The Saturday List - December 27, 2025

What I'm Watching, Reading, Listening to, and Rediscovering

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.

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.”

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.