Don’t know, but…here’s what I’m tracking as we round out the month of April.

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Watching: How Ben Sasse Is Living Now That He Is Dying

Ben Sasse was a US Senator from Nebraska who left the Senate to become president of the University of Florida. Known for his desire for healthy debate, and his ability to buck the system — he was a Republican but reached across the aisle, so to speak, pretty often — Sasse got tired of Washington’s gridlock and wanted to fix higher education.

Then cancer struck, and struck in a serious way: Sasse was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer in December.

This interview, with Ross Douthat of The New York Times, will stop you cold, perhaps a few times.

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Reading: Moneyball by Michael Lewis

“Billy, this is Michael Lewis. He’s a prolific writer, has written tons of books that sell a lot of copies. The only downside is that his books often get turned into movies that take quite a few liberties and ignore all of the little idiosyncracies that make his books great.”

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game falls into that category: the amazing luck that Lewis had following Billy Beane and the Oakland A’s in the early part of the 2000s got dramatized to maximum cinematic effect in the movie — called, simply, Moneyball — that launched a thousand memes. (Like the “Billy” one above.)

But the book itself is dynamite — here’s an Amazon link — and worth revisiting when you want to read something that is kinda tough to put down, as most of Lewis’s work is. (Bonus points if you’ve got a dog-eared version like the one in the photo.)

Listening to: Three Amazing Rock Songs from Way Back When (1979-ish)

“Way Back When” is subjective. But I like these songs a lot so here goes.

The Knack caught lightning in a bottle with “My Sharona.” 1979 was the release year for this one. If this were to drop in 2026 as a brand-new song, it would likely catch fire again. It’s that good, IMHO.

I grew up in Indiana and listening to John (Cougar) Mellencamp was the law.

For my money, though, “I Need a Lover” is his best work. It was part of his 1978 album A Biography and, since that album didn’t do very well, was also part of his 1979 album John Cougar. (Thus the 1979-ish in the subhead.)

Two minutes, thirty seconds of instrumental at the outset. Magic.

Speaking of musical acts with name changes — and lineup changes, it appears — Jefferson Starship presents this song from the mid-point of the band’s evolution. First, Jefferson Airplane, eventually Starship, Jefferson Starship brought together some but not all of Jefferson Airplane. And they dropped the “Jefferson” just in time to attack our ears with “We Built This City.”

Alas, this song, “Jane,” is a really solid 1979 earworm.

Rediscovering: The If It’s Out There, It’s In Here! NYNEX Ad Campaign

Every region had its version of Ma Bell back in the 70s and 80s. It was a confusing patchwork of companies, some large, some regional, some small and state-by-state — I remember having Indiana Bell growing up, and our neighbors just a few miles north of me had Michigan Bell — and, until the 1982 Breakup of the Bell System, you were mostly stuck with your state’s telephone system for local calling. (Long distance? Oh, that’s a subject for another day.)

After the breakup, some of the regions took their time with branding — Indiana Bell was the brand name for the Ameritech Hoosier State telco until 1993 — but New York Telephone and New England Telephone went full bore into making NYNEX — an acronym for “New York New England Exchange” — a powerful brand name.

Part of the brand’s power? Well, if you’re anywhere near Madison Avenue and the ad industry, you might as well create a really cool ad campaign.

Enter If It’s Out There, It’s In Here. The ad campaign that just kept the puns coming.

They launched in 1988, just in time for my arrival in Upstate New York and my NYNEX dorm phone. Created by Chiat/Day, the legendary ad firm behind Apple’s 1984-themed ad campaign, the ads were quick, clever, and just enough of a gag to get the point across: if you were looking for something in the Yellow Pages, you were bound to find it in the NYNEX Yellow Pages.

Here’s “Civil Engineers.”

What if you’re looking for “Herbs”?

How about “Furniture Stripping”?

“Fishing Tackle” anyone?

There’s a whole playlist of these ads. Great trip down memory lane.

Have a wonderful week. Maybe go catch some fish?

Hey there! Hope your weekend is off to a dynamite start. Before we dive in, here’s that button…

Watching: My Interview with Stephen Barrigar on The Vandy Program

Stephen Barrigar has been a friend for several years now — we first worked together for a Canadian marketing and communications agency in 2019; we bonded over music and sports and pop culture, of course — and he, too, has a Substack. (You can check out his Velcro Staircase music site here.)

Our 90-minute chat reminded me of what society seems to be missing: conversations where a couple buddies obviously don’t agree, are willing to debate, and would part as friends. We talked about…

• Canadian politics

• Pope Leo XIV vs President Trump

• Iran, Israel, Lebanon

• ALSO Coachella.

Reading: Fast Food My Way by Jacques Pepin

Yup, we’re cooking at home.

We picked this up ages ago — might have won it in a package at a pre-school raffle or something — and the theme from Jacques Pepin is that you can make food at home rather quickly and it can taste good and you can be proud of your own accomplishments. Fast Food My Way is the companion cookbook to a Public TV show from the mid-2000s.

There’s a recipe for Ham Steaks with Apricot-Mustard Glaze that’s a definite winner; been making it for years now (and the cookbook came out in 2004). And there’s a Chicken Breasts with Garlic and Parsley recipe that introduced me to Wondra Flour.

Wondering what the 90-year-old Pepin is up to these days? Surprise: he’s still in the kitchen. Here’s a Croque Monsieur recipe.

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Listening to: A Whole Bunch of Chicago Live Music from Three Decades (?)(!)

Aadam Jacobs appears to have been obsessed with Chicago’s live music scene. So he has curated tapes of shows. Lots of shows. And they’re all on the Internet.

When news of this collection broke, I was skeptical; I’ve watched the first 30 seconds of way too many YouTube videos where the concert footage audio just isn’t quite right and the crowd noise drowns out the lead singer.

But this collection: it’s the real deal.

You can read more about how it came about here, on this unofficial recap of the Aadam Jacobs Collection.

Suffice it to say, for the live-music obsessed, it’s amazing.

The full thing is at this link, and you can search by year, or by venue, or alphabetize the columns and search by band.

I have spent way too much time on this site in the past week; as a result, I have discovered that the most popular shows in both 1994 and 1995 were from this band: Guided by Voices.

Rediscovering: The Work of Robert Plant

A week or so ago, Stephen Colbert decided to have Robert Plant on his show — with accompaniment from a band called Saving Grace — to perform a Led Zeppelin classic called “Ramble On.” It’s a must-watch, so here it is…

BUT we can’t stop our Plant-based Musical Diet there, eh?

In 1988, Plant released a solo album called Now and Zen. It’s outstanding, and, to me, “Heaven Knows” still sounds amazing.

And let’s close things out with “Ship of Fools,” also from Now and Zen and also still sounds like it just dropped yesterday.

May your week be filled with the sights, sounds, and tastes that delight you. Cheers!

It’s certainly, definitely, absolutely Spring! (At least where I live in suburban Chicagoland; YMMV.)

Let’s dive in with a list of what’s going on in my world through a few pop culture-ish things that I’m Watching, Reading, Listening to, and Rediscovering.

First, though, the all-important button:

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Watching: ‘Vagabond Awake’ with Advice for Living (and Retiring) Abroad

This was a real dynamite find, thanks to my rather eccentric YouTube watching habits: He calls himself Vagabond Buddha and his channel is “Vagabond Awake” and two of his videos caught my eye.

First, here’s his general advice for someone who (1) wants to become an expat and (2) has Argentina on their radar screen. (To quote Liz Lemon, “I want to go to there.”)

Also, below is a screenshot from the above video and, if you buy two bottles of Trapiche — that’s probably the first name in Agrentine Malbec — you get the third free; 7321 Argentine pesos translates right now to about $5.25 US. So definitely affordable on the wine front, eh?

Okay, all well and good for someone who is thinking about Argentina, but what about another part of the world? The Buddha talks with a chap called Ed in…Vietnam. Ed may strike you as exactly the kind of American who would travel the world and decide to settle in Vietnam. This video goes into the specifics of how Ed lives — and does so astonishgly cheaply — in Da Nang. (Ed also talks about his dating life; feel free to fast-forward past that.)

Reading: Up, Up, & Away by Jonah Keri*

(I’ll explain the asterisk in a moment.)

I’ve decided to re-read this book for a couple reasons. One: The Cubs are playing at Wrigley this weekend and the Friday uniform choice has a real Montreal Expos feel to it.

Two: there’s a real need for nostalgia these days — at least I’m feeling the need for nostalgia — and the Montreal Expos are the ultimate nostalgia trip.

The book is excellent. A fun throwback to an era of baseball that was an absolute hoot — see below for evidence of a mascot being thrown out of a ballgame; something that could only have happened in Stade Olympique — and can make one pine for a franchise that decamped for Washington, D.C. in 2005.

