and blast Box Car Racer songs while pretending I was in some pivotal scene from a movie. Even now, when I hear certain songs in certain moments, I can’t help but turn my head slowly and look off into the distance as I imagine a camera is trained on my gaze.
Music and story go together like blueberry and lemon or waffles and goop (a delicious creamy caramel sauce that suffers from a not-delicious-sounding name). Music makes you feel things, and stories make you feel things, so of course combining the two does wonders. Cases in point:
Billy Crystal walking through NYC in the dark. It’s New Year’s Eve. He realizes Meg Ryan is his true love, and starts running to find her. Sinatra’s “It Had to Be You” starts playing. Classic.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt dancing in unison with seemingly everyone in the city as “You Make My Dreams (Come True)” plays. Unforgettable.
Sylvester Stallone has a big fight to get ready for. As he kicks off his training, “Gonna Fly Now” plays over footage of him running through the city and up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Iconic.
These are just a few examples of how music can accentuate pivotal parts of stories and make them more memorable. (It also seems like pivotal parts of stories happen while people are walking/running through a city. Maybe I should walk through the city more.)
To close out this point, here’s a cut of the Rocky training montage without the iconic music. Instead of feeling motivated and primed for the next part of the story, I just feel tired.
Sentence(s) of the Week
I laughed out loud when I read this letter in the Letters of Note newsletter.
I return your seasonal greetings card with contempt. May your hypocritical words choke you, and may they choke you early in the New Year, rather than later.
—Kennedy Lindsay (in a letter to Garret FitzGerald, Dec 1975)
Thanks for reading,
Braden