Our team, like many (all?) of you, is scattered around, working from home, and absolutely wearing sweatpants. While we check in with each other every morning, social distancing has been challenging - figuring out how to stay connected to the world around us from our respective homes isn't easy! So we decided to share what we're reading/watching/listening to with you to freshen up your playlists and netflix queue's.
Books
Megan: Re-reading my all-time favorite series, His Dark Materials, for a good fantasy kick.
Rich: Keystone Fly Fishing ; Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
Mickey: The Uninhabitable Earth — Yes, I’m really doubling down on the apocalyptic theme here. But if you, like me, are fortunate to be far-enough removed from the immediate impacts of the Coronavirus outbreak for now to find yourself with time to ask questions like “How much worse could things get?”… and you would like to explore a highly non-rhetorical answer to that question in a different context… David Wallace-Wells paints a disturbing, detailed portrait of the potential effects of climate change, emphasizing the extent to which our actions today continue to impact the dramatic effects that people will suffer in the coming years, and it is worth a read.
Nicole: To keep my imagination in check, I am reading The Stand by Stephen King (The Stand is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel that centers on a pandemic of a weaponized strain of influenza that kills almost the entire world population.) Reality can’t be worse than fiction!
Monica: The Illness Lesson by Clare Beams - a new book by a local Pittsburgh author! Some good quality feminist dystopian fiction.
Chris: Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick is my favorite book to read to our newborn. Finding Winnie is a story about the bear that inspired the “Winnie the Pooh” series.
Podcasts
Kristina -
Ear Hustle - a podcast recorded from the inside of San Quentin State Prison by a (now former) inmate and visual artist, telling the stories about life in prison. Started listening to it before quarantine, but now it has become an ironic form of entertainment.
Monica -
Dolly Parton's America: I listened to this podcast (9 episodes total) last year, but I'm still talking about it! Look at the world through the lens of Dolly Parton. If anyone can bring us together right now, I think she's the one.
Nice Try!: I re-listened to this recently - Nice Try! tells the stories of the world’s most fascinating attempts at utopian communities. Jamestown, Oneida, Disney World! Just to name a few.
Music
Need a new playlist? We've got you covered.
Hobbies & Beyond
Jerry: Daily Italian lessons on DuoLingo
Kristina: Doing a two-week yoga challenge!
Megan: Getting outside every day to walk/explore, looking for a new route each time. Favorite new find!
Rich: picking up the guitar (again!?)
Pia: trying to stay motivated to run now that my spring races have been canceled. Not sure this guy is a role model
Nicole: It’s really fun to connect with people all over the world for live dance parties like these with the legendary:
And this one to raise money for the RedBean Krewe that has been paying musicians to feed hospital workers in NOLA since day 1.