Now, let’s talk about the asterisk. Jonah Keri, the author, did, in fact pen a great book in 2014.

He would also be arrested for domestic violence stemming from events in 2018, and he was found guilty and was jailed for his crimes in 2022. The Los Angeles Times wrote a really powerful article about his ex-wife, who was the victim of Keri’s abuse and is now a domestic-violence counselor in Montreal. A link to the article is here: Amy Kaufman’s story.

The LA Times article closes the article with this:

The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24 hours a day by phone, (800) 799-7233; chat, at thehotline.com; or text message, by texting “START” to 88788.

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Listening to: 3 Really Fun 90s Songs…From Mazzy Star, Portishead, and Letters to Cleo

This video, of Mazzy Star singing “Fade Into You,” has 122 MILLION VIEWS. What’s a few more? The lead singer is Hope Sandoval and you may sense a theme with this song and the next two.

But, I’ll be honest with you, while Mazzy Star is excellent, there’s something about Portishead and its song “Sour Times” that…speaks to me. It’s so 90s. Lead singer Beth Gibbons is downright enchanting.

Remember when Parks and Recreation had Letters to Cleo as an act that performed at a festival on the show? Dang, “Here and Now” was such a glorious little tune. And I’m never gonna memorize the chorus, so here it is:

The comfort of a knowledge of a rise above the sky
But could never parallel the challenge of an acquisition in the
Here and now, here and now.

Vintage video performance here from lead singer Kay Hanley and the band.

Rediscovering: WKRP in Cincinnati, Opening and Closing Sequences

I’ll take “Underrated TV for 1000, Alex.”

WKRP in Cincinnati is more than just the show that gave us the “Turkey Drop” episode. Both the opening sequence — with a theme song performed by Steve Carlisle — and the closing credits were awesome; the closing credits may sound like gibberish because, well, it actually was gibberish, sung by Jim Ellis in a demo tape made for show creator Hugh Wilson.

And the ending; note that this particular YouTube video splices the song together three times, giving us a taste of some of the guest stars in the show’s history. (It’s…not exactly a Who’s Who, but hello Edie McClurg!

And we’ll see you next week!

Hope it’s been a great weekend so far, and that it will be a great week ahead.

Here’s the 22nd straight edition of The Saturday List.

Watching: Highlights from The Vandy Program

Since the last edition of this here newsletter, I’ve launched three — THREE!!! — new episodes of The Vandy Program, which is my interview-meets-podcast program. You can find it on YouTube, where the full episodes get posted first.

First, there was my friend John Puccio, whose Substack article on The Perpetual Present really got my attention.

In this 4-minute-ish excerpt, John and I discuss the aesthetics of The Cybertruck.

Next, Jerry Beach, who is a Long Island-based sportswriter and author — he wrote the definitive account of the 2000 Subway Series — and he has thoughts on whether we might see a tenuous offseason in 2026; baseball’s owners and players seem to be far apart on a few issues.

Finally, I caught up with former WAER-FM colleague Matt Dery, who has carved out success for himself in two industries: sportscasting — Matt is the host of the Locked On Lions podcast — and marketing, where he manages marketing and business development for Financial Architects, a financial firm in Detroit (where Matt has lived for going on 30 years).

One question I asked is, basically, how did the Lions become THE LIONS? What’s behind their recent return to relevance?

Well, I had a guess. Matt tells us more here.

The full interviews are on the channel. All three were big fun for me, and I hope you, too, will enjoy.

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Reading: Building Great Sentences, by Brooks Landon

It’s amazing — to me, at least — that I have only recently heard of this book; seeing as I write for a living and try to digest as many books on the craft as I can find. But this just caught my eye and Brooks Landon seems to know a thing or two (or more) about writing. And, specifically, writing sentences.

Building Great Sentences is on the way to my home and will greet me when I return from various travels.

Here’s the blurb on Amazon.

(Note to self: this being the second reference I’ve heard to Absalom! Absalom! this week, should probably check THAT out, too.)

Listening to: Ratboys

Okay, Ratboys. You win. I’m now a fan. The band originally formed in South Bend, Indiana, when two University of Notre Dame freshmen, Julia Steiner and Dave Sagan, first met. They are now romantically linked; e.g. they are “partners” according to the band’s Wikipedia page. She sings, he plays lead guitar.

Here’s “Light Night Mountains All That,” which is right now getting airplay on Sirius XMU.

Here’s a song called “Anywhere” from a few months back.

Here’s “It’s Alive!”

Rediscovering: Bert Kreischer Drinks Kool-Aid

Bert Kreischer is a comedian. He hosts a show with Tom Segura. Bert is the one on the right with…a daily…Kool-Aid habit. It’s stupid-silly.

If you haven’t seen it, please watch.

If you have seen it, watch again.

Have a great weekend, and a wonderful Easter Sunday.

(There’s a lot to celebrate; be sure to hug those you love.)

Hey there! This is my weekly compilation of what I’m Watching, Reading, Listening to, and Rediscovering.

Before we dive in for our — checks notes; something done immediately after manually creating an em-dash — 21st Consecutive Saturday, here’s the “Share” button. Send this along to a friend and get your weekend off to a great start.

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Watching: How to Build a Victory Garden

Things are…interesting in the world.

So let’s do a bit of a modern-meets-throwback study of the “Victory Garden,” which is a term that dates back to 1917 and World War I. The goal was food security: if people could grow more fruits and vegetables themselves, there would be less of a need to rely on farmers. They became more popular during World War II; Farmers were being pressed into service and all manufacturing and machinery was focused on war efforts.

So growing your own food became more important, and people didn’t have a lot of space.

Two pieces below: One is from a YouTuber called Wild Floridian, who gives you a crash course in Victory Gardens. The other is an original US Government Victory Garden piece, from the Ball State University archives.

Reading: Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur

I have a first edition of this book, which was released in 2010, and it’s one of those business tomes that doesn’t just get you thinking: it forces you to think creatively about your business.

Especially in this AI-driven age, where we seem to be a subscription, a prompt, or a line of code away from creating something, Business Model Generation asks that you take a step (or two or three) back and figure why you’re doing what you’re doing, and how exactly to go about doing it. In other words, can you create value? Can you find customers and partners? How will you do that? And…can you make any money at it?

It’s well-worth picking up; pretty sure that you’ll refer to it quite often, like I do.

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Listening to: Some Really Good Cover Songs

I’m about to provide a trio of tunes. Two are covers of 80s songs and one is a cover of a 2000s tune by a band that became popular in the 80s. I apologize for nothing.

Here’s a group called EZ Band sharing a cover of “This Charming Man” by The Smiths in the “Norteno” style. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Can someone help me add a “tilde” over that “n”?)

I love Wang Chung. (More on them below in the “Rediscovering” section.) They’re crazy talented and visited AV Club — which is now independent from The Onion but is still a pretty good outlet for pop culture — five years ago and recorded a cover of Modest Mouse’s “3rd Planet.”

One of the greatest covers ever is by Gary Jules, who took a Tears for Fears song called “Mad World” and completely reinvented it for the Donnie Darko soundtrack. (In case you think I’m kidding about a song’s reinvention, I’ve also included the original below.)

And the original (Curt Smith on lead vocals here).

Rediscovering: To Live and Die in L.A.

There’s so much about this movie to love. To Live and Die in L.A. was the brainchild of William Friedkin — the same guy who won Best Actor and Best Picture Oscars for The French Connection — and, to borrow from SNL’s Stefon, “This Movie Has Everything:”

• Willem Dafoe, who doesn’t even get top billing;

• William Peterson, the guy who was on CSI: (who does get top billing);

• A soundtrack completely composed and performed by Wang Chung;

• John Turturro!;

• And maybe the greatest car chase scene since…Oh, I don’t know, but it’s an awesome car chase.

Here’s the trailer — “When I was a kid, movie trailers were crazy!” — followed by the theme song from the show, and then “City of the Angels,” from the film’s score.

(I won’t share the car chase here. You have to watch the movie (and it’s available on a ton of streaming services).)

Make it a dynamite week, friends!

One last button for ya. See you next week.

We’ve returned for another week…it’s our (checks notes) 20TH CONSECUTIVE EDITION OF THE SATURDAY LIST. It’s also our 30th since we started last July. Let’s get rolling!

Watching: Sam the Cooking Guy and Sip and Feast

We like to root for the good guys over here. And two of them are Sam Zien, who is known on YouTube as “Sam the Cooking Guy,” and James Delmage, whose foodie empire is called “Sip and Feast.”

First, there’s Sam. He’s based in San Diego and what’s fun about his approach is that it is both bougie AND accessible.

One of my favorite videos of his is his take on Birria Tacos. Yes, I’ve made it multiple times. Yes, it was delicious. Yes it required a slight step out of my comfort zone — that would be the packaged chili peppers in the Mexican food aisle — but I felt semi-invincible after the first time making it. And I may have overeaten.

