The Saturday List — February 14, 2026

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

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

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!