i am always on the hunt for new books, articles, shows, movies, and podcasts, and i love crowdsourcing recommendations from friends on what i should explore next. it’s been a while since we talked about these things, so it seemed like a great question for last week’s check in:

what is something you have read, watched, or listened to recently that has left an impact on you?

i encouraged friends to respond with answers to any or all of the prompts, and below are the recommendations i got from everyone.

to read.

finna, a collection of poetry by nate marshall. he’s keith’s fraternity brother from vanderbilt! i’ve seen a few other recommendations for this on social media recently as well.

from corrinne: rise of the warrior cop: the militarization of the police force.

alison is currently reading are you my mother? and loving it.

all the light we cannot see was morgan’s recommendation, and i have to second it. this novel set during world war 2 is one of my all-time favorites.

patrick is currently reading malcolm gladwell’s talking to strangers and noted how poignant it is in today’s landscape where misperceptions of strangers can lead to catastrophic consequences.

lauren recently read two articles that have stuck with her: a deep dive into dollar stores and how christa mcauliffe’s mother kept her daughter’s legacy alive.

serrie has lots of books to recommend: decolonizing wealth about changing philanthropy; valarie kaur’s see no stranger; there there if you are looking for fiction by a native american; and charged about prosecution in the united states.

my southern journey has helen reminiscing about her childhood in the woods of arkansas.

jen recommends elizabeth gilbert’s city of girls.

big friendship: how we keep each other close has really been the read of the summer for me this year. i’ve shared plenty of times about it, but i really think it is a great book. another from this year that has stuck with me is priya parker’s the art of gathering.

to watch.

inequality for all on netflix.

shelby recommends the perry mason reboot on hbo if you want a dark, film noir mystery, and what we do in the shadows on fx / hulu if you’re in the mood for something silly.

the leftovers made chris think a lot about the afterlife, life, and what it all means. in his words, “it was fun, but in an odd way”.

yellowstone made corrinne want to go to montana.

dillard loved mucho macho amor, a documentary on netflix about the life of walter mercado. she especially enjoyed learning about how he “fundamentally shaped how the latinx community viewed, understood, and learned to embrace” the lgbtq+ community.

walshie recommends i’ll be gone in the dark, the hbo documentary based on the book with the same name about the hunt for the golden state killer.

transparent has given cyanne a lot to think about in regards to lgbtq+ issues and family dynamics.

one friend had the opportunity to sit in on an open call at work between people of color and their organization ceo and mentioned how eye-opening it was. by listening to coworkers share what it has been like, they were able to show support while also learning about experiences different from their own. i’m sharing this here because i hope all companies find ways to make conversations like these available for their employees.

brent is rewatching the wire, which reminds me that i’ve still not watched it. he also gave a shout out to frozen 2, which i finally watched over the weekend and definitely recommend.

carnival row on amazon came to our list courtesy of patrick.

lauren and sam have been watching formula 1: drive to survive and have become very into formula one racing as a result.

helen loved legend of korra and applauds how the creators addressed class dynamics, racism, and other difficult topics in a kids’ show.

irresistible comes highly recommended by jen, who says that it raises great points while also entertaining.

michaela coel’s i may destroy you on hbo max is incredible. it’s painful and funny and heartfelt and so real, and it is one of the best shows i’ve ever seen. [note: this show contains depictions of sexual assault]

to listen.

nice white parents podcast from nytimes and serial productions. this one has been highly anticipated and came recommended by alison, keith, shelby, dillard, christina, cyanne, and sarah. i have been downloading the episodes and am planning to listen on my upcoming road trip.

corrinne recommends the girls gotta eat podcast.

shelby highlighted the new michelle obama podcast as well as brené brown’s unlocking us. i am also saving michelle for my road trip and am a huge fan of brené’s podcast!

armchair expert, dax shepard’s podcast, comes recommended by walshie. she particularly highlighted the episode with brad edwards, the attorney who represented over 50 girls in the jeffrey epstein case.

gangster capitalism‘s recent season about the nra has been keeping sam enthralled.

jen has been listening to a lot of spanish guitar because it allows her to travel the world from her own home, which i love.

npr’s it’s been a minute with sam sanders is one of my favorite podcasts, and it has been especially on point this summer. covering everything from the black lives matter protests following george floyd’s murder to the colorism depicted in indian matchmaking, sanders always seems to talk about the exact topics i want to hear.

do you have anything to add to our list?

xx

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