Most-recent video that popped up on Sam’s YouTube Channel: how to use your air fryer correctly.

Next, James. He works with his wife, Tara Boerum, on a channel that is mostly Italian-focused and does a great job of making the complex simple.

But…and I said “mostly” Italian…one of my favorite videos was his Beef Bourguignon from a couple years ago.

His most-recent video: Watch as he makes a chicken dish that is sorta like shrimp scampi, but with chicken.

Both gentlemen have channels with 7-figure subscriber numbers on YouTube, but they have both put in the sweat equity to get there. And you’re bound to be inspired to try something new in the kitchen.

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Reading: The Prize, by Daniel Yergin

The full title is The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power; seems tremendously a propos as there’s a war in the Middle East and we’re all looking at gas prices and trying — most often, unsuccessfully — to time the market. Originally released in 1992, then rereleased in 2009, Daniel Yergin studies the history of Big Oil like no one else.

He’s written a couple more recent books, too: The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World (2011) and The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations (2020).

The Prize was my introduction to Yergin’s work, and it served me well as I was just beginning a communications stint in the Oil & Gas industry.

The photos within the book are a fun throwback, too…Hey, there’s Gamel Abdel Nasser! There’s George H.W. Bush, an oilman!

Worth reading any of Yergin’s books to understand how we got where we are.

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Listening to: Three Dynamite Alternative Rock Songs from the 90s

The 1990s hit different. “A vibe.” No wonder Gen Z seems to be discovering all the things that made Gen X great.

Like the music. Alternative rock was especially amazing, as bands that used to be relegated to college radio ended up going mainstream.

I could share some of those songs here, but I’m going to go with Three Deep Cuts.

Brother Cane. “And Fools Shine On.” It was number one on the rock charts for six straight weeks in 1995.

BONUS NEWS FLASH: Brother Cane is releasing new music in April.

Next up, Dovetail Joint. In 1998, this Chicago band got picked up on a local compilation by the radio station Q101; they ended up with a decent amount of Chicago airplay — though not enough to break through nationally, it seems — and have remained on this reporter’s playlist since.

Finally, Salt. Not Veruca Salt. Not Sault. Not even the French brand with the same name.

This version of Salt is Swedish. “Bluster” didn’t totally put the band on the map, though it did hit #21 on the US Modern Rock charts in 1996.

The entire album, “Ausculate,” is quite good.

Rediscovering: No Country for Old Men

Okay, let’s get this out of the way right now: No Country for Old Men is the Greatest Movie of the 21st Century (So Far).

Based on the novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy, adapted by Joel and Ethan Coen, it’s also on the short list of quite a few Movie Mt. Rushmores. And it’s definitely on the Mt. Rushmore of Coen Brothers Movies.

Released at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007, it instantly got rave reviews; the Coens would win three Oscars — Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay — and Javier Bardem won Best Actor for his chilling performance as lead character Anton Chigurh.

How chilling? Here’s a clip of the famous “Coin Toss” scene.

It appears to be available on Paramount+, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. (I say “appears” because these things change all the time and YMMV and all that.)

But as we lament the current State of Hollywood, it serves as a reminder of when movies were movies…not that long ago.

Have a wonderful Saturday and try to get outside…It’s Spring!

Hello again! It’s time for the 19th consecutive edition of The Saturday List — 29th overall; we started last July and plan to keep going — and it’s a quick synopsis of What I’m Watching, Reading, Listening go, and Rediscovering. Let’s begin (after a word from our Subscribe button):

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Watching: Two Interviews on The Vandy Program

Allow me to toot my own horn here: I sat down with two of my friends for my podcast — which is called The Vandy Program and is available on YouTube and you should totally subscribe over there — and both were great and thought-provoking discussions.

First up, David Eckstein. He’s a PR professional living and working in Los Angeles, and his perspective on agencies and how they’re doing a disservice to staff and clients by not focusing on mentorship is notable. It’s one of the “PR Truisms” he has posted about on LinkedIn and he and I discussed those during the interview.

That was Tuesday…Wednesday, I hopped on a call with Jennifer Brown, who has a website and X account that are both named “Redhead Ranting.”

Our chat was more about bringing back the old ways: not homesteading and growing your own food, but opening the door for others and making sure you always use your blinker. And putting the phone down!

She makes it her mission to stay positive, and it was a fun discussion about just that. (And then the wifi died and it was just me…so I brought the hour-long interview to a close.)

Reading: Visual Capitalist’s Top 25 Visualizations of 2025

Behold the humble infographic: from its beginnings as a PowerPoint slide on steroids to today’s need to compete for eyeballs in the attention economy, they’ve gotten better and better over the years.

Visual Capitalist has an economics spin to its one-pagers, and these are really good.

That’s #20, and did you know that California by itself is the 4th largest economy in the world? It’s true. (Just ask Gavin Newsom.)

Here’s a link to the entire list and you might find a little inspiration here.

Listening to: Three Outstanding Rap Songs (That May Be Older Than You)

Here we go — this is like the complete opposite of just about every “Listening to” I’ve included since this newsletter started in July; all of the others have trended in the direction of Alternative, Indie, or Classic Rock — as the list provides you with a public service: three outstanding rap songs, at least according to me.

First, Eric B. & Rakim. Eric B. is the guy with the beats. Rakim is the rapper. (Ofra Haza is the singer sampled in the video version below; her “Im Nin’alu” is still a bop. Her musical history is a fun rabbit hole, but…well, back to the rap below.) “Paid In Full” is the title track off of the duo’s 1987 release.

Next, something from Geto Boys. I still maintain that this is The Greatest Rap Song Ever. NSFW. RIP Bushwick Bill (one of the three members of the group; the other two were Willie D. and Scarface).

Song peaked at #23 on the Hot 100 in 1991. That’s the regular chart, not the Rap or R&B chart. Heavy rotation on MTV. We Stan. Here’s “Mind Playing Tricks on Me.”

Aww, man…this is giving me ALL THE FEELS today. First the late great Bushwick Bill, now we’ve got our third in the troika: A Tribe Called Quest, whose “Award Tour” is guaranteed to pack the dance floor.

A Tribe Called Quest brought their A-Game each and every time; this particular song was released in 1993. Phife Dawg founded the group with childhood buddy Q-Tip in 1985 (!!!). Phife Dawg died in 2016 and this song features Trugoy the Dove from De La Soul, who passed away in 2023.

Again, ALL THE FEELS.

Here’s “Award Tour.” Please dance.

Rediscovering: Inglourious Basterds

Okay, I know: Pulp Fiction is Quentin Tarantino’s opus. I don’t care, and I’m about to do the meme:

My unpopular opinion that would put me in the above situation: Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino’s best work.

Sure, Pulp Fiction is great. But Inglourious Basterds followed it 15 years later (2009) and was beyond brilliant; part of its brilliance was in its alternative history “Let’s Kill Hitler” catharsis.

The rest of the brilliance was probably its casting; for instance, Aldo Raine is one of Brad Pitt’s best roles. The film introduced us to Christoph Waltz — who would win two Best Supporting Actor Oscars, one for this movie and another for Django Unchained (2012) — whose Hans Landa character remains etched in my brain.

With each rewatch it gets better. So it’s time to watch it again.

Bonus: Here’s Charlie Rose interviewing Waltz about his role in the movie.

Find the movie on Netflix, among other places.

And we’ll see you next week!

Hi there! Much to enjoy in the world, and here’s a little slice of mine. Stay positive, people!

Watching: The World Baseball Classic

Seriously. Right now. As I write this. There is baseball on, it is baseball’s answer to the FIFA World Cup — which the USA is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico — or Olympic Hockey — and we know how that turned out — and I am 1000% on board.

Japan and Korea? Sure, I’ll take it. From the Tokyo Dome? Why not. Live baseball as I drink my Saturday morning coffee? Konichiwa. (Japan just won, 8-6. The game finished at 7:14 Chicago time.)

This is the sixth edition of the WBC, and Japan won the first event in 2006. For a variety of reasons involving scheduling, player contracts, and the lack of muscle of an organization like FIFA or the IOC helming the event — you can read into that sentence any way you’d like but let’s get real, I’m not even aware of the NAME of baseball’s international governing body — there doesn’t appear to be a consistent schedule. Japan won again in 2009, the Dominican Republic won in 2013, the USA in 2017, and the most-recent event was 2023, also won by Japan.

2023 gave us this moment, possibly the greatest non-MLB moment in baseball history.

Flash forward to 2026.

Did you hear about Greatest Player in the World Shohei Ohtani’s Grand Slam on Friday, March 6? If not, enjoy THREE LANGUAGES of sportscasting excellence, English, Japanese, and Spanish, calling the amazing Tokyo moment.

Into. My. Veins.

Games are on FOX and its FS1 and FS2 networks in the USA. In the mission to make this as big and cool as the World Cup, baseball is doing its best.

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Reading: The War on the West by Douglas Murray

Douglas Murray is a brilliant man, however controversial his views may be. Perhaps a less-polarizing political thinker than some others in the “Conservative” camp, the British author and speaker wrote a really thought-provoking book called The War on the West in 2022 and the book became a best-seller almost overnight.

The gist: Western ideals are, indeed, under attack.

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Listening to: Talk Talk and Placebo (And Their Connection)

If you ask me to discribe a song that is 10/10, impeccably crafted, and absolutely pitch-perfect, one offering would be “Life’s What You Make It” by the band Talk Talk. It’s not their most popular song — don’t worry, I’ll feature that one below — but, IMHO, it’s their absolute best.

Lead singer Mark Hollis died a few years back, and this is his opus.

Their other more popular song is “It’s My Life,” which was co-opted by animal rights groups, thanks in part to its really cool video. Shown here:

Meanwhile, the band Placebo is…interesting. They’re connected to Talk Talk only in that they enjoy covering songs; Placebo is also British and has quite the random backstory.

Here’s Placebo’s cover of “Life’s What You Make It.” With a heck of a video that tells us A LOT about consumption, and the ways of the world. (Upshot: count your blessings.)

Placebo, to me, is best known for its “Pure Morning,” which follows below. “A friend in need is a friend in deed,” and so on…

(I’ve shared the official audio since the video itself comes with a warning.)

Rediscovering: Three Kings

We all have one of those movies. The ones we absolutely loved but that the rest of the world just didn’t seem to get.

For me, Three Kings was one of those. Released in 1999, I remember attending an advanced screening of the film — Connections? No. Chicago’s NATAS had a really good film-screening membership thing — and I left stunned. Same feeling I had after The Matrix and The Sixth Sense.

I thought it was brilliant: post-Gulf War 1, so set in the early 1990s, the premise is that three soldiers try to search for gold that was supposedly stolen. It’s part black comedy and part war movie — I remember an interview with one of the stars, George Clooney, who said, in effect, “If this works, it’s M*A*S*H.” I have long maintained that Ice Cube should have gotten an Oscar nomination. Mark Wahlberg is the other one of the three main characters.

The movie received critical acclaim and did well at the box office; but it was never got to the point where it was part of the regular rotation on the cable channels, so maybe it was just…the right movie at the wrong time?

Looks like it’s only available to rent on a whole bunch of platforms, but worth the $5.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Don’t forget to switch your clocks if you’re in the USA. And don’t forget to hit that Subscribe button.

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With this morning’s news of American and Israeli strikes on targets in Iran, it’s challenging to come up with a Saturday List this week. BUT I’ll do my best. Prayers from here for our troops and the Israeli troops and all of those in harm’s way.

So here’s the list, and a reminder to enter your email and hit the subscribe button if you haven’t already.

Watching: The Jinx

This could go into the “Rediscovering” category, but I tend to reserve that for nostalgia, so let’s keep it under “Watching.” (Plus, “Rediscovering” this week is really good, and from the 1970s.)

If you have never seen it, you’re in for a treat. There’s never been a documentary quite like it; watching it unfold was absolutely amazing.

I’ve watched it a few times, and figured this weekend might be the time to dig in again.

Here’s the trailer. The full series is available on HBO.

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Reading: The Physics of Baseball by Robert K. Adair

Ever wonder why a curveball curves? Or how hard it is to hit a Bo Jackson-esque 480-foot home run?

The late Robert Adair wondered these things; he passed away in 2020 and actually wrote this book in 1990. He was the official Physicist to the National League, appointed to the post by a fellow Yale professor named A. Bartlett Giamatti.

The book, a first edition of which I have, is…amazing. (I never took physics, got mostly average grades in science classes, but somehow decided to pick this thing up at a bookstore when I was in college.)

It was a simpler time. No pitch clock in this book. Get off my lawn. (But you probably have to order the book from Amazon.)

Listening to: Shudder to Think (Or…One of the Most Unique 90s Bands)

The 90s were…different. Case in point: Shudder to Think. To call these guys unique in the alternative music world is an understatement.

Describing them was like nailing jello to a tree while attempting to plug your umbilical cord into a light socket.

Lovers of alternative music will talk about pockets of brilliance that existed just beyond the mainstream, and STT certainly was that. And there were a few stations in the US that ACTUALLY PLAYED THEM ON THE AIR. Bostonians had WFNX. Californians had KROQ.

Chicago? We had Q101, whose 1990s iteration actually played this song on the air.

Here’s “X-French Tee Shirt.”

N.B. MTV had 120 Minutes and they had the band on, so why not share the version of their biggest hit from that show?

Here’s another tune called “Hit Liquor.”

I could go on about this band, but enjoy the rabbit hole; they actually performed live last year at a few places, including Riot Fest in Chicago. Bummed that I missed that.

Rediscovering: Network (And Ned Beatty’s Speech)

You have to dance around various streaming platforms to find this movie, and you will probably have to pay for it. Recommendation: give up on that and buy a DVD player and just score the disc.

[Sidebar: If pressed on a Mount Rushmore of Greatest Movies Ever, Network, Citizen Kane, No Country for Old Men, and Gone with the Wind would be mine, but that’s if I’m under duress and trying to finalize a newsletter on a Saturday morning.]

While you search for the movie, here’s one of the best scenes in movie history.

They rarely make movies like these anymore.

Have a great and safe week.

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On Sunday, February 22, 2026, 60 Minutes aired a story on the plight of South African farmers. I was curious — I’ve actually followed this issue since the late 2010s; more on that below — and I consider myself on the right end of the bell curve.

So I watched.

If you haven’t seen it, here it is. Give it a watch and then let’s walk through it.

The Setup: It’s Happening, But It’s Not a Big Problem

I first learned of the 60 Minutes piece on X — where, let’s face it, the February 22, 2026 traffic has been a glorious combination of Gold Medal USA memes and bloody, toothless hockey heroes — and the X excerpt — “Xcerpt” I guess; boy I’m clever — was from the first few minutes of the piece.

Cooper wastes no time in framing the story as “not that big of a deal;” and the tweet accompanying the Xcerpt is akin to the first play from scrimmage being a 60-yard pass from the QB to the top receiver.

“In May, Pres. Trump said ‘over a thousand’ White farmers have been murdered in South Africa.” Trump claimed the crosses were “marking their burial sites.” The white crosses, the tweet tells us, “were gone.”

The story opens with some interesting foreshadowing, as they tell us that the interview subject, Daryl Brown, is a “seventh-generation rancher and farmer.” This is foreshadowing because we see that Brown’s family has tended the land since the Apartheid days. Stay tuned for that part of the story.

An Introduction to Being ‘Directionally Correct’

Trump’s mission with his use of the phrase “burial sites” was what the late Scott Adams would call “anchoring.” Get people to pay attention to an issue by exaggerating the claim; then, when the exaggerated claim is proved false, you have begun to get people to pay attention to the issue.

It’s from that where I get the concept of being “Directionally Correct.” If you claim “Thing One Is Everywhere,” and the other side says “Thing One Isn’t Everywhere, Here Are A Couple Examples, But It’s Not Everywhere,” you have been shown to be Directionally Correct. You’re not completely accurate, but you’ve now gotten me to pay attention to an issue that, while perhaps minor, is indeed happening.

The mission of 60 Minutes appears to be getting the issue to be framed as a combination of deep-seated scars from Apartheid — what we would call “systemic racism” in the USA — and also the fact that —Oddly? Coincidentally? Ironically? — “All Lives Matter!” But they acquiesce to the fact that Trump and others who have been talking about South African Farm Murders are at least Directionally Correct.

Cooper sets out to disprove point the first point: “They’re Not Burial Sites!” He succeeds in the first couple minutes, and can declare victory. The end zone is near, time to maybe establish the run game for a couple plays, or just throw over the middle for a nine-yard gain to the tight end.

‘I’m Just Asking Questions’

Journalists, YouTubers, X Power Users, Comedians: they all use the “I’m Just Asking Questions” excuse to ask, frankly, stupid questions.

It’s done for the camera, or for clicks, and some of it will elicit the typical eye rolls. But Anderson Cooper’s question to the South African farmer at roughly the 4-minute mark of the video was bonkers.

The setup (with apologies for any misspellings; I’ve taken the spelling of each name from the closed captions on YouTube) is that Daryl Brown’s friend Toli Nell was murdered on his farm. Toli’s wife, Renee, witnessed the murder and still lives on the farm. (Her son, Tiennes, tends the farm and we learn that he carries a firearm with him everywhere, he tells Cooper, but in the shower.)

Having debunked the “burial sites” argument, Cooper can move down the scale from “It’s not happening” to “It’s happening, but it’s not that big a deal.” He does so in the stupidest way, with the question at 4:00 of the video. “When you heard President Trump talk about a genocide, what did you think?”

I won’t blame Renee Nell, the widow, for her response here. (I’m not here to dogpile on grieving widows, that’s the domain of Candace Owens.) She told Cooper that she thought Trump was using the wrong word, then she said that the attackers were being “opportunistic.”

I don’t know the other questions that were asked here, so I will give Cooper the benefit of the doubt on that. HOWEVER, using the response of one grieving widow to paint a broad brush stroke over something that is happening, and has been reported on for going on ten years now, but is being swept under the rug as “not a big deal” is beyond the pale.

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Time to Pivot to Journalistic Malpractice

No matter what she said, actually, Cooper was ready to pivot to the most-plausible narrative from anyone to the Left on any issue such as this.

I’ll call it the “Short Skirt” argument, which is the one usually thrown out to try to defend an indefensible sexual assault charge with the “well, she shouldn’t have been wearing a ‘short skirt’” defense. E.g. “They were asking for it.” Ridiculous, blames the victim, should never be used to justify a crime. Ever.

Fade from Renee Nell to what eerily reminded me of Charlie Brooker’s Newswipe “How to Report the News” piece (link below).

We see average Afrikaners at a table, followed by an establishing shot of a farm, followed by people working on said farm.

But it’s the line that accompanies these shots that will stop you in your tracks. It’s the Short Skirt Argument:

Yes, it is directionally correct to say that if only 7 percent of the population owns 72 percent of its farms that is an example of inequality. (It’s also a fact that Price’s Law is a thing and the square root of the number of people in an organization will be responsible for 50 percent of its productivity.)

Cue the (Black) South African “leading agricultural economist,” a chap called Wandeli Salobo, to tell us that, yes, the Whites own 72 percent of the farms but, quoting Cooper here, “the overwhelming number of farmers and those working on farms are Black.”

Quoting Salobo now:

What follows is as formulaic as Brooker’s Newswipe piece — though not at all funny — in that Cooper and his CBS producers show us a Black farmer who was forced to sell his 9-acre farm because he was shot at (by whom, we aren’t told), then we’re shown footage of a presumed murder victim, behind police tape, and we’re told by Cooper that the murder rate in South Africa is “seven times that of the United States.” And that 25,000 murders took place in 2024 but an “estimated 37 of them were killed on farms.”

‘Crime, Boy I Don’t Know’

There’s a memorable scene from The West Wing that comes to mind. The TL;DR version of it is that the President is running for re-election, he has an off-the-record discussion with his opponent, his opponent says a really stupid line, and the President throws the line back in his face.

Cooper next interviews an individual named Johan Kotza (again, apologies for the spelling errors; the CC machine also calls them “Africoners” so that’s not correct either), who heads up “South Africa’s largest agricultural organization.” Kotza says it’s not about White genocide but “it’s about criminality in South Africa.”

Cooper’s inelegant response/question would have caused the fictitious President Bartlet to light up another cigarette:

CBS then tells us that published statistics only began giving the race of those murdered on farms beginning in 2025, and the first quarter of 2025 found 6 murders on farms, with only 1 of those six being White.

(Hold on, let me brew some more coffee. My brain hurts from the amounts of circular logic necessary to understand where Cooper et al are going with this. And we’re only halfway through. Subscribe button follows.)

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Why Is Any of it Happening?

Having been told by Kotza that poverty drives crime, we next see more establishing shots of South Africa’s inequality, followed by a few more stats and info-nuggets that fit the narrative:

• 44 percent of Blacks live in poverty

• only 1 percent of Whites live in poverty

• 2.7 million residents of South Africa are “Afrikaners,” who settled 400 years ago

• 1948 was when Apartheid was instituted, stripping Blacks of any rights whatsoever

• 1994 is when Blacks were at long last able to vote

• Nelson Mandela was elected, ushering in a new system of democratic rule.

Cooper next tells us of the progress that has been made, with a growing Black middle class, and a reduction in poverty among all Blacks in the country.

Next, the all-too-predictable one-two punch of (1) using the fact that American “white supremacists” talked about South Africa at rallies and (2) Fox News talked about it when Tucker Carlson worked there to paint the people pointing out the problem as racists.

It was 2018, during the first Trump Administration, when the “Farm Murders” argument — according to 60 Minutes — first took off. Cooper next asked a journalist named Max du Preez whether this was happening; the confusing nature of the questioning and the framing made it seem that du Preez was waving off everything, as the exchange was…well…here’s the exchange:

[D]u Preez having successfully dismissed the issue, it’s time to move on to the other ideas, right? That’s what 60 Minutes proceeded to do; the rest of the story continued in a similar formulaic way:

• Cooper talks about “Expropriation Without Compensation”

• It’s not happening yet, though, and if it does it’s going to wind its way through the courts

• Cooper interviews Kallie Kriel, a White farmer and head of the group Afriforum, asks him if there’s a “White genocide”

• White farmer says “we don’t use that term” but there are farm murders and “we’re seeing a call to genocide.”

Cooper plays video of the chant “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer” being played at an rally of the Economic Freedom Fighters party — the video that is widely used as evidence of, at the least, anti-White sentiment — and Cooper does NOT note that the party owns 39 of the 400 seats in South Africa’s National Assembly. (To be fair, Cooper does call Julius Malema a “race-baiting, opposition politician.”)

A back-and-forth ensues, where Kriel is asked whether expropriation without compensation has actually taken place; Kriel responds by saying no, but adding “because the old legislation did not allow it. The new legislation allows it.”

Time for more from du Preez, and a discussion of the fact that 59 Afrikans were allowed asylum into the USA by an executive order from President Trump; and a predictable quote from du Preez, when talking about the USA’s approach to the issue:

An Exhausting Watch

The story closes with a return to Daryl Brown, the White farmer and the guy whose crosses started this whole thing, right? I mean, had he never even planted all the crosses on the roadside, then Trump wouldn’t have called them “burial sites,” and would have never…

If You Give a Pig a Pancake, amirite?

The upshot appears to be that 60 Minutes is trying to tell us, in effect, some combination of the following:

1. Yes, violence against White farmers is a problem, but a small one;

2. South Africa is a violent country;

3. Inequality is everywhere in South Africa;

4. People are being murdered on farms but most of them are White;

5. Apartheid started all this;

6. Don’t tell us that “White Farmer Lives Matter” because that’s racist and wrong;

7. The government hasn’t taken farms yet, so maybe you Americans should focus on your own issues.

Two Videos to Wrap Up

One is an excerpt from an interview I conducted with Marc Moschetto of The Rational Workforce; Marc turned the tables on me and asked how to navigate through various social media storms. My point (it’s a 2 minute, 45 second excerpt) is that seeking out opposing arguments and different viewpoints is healthy. Here’s the video:

I share that here because I fear that 60 Minutes doesn’t really do that. I’m also wondering if the agenda under new CBS News chief Bari Weiss is to push the envelope just enough to make it look like you’re sharing both sides, but to mislead in the process.

Which brings me to the second video, Lauren Southern’s 2018 documentary Farmlands.

I first watched it when it came out. I was floored; I did more research and it appeared to be more than a tempest in a teapot. Granted, it’s a documentary; documentaries are almost always one-sided.

But if you get the chance and want to know more about the other side of the issue, here’s the video.

Wrapping Up

This is probably one of the longest articles I’ve ever written. And I realize that even touching some of these third rails will get me in trouble.

But I have to ask CBS News, 60 Minutes, the producers, and Anderson Cooper what…exactly…they’re trying to accomplish with this piece? Debunk rumors? Make Trump look bad? Paint White farmers as racist?

It’s tilted, stilted, and doesn’t do the complete story of modern South Africa any justice at all.

Well, not a throwdown, just a summary of some of the stuff I’m paying attention to. Don’t forget to subscribe using the button below. Here goes:

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Watching: The Big Short

Never has a movie about a Global Financial Crisis been so much fun.

It could be jealousy — I mean, some of these folks made the absolute right call at the absolute right time — or just a well-crafted story that makes this so compelling.

Based on the book by Michael Lewis, The Big Short takes you inside the implosion of Mortgage Backed Securities, but from the point of view of a few who made unconventional bets. (It’s part of a troika of movies about the GFC; Margin Call is one of my all-time favorite movies — and one I’ve written about on these pages before — and Too Big To Fail is also really good.)

Here’s a clip — which has been lightly edited, as it blurs a semi-legendary scene involving an exotic dancer; but not edited enough to take out the film’s also-semi-legendary blue language — that features a group of investors doing “discovery” in Florida and learning about “NINJA” loans.

You can watch the movie itself on Netflix and Paramount+, among other places.

Reading: 12 Rules for Life, by Jordan B. Peterson

If his appearances on Joe Rogan’s podcast him on the map, this book is the one that cemented his role as a global thinker.

For me, 12 Rules for Life had to be re-read almost immediately.

He’s also become synonymous with lobsters — Rule 1, “Stand Up Straight with Your Shoulders Back” — discusses what humans have in common with lobsters. It’s explained here:

Listening to: Three Solid Songs That Dropped in 2026

If you’re interested in a some new music, here are three songs that have caught my eye already in 2026:

First up, a band from Chicago (!) called Brigitte Calls Me Baby. Their song, “Slumber Party,” continues to channel The Smiths in a pretty 2026 kind of way. (Whatever that means, Dave.)

Next up, a song that hit me upside the head this week, from a band called Deadletter with a song called “Songless Bird.” I had to listen to it twice in a row, then again this morning, then again as I wrote this. It’s that good.

But…if I had to handicap “Dave’s Song of the Year 2026” predictions, Bleech 9:3 seems to be the (very early) frontrunner with its “Cannonball.”

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Rediscovering: Barry Bonds Without A Bat

In honor of Pitchers and Catchers reporting…And with apologies for those who don’t consider themselves to be baseball nerds.

The brilliant sports numbers guy named Jon Bois created this experiment several years ago, and…well, it has to be seen to be believed.

Theory: Barry Bonds had a phenomenal 2004 season — his on-base percentage set a record at .609 — but what if he spent his season without using a bat?

Watch for the beauty of…all of this. Even if you’re not a baseball fan, it’s a really cool video.

See you all next week!

For the 15th consecutive Saturday, here’s what I’m paying attention to; reminder that you can subscribe for free below. Here goes!

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Watching: Triggernometry Podcast Interview with Eric Weinstein

Okay, I will give you the fact that the sensational title of this episode is a little clickbaity. (Is that a word?)

But Eric has an “I will drop everything and watch” effect on me. (And I’ve mentioned before how much I love Konstantin and Francis, the Triggernometry hosts.) So I rearranged my afternoon when this dropped earlier this week; and it still has me…thinking. A lot.

It’s deep. A bunch of it is way over my head. But there’s a geopolitical element to it that I find really fascinating — especially given the wildcards running governments in places like Iran, North Korea, Russia, and the United States — as they discuss nuclear weapons and their potential use.

Reading: All Things Edward Tufte

At least twenty years ago (!?!) I attended what was, hands down, the best training seminar I have ever attended.

In addition to watching Edward Tufte present for several hours, attendees got three books to keep as part of the training. He has since written a couple more; but The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Envisioning Information, and Visual Explanations were the ones I got and still refer to pretty often.

Modern infographics owe Tufte a debt of gratitude. “Sparklines” wouldn’t exist without his introduction of the concept. (See below for the first known example of a sparkline from 1762, written by author Laurence Sterne in his The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman; Tufte coined the term in 2006, they’re now everywhere.)

His website, too, is a treasure trove of “ET Notebooks” in two categories: “Art” and “Science.” And I’ve yet to see someone who melds both together so brilliantly.

Listening To: A Couple More Choir! Choir! Choir! Tunes

Whoever came up with the idea of singalongs in a Toronto bar that took pop songs and backed them with an amateur choir that sounds anything but amateur deserves a medal.

I especially dig their collaborations — in last week’s edition I shared theirs with Rick Astley — and…why not? Here are a couple more.

David Byrne, backed by Choir! Choir! Choir!, singing David Bowie’s “Heroes.”

And here’s MY favorite Men At Work song, “Overkill,” where Colin Hay sings and plays guitar with the choir.

Rediscovering: Some Memorable Music Videos from the Early Days of MTV

I loved Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” so much that I had the cassette as a kid. The video was awesome, and scared the crap out of my eldest.

I still maintain that Wall of Voodoo is an underrated band that should have been known for more than just one song. But that one song had a video where someone’s face emerged from a pot of beans. (The song, “Mexican Radio,” is a nod to the “Border Blasters” from way back when.)

And finally, here’s the song that (IMHO) put Run DMC on the map. It featured Larry “Bud” Melman before he was outed as an actual guy named Calvert DeForrest.

Enjoy “King of Rock,” don’t forget to subscribe, and have a great week ahead!

(Before we dive in, here’s the Subscribe button…)

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Watching: Maybe Just About Every Olympic Documentary Ever?

Well, that’s a bit of a reach; but, on the Official Olympic Games website, you can stream a crazy number of documentaries about past Olympics.

So, as the 2026 Winter Olympic Games begin in Milan(o) and Cortina, Italy, why not throw it back to…say 1984? It was another world, another time — and held in a country that was a few years away from a horrible war — but Sarajevo held a pretty successful Olympics. This one is also available on YouTube.

Another documentary from ten years later, 1994, with one of (for me) the most memorable Winter Games. Lillehammer, Norway. Also on YouTube.

Note that you can sign up on the Olympics website for free to access…well, just about every Olympic film possible.

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Reading: Designing Gotham (A Story About A Font)

I guess Gotham is not just ANY font.

You’ve no doubt seen it — Barack Obama may be most responsible for launching its fame — but there’s a heck of a story behind it.

Story told, in part, here: on the Frere-Jones website. (Tobias Frere-Jones being its designer.)

Listening To: Rick Astley (Who Turned 60 (?!) Yesterday)

Yes, Father Time is unbeaten.

Rick Astley is 60?

Yes. And nobody has embraced his role in meme culture like Rick.

Here are a couple of my favorite Rick Astley moments. First, he sings with Choir! Choir! Choir! in Toronto. Pure joy.

I love The Smiths, so hearing Rick with a band (Blossoms) covering “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” (off of the unbelievable The Queen Is Dead) was a treat. Glastonbury, 2023.

The whole audio from Glastonbury, which, as it turns out, was a Smiths tribute show, follows here. I’m in awe.

Oh, he has a new song?!?! You can stream it here: Rick Astley’s website.

Rediscovering: That Time, During the Pandemic, When I Interviewed Jim Rogers

He remains a legend in investing, and when he responded to my email with a “let’s do it,” I couldn’t believe my luck. It was a fun conversation and, maybe, a little prescient.

Yeah, my home studio needed some improvement, and the lighting was bad on my end, etc. But, with everything going on in the precious metals markets, now’s a good time to share an excerpt that some Redditors caught wind of.

(Note to self: reach back out to Jim, see what he thinks about…everything.)

Thanks for reading. The streak continues…14 straight Saturdays! Share with the button below. We’ll talk again next week.

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New here? Welcome! We do this on Substack each Saturday…here’s the obligatory button, and then…Let’s Go!

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Watching: My Interview with Marc Moschetto of The Rational Workforce

Before I spoke with Marc this past Thursday, we had sent text messages back and forth about how far we wanted to go into the “Third Rail” issues. By the time we taped our discussion, we had pretty much figured that we’d hit all the issues. Neurodivergence in the workplace? Check. Is HR really messed up? Check. Did companies not say enough about what’s happening in Minneapolis, or did they say too much? Check.

Marc has a YouTube channel of his own and you should check it out.

As for our interview, it’s almost 67 minutes. Ha. 6-7. Anyway…

Reading: When Money Dies, by Adam Fergusson

This is one of those books that embodies whole thing about history not repeating but certainly rhyming; that idea was front-and-center as I was putting together this newsletter.

Adam Fergusson’s When Money Dies has this subtitle: “The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany.”

So while I was watching the precious metals markets go through crazy drops on Friday, I was reminded of the rush to tangible assets that’s detailed in this book. Citizens buying whatever they could hold onto because the German mark inflated, then hyperinflated. From the Amazon preview of the book:

In 1923, with its currency effectively worthless (the exchange rate in December of that year was one dollar to 4,200,000,000,000 marks), the German republic was all but reduced to a barter economy. Expensive cigars, artworks, and jewels were routinely exchanged for staples such as bread; a cinema ticket could be bought for a lump of coal; and a bottle of paraffin for a silk shirt. People watched helplessly as their life savings disappeared and their loved ones starved. Germany's finances descended into chaos, with severe social unrest in its wake.

It’s sobering as heck.

Listening to: “I’m Only Joking,” by Kongos

This is one of those songs that stopped me in its tracks the first time I heard it, and it has stayed on my YouTube playlist ever since.

Released in 2014, “I’m Only Joking” by Kongos is possibly a song that only a band like Kongos could have produced. It sounds a little like their native South Africa — the four brothers are from Pretoria, but they graduated high school in Scottsdale, Arizona — and it is also bombastic enough that you may not be surprised the band is made up four brothers.

I have always been struck by the drum work in this song; I could also never put my finger on just what was happening. (Focus on the bump-pa-bump-pa-bump…etc. in the middle of the song switching to bump-bump-bump-bump, which Billie Eilish ALSO noticed way back when.) In the third video below, I get my answer. Finally.

Before that, though, here’s the music video and a live performance of the song. Please enjoy. With my compliments.

(The Official Music Video.)

(Here’s a live performance for something called “JBTV,” which Chicagoans may remember…)

(Jesse from Kongos responds to Billie Eilish to answer a couple questions.)

Rediscovering: Which Show Had the Better Open, The Rockford Files or Taxi?

Decide for yourself. Here’s Rockford:

Here’s Taxi.

See you next week!

Howdy! Here’s a recap of what I’m digging into this week…

(Also, if you have yet to subscribe, friendly button follows.)

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Watching: Patriot

No, not The Patriot, the Mel Gibson movie. Also not The New England Patriots, who play football on Sunday with a chance to go to another Super Bowl (yes, it would be the franchise’s 12th appearance in The Big Game).

Patriot is a television series that is in a class by itself; that class is “How Can a Show About Spycraft and International Intrigue Be So Goofy?”

I’ll admit that I started watching it again — after abandoning it at some point during COVID — mostly because Iran was in the news. And I had to ask myself: “What was the show where the folk singer is also a spy and he sang a song about the nuclear aspirations of Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?”

Here’s that song:

Michael Dorman stars. He’s an actual folk singer in real life; and his folk-music skills are part of his character’s oeuvre. He’s brilliant; Terry O’Quinn is in it, and he’s always great.

Honestly, though, I think the star here is Kurtwood Smith. Remember him? He’s from That 70s Show and he seems to have a keen sense of picking good roles.

Available on Prime. No spoilers, I’m 2/3 of the way through. Perfect cold weather binge watch.

Reading: Outlive, (and the additional work of) Peter Attia, MD

You’ve possibly seen Peter Attia on 60 Minutes. Or maybe one of a number of podcast interviews, or his own show, which has more than 1 million YouTube subscribers (an intro to his work is below).

Outlive serves as a user’s manual to expanding your “healthspan,” or adding more “life to your years.” Beyond just a diet and exercise guide, or a treatise on finding the right medicines, it’s quite a bit more than that.

There’s actually a method to the madness, and part of that method relies on understanding your own genetic predisposition. It’s complex, but simple; for me, the book is less of the type that you read from cover-to-cover and more of a “refer to this chapter, then go back to another chapter” type of book.

Here’s a link to the book on Amazon.

Listening To: Interpol

Had one of those “Mt. Rushmore” discussions on X recently: “Who Would Be on Your Favorite Music Mt. Rushmore?” Note this isn’t BEST bands ever, but your FAVORITE bands or artists.

I had three easy answers: Pearl Jam, The Smiths, Queens of the Stone Age. The fourth isn’t as easy for me; but, if pressed, I’d say Interpol.

I’ve seen Pearl Jam live quite a few times; saw Morrissey once (performing a couple tunes from The Smiths, so that kinda counts); and have seen QOTSA more than a handful of times. But Interpol? I have yet to see them in person. That could change if I play my cards right, as they’ll be performing with Bloc Party in a co-headlining tour that is — literally and figuratively — all over the map.

In the spirit of gearing fans of either band (and myself) up for potential 2026 live shows, here are a few Interpol performances worth checking out.

One of my favorite things to do is to watch David Letterman say that a musical guest is making its “network television debut.” SO…Here’s Interpol’s network television debut. The song is “PDA.” 2002!

Here’s “Evil” — which was on my IPOD — on The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno in 2005:

From 2007, also on Letterman, here’s “The Heinrich Maneuver.” The song was the highest-charting of any of the band’s work, hitting #11 on the US Alternative chart.

One final Interpol tune, after the Share button, is “All the Rage Back Home.” (2014)

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Rediscovering: The Brilliance of Norm Macdonald

We lost Norm Macdonald in September 2021; he had battled cancer rather privately, so his death came as a complete shock to quite a few fans.

You can spend a whole lotta time going down a Norm rabbit hole — hey, as you remember a Canadian, might as well do it when there’s a major cold-weather event, eh? — but I’ll give you just two of my favorites, with a note that the second one is NSFW. But so very Norm.

“The Moth Joke:”

“Dirty Johnny:”

Enjoy your week. Stay warm.

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Watching: Jordan Peterson Interviews Scott Adams

We lost Scott Adams this week.

I looked back at my own editorial calendar for this newsletter, and I realized that the very first TSL had a link to this video. Fitting to share today, as it was a treat to hear two of my favorite thinkers on one show.

Fare the well, Scott.

Reading: Art & Money, by Tom Badley

If, at first glance, you read the author’s name and thought “Why did the Mayor of Los Angeles write a book on currency?” you aren’t the only one who made that mistake.

Coincidentally, Mr. Badley references Mr. Bradley in the book.

It’s a coffee table book about one of my interests: paper currency.

I actually started my own collection with the Zimbabwe $100 Trillion Bill, which served as the poster child for hyperinflation — and which I wrote about in that very first issue of TSL — and Tom’s book is about the art of currencies throughout the world, and throughout time. And there’s a nod to how digital currency like Bitcoin and Ethereum have shaped both art and currency.

He’s an artist and designer, has created scores of art projects connected to the field, and it’s a really cool book.

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Listening To: Breakfast in America, by Supertramp

Really, Dave?

Yeah, Supertramp is the ultimate throwback to the late 70s for me. Their Breakfast in America remains a classic; released in March of 1979, the album also led to an amazing live performance in Paris in November of that year. Here are four tunes from that performance, starting with “Goodbye, Stranger;” all four of these songs made the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA. (This one hit #15.)

Here’s “The Logical Song,” the band’s highest-charting US hit; it reached #6.

“Breakfast in America” (which was known colloquially as “The Girlfriend Song”). (Oddly, only reached as high as #62.)

And, “Take the Long Way Home,” the fourth single off the album that charted in the USA, hitting #10.

Rediscovering: A Legendary Standup Set from Richard Jeni on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

It must be seen to be believed. It was a debut set. August 5, 1988. Amazing performance.

Enjoy your week(end) and we’ll see you around.

Here’s what I’m up to (after a friendly reminder to click that subscribe button right here, it’s free!)

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Watching: Sky News Press Preview

Ages ago, there was a chap called Aaron Brown (RIP; Aaron passed away at the tail end of 2024) who spent quite a bit of time on CNN. Before his CNN stint, he hosted a show called World News Now, which served as ABC’s answer to NBC News Overnight, and now I’m really dating myself.

World News Now was great for THIS particular news junkie and occasional insomniac. Off the cuff, somewhat unscripted, and they MAY have been the inventor of the idea of showing the front pages of newspapers the night before they hit the newsstand.

Brown brought the idea with him to CNN — where, coincidentally, his first on-air broadcast was on September 11, 2001 — and would show the papers on his NewsNight program.

Enter the modern take from the UK’s Sky News network.

Friends have heard me rant about how much I love Sky News and/or how much I am addicted to Sky News. (It’s available on most “smart TVs,” mine is a Samsung.)

For me, as an antidote to my local news, and to ramp up for the network news here, I watch Press Preview most evenings at 4:30 my time.

It’s also great evidence of a thriving newspaper industry — or at least one that appears to be thriving — and Sky News takes things a little further than Aaron would by inviting a couple journalist pundits to walk them through their thoughts on who is covering what.

Here’s Thursday’s edition; most days the network posts the video on YouTube.

Reading: ‘31 Days of Content: Here’s What I Learned’ (by…me)

I decided to post something, either here or on my Area 224 site, every single day in December. Some of the content was new, some of it was repurposed from earlier in the year, but all of it was meant to get me in the habit of writing consistently.

I got a ton out of the experience, and shared key things I learned at this post: 31 Days of Content: Here’s What I Learned.

Oh, and one of my favorite posts from the month is one that didn’t get a ton of views; so I’ll share it here, along with the video that leads it off:

It’s Sunday, So Here’s Advice from an Orthodox Priest…

Listening To: Urge Overkill

The film Pulp Fiction introduced most of the civilized world to the band Urge Overkill, thanks to the band’s cover of a Neil Diamond song, “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon.” But, if you were anywhere near Chicago — as I was, beginning in 1993, living in Lincoln Park — Urge Overkill was already a staple.

Yes, “Girl…” was UO’s highest-charting song in the US, peaking at 59 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s a great tune and here’s the YouTube link.

The Pulp Fiction soundtrack coincided with the band’s album Saturation in 1994; Alternative and alt-rock stations in Chicago had “Sister Havana” on semi-heavy rotation.

My personal favorite UO disc is Exit the Dragon, from which I’ll share a couple tunes. First, a song that received airplay but failed to chart — thanks, WXRT, which was known for a completely random mix of rock, alternative rock, and Thin Lizzy — called “Monopoly” has lived rent-free in my head for ages.

A few years back, in a ranking of the Greatest Songs Ever, I put “The Break” by UO (also off of Exit the Dragon) in a tie for tenth on my all-time list. Here’s what I said about the song, and band, then:

“I maintain this is the perfect 90s rock song. Impeccably crafted, with an unheard of “verse-chorus-chorus-verse-chorus” structure, this song even tells the story of the band itself: UO could not get a break in the 90s. Despite getting tons of street cred from another song, this Chicago band was never as ubiquitous in the 90s on Chicago radio as Smashing Pumpkins.

The video, too, is pure UO-level hubris. Eddie “The King” Roeser and Nash Kato were over-the-top in love with the whole scene, man. “Everything ends in a heartache.” They, too, couldn’t get a break; like the other occupant of my number ten slot (Constantines, “Working Full-Time”), Urge Overkill could have sold out stadiums if they had played their cards right and maybe ended up in a few more Tarantino movies.”

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Rediscovering: The Brilliance of Clarke & Dawe

For decades, John Clarke and Bryan Dawe were staples on Australian television. Brilliant satirists — Clarke, the balding one, died in 2017; Dawe is the other chap and is still knocking around in Australia — their riffs on current events were legendary.

For instance, here’s “The Front Fell Off,” where Clarke plays the role of an Australian Senator named “Bob Collins.” It aired in 1991 and has to do with an oil tanker whose…well…you guessed it…front fell off.

Then there’s this, on the European Debt Crisis, where there appears to be quite a bit of confusion about who owes what to whom.

Banking, explained…

And, my all-time favorite, this discussion of “quantitative easing.”

Have a great week, everyone! And don’t forget to subscribe!

Happy New Year! If you haven’t given up on your resolutions yet, well, neither have I. (I don’t make them, actually; something I write more about over here: Systems Over Goals; And New Year’s Resolutions.)

And a gentle reminder: Own The Narrative is the name of this here Substack, and we give you The Saturday List each Saturday; last year we only missed a couple and this year our goal is 52 Saturdays. Let’s see how we do…But as always we’d appreciate your signing up.

Here then, a weekly recap of What I’m Watching, Reading, Listening to, and Rediscovering:

Watching: Redesigning Scissors

Since I spend a good chunk of my online time on YouTube — IT’S RESEARCH!!! — I’ll sometimes bump into a gem that the algorithm provides.

Evidence: this nearly 12-minute ad for scissors. It’s not like an ad, it’s not like an infomercial, and it has certainly gotten me to check out Craighill, a Brooklyn design shop that appears to make a bunch of really cool stuff. BRB, buying scissors.

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Reading: Data Story, by Nancy Duarte

The back cover tells us that author Nancy Duarte, CEO of Duarte, Inc., has “created some of the most important presentations in the world since 1988.” (Funny: that’s only a year after PowerPoint was launched.)

Data Story was released in 2019 and I keep coming back to it; but it’s more than just a guide to creating stunning presentations, it’s a guide to thinking through business problems.

Especially now, when it’s really easy to just ask an AI tool to “Create a presentation that engages my audience in [INSERT TOPIC HERE],” Duarte’s explanation of how to navigate the nuance behind telling compelling stories with the right data.

Listening to: ‘Kashmir’ (Which Might Be Led Zeppelin’s Best Song)

Led Zeppelin remains iconic, “Stairway to Heaven” is, perhaps, one of the most-played songs in rock history.

So, here’s s a Controversial Hot Take: “Kashmir” is a better song than “Stairway…”

Off the album Physical Graffiti, Here’s the “digitally remastered” version of “Kashmir” from the band, available on YouTube.

Also, here’s a live performance by the remaining members of the band, from a concert film called “Celebration Day,” which was recorded in 2007 and not released until 2012.

Rediscovering: Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants

If you’ve seen Oz the Mentalist on TV, you are probably left with quite a bit of… “How Did He DO THAT?”

Well, the trail was blazed by previous folks who could play mind tricks and pull off a little sleight of hand in the process. To be honest, Ricky Jay may have been the best I’ve seen at it in my lifetime. (No offense, Oz.)

Cards, 52 in a deck, working in concert with Mr. Jay — real name “Richard Jay Potash,” he died in 2018 at the age of 72 — all mesmerized an audience, in a show that was aired on HBO in…1996. Listening to him wax poetic is enough to entertain, but watching him do card tricks for an hour is absolutely insane fun.

Thanks for reading!

You can also follow my work on my Area 224 website, where I shared…A TON of content in December.

Watching: An Amazing Hand Transplant Story

Sky News in the UK has a documentary about a woman named Kim Smith who became a quadruple amputee after a bout with sepsis.

Nearly eight years later, she was given a gift, undergoing surgery to give her a new hand, transplanted from a stranger that had just passed away. As you can imagine, it was not an easy thing to do.

It’s triumphant, heartbreaking, and one of the neatest stories you’ll see this year.

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Reading: An Old Approach to New Year’s Resolutions

Great article in Fast Company from Thomas Oppong about instituting a Japanese concept called “kaizen” to get…a little bit better each day.

Here’s how the article starts:

In line with a lot of what you read in books like Atomic Habits, by James Clear, which we’ve talked about here before, Oppong’s discussion of “one step at a time” is a great new way of looking at what challenges might be in front of you in the new year, and tackling them in digestible bites.

Listening to: Aloha (The Band)

My pal Robert calls himself “Sisyphus Goals” on X. He’s been a good friend and confidant over the years; he also has incredible musical tastes.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a tweet from him recommending a song from a band I had never heard of: Aloha. Here’s the song: “All the Wars.”

Turns out this was (1) my second-most-listened-to song of 2025 and (2) my introduction to a rabbit hole of Aloha. One of the members is a chap called Cale Parks, and his percussion is especially amazing.

Here’s another version of “All the Wars,” recorded in a Rock Island, IL studio in 2007. (Obscure much, Dave?)

Other songs from the band that I dig: “Let Your Head Hang Low” …

…and “We Get Down.”

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Rediscovering: Deadwood

I was a big fan when it first launched; but Deadwood, which premiered to much acclaim in 2004, is so much better 20 years later.

David Milch showed so much brilliance creating this show; and the casting underscores his magic touch. Ian McShane’s portrayal of Al Swearengen remains iconic — how McShane only won a Golden Globe for the role is beyond me — and Timothy Olyphant is great as the entrepreneurial Seth Bullock.

Keith Carradine? Powers Boothe? RICKY JAY? They’re all in the show. Heck, even Kristen Bell and Nick Offerman have “before they were stars” moments.

The trailer is below and offers a hint of the blue language you’ll hear throughout.

Thanks for following along with these Saturday Lists in 2025. Our goal in 2026? 52 out of 52. Wish us luck.

Like the new logo? You can thank AI! Anyway, we do this every week, and would love it if you’d subscribe.

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Watching: A Stellar, Wide-Ranging Interview with Eric Weinstein on Triggernometry

I’m a big fan of Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin, the hosts of the popular Triggernometry podcast.

I’m also a big fan of Eric Weinstein, one of the smartest guys…ever.

I watched this when it first came out, and rewatched it again last week. And will probably watch it again.

It’s more than just about Trump — as the title says, “Trump Will Renegotiate the World” — and there’s quite a bit about Democratic politics, too.

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Reading: 50 Ways to More Calm, Less Stress, by Megy Karydes

I first met Megy before the pandemic, when a group of Chicago-area writers would get together and keep each other honest over lunch. “What are you working on?” “What prospects are you reaching out to?” “Who is your ideal client?”

Megy was working on a project that was pretty cool AND came to life in the form of a book called 50 Ways to More Calm, Less Stress. Of course I grabbed a copy and, when I finally sat down with Megy this past Spring, I asked her to sign it, which she did.

Not only is it a well-written and well-designed book, it’s a fun read that isn’t overwhelming. The subtitle: “Scientifically Proven Ways to Relieve Anxiety & Boost Your Mental Health Using Your Five Senses.” Chapters include things like “Mood and Food,” “Painting for Perspective,” and “When It’s Time to Try Tinkering.”

Listening to: The Top 20 Songs of 2025 (According to Dave)

Yes, I talk a lot about music. I listen to a lot of new music.

And I ranked said new music on my Area 224 site.

Here’s the list in cool graphic form.

And here are the YouTube links to the Top Three Songs (link to the whole post here):

1. Preoccupations, “Ill At Ease”

2. Bar Italia, “Rooster”

3. CMAT, “The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station”

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Rediscovering: Jordan Peterson Shares a Message with Young Men

It’s eight years old, but worth a watch. “Grow the hell up, and do something useful.”

Have a wonderful Christmas!