What a week, eh?
That’s likely an understatement; many were celebrating Democratic wins in a variety of races, as the party took over the House of Representatives and the Senate. And some people were a little less thrilled.
Such is the nature of politics, the political system, and the ever-swinging pendulum. Check back in a couple years.
In any event, aside from the politicking and wound-licking, there’s a newsletter to get to; Here’s What I’m Watching, Reading, Listening to, and Rediscovering This Week. Would love to have you join us as a free subscriber…
Watching: Too Big To Fail (The Third Piece of the ‘GFC Troika’)
After a crazy week in the stock market, there might be at least one person asking: “Hey, what were those three movies about the Global Financial Crisis that made up the ‘GFC Troika’?” (You might also be asking, “Hey, did you make up the term ‘GFC Troika,’ Dave?”)
But yes, there are three films you must see to fully understand the Global Financial Crisis: Margin Call — which we wrote about in our August 2, 2025 edition of The Saturday List — and The Big Short — February 21, 2026 — and this week’s pick: Too Big To Fail.
Based on the book of the same name by Andrew Ross Sorkin, the movie is well worth your time, mostly for its focus on Lehman Brothers, the collapse of which is considered the linchpin of the entire GFC.
I especially dug this scene, since it’s closest to my previous line of work: preparing an executive to tell a complex story to the press.
The movie was released by HBO and is available on HBO’s streaming service; as of this writing, that service is called HBO Max.
Reading: How To Sell Anything
This won’t take you very long. It’s made the rounds on the Internet for a few years now and it’s really good.
The publication is Hacker News and the question was “How do you brand yourself as a freelancer?”
Listening to: Jungle
Yes, that’s the name of the band. Jungle was formed in 2013 and I can’t pin the sound down. Funk? Soul? Pop? Groovy nonetheless. Here’s a sampling.
“Busy Earnin’” was the band’s first breakout; the band’s founders, Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland, wanted to be known for well-choreographed and well-produced one-shot music videos. Here, they certainly succeeded.
Here’s evidence that this band may not be as niche as one would think: 76 Million Views (?!) for this video, “Back on 74.” Released in 2023.
Why not just settle in for their NPR Tiny Desk concert? It’s fresh, like released this past Monday!
Music guaranteed to put you in a good mood.
Rediscovering: NBC News Coverage of the 1980 Presidential Election
Sure, you probably won’t want to invest 6 hours in watching this coverage from NBC News in 1980.
In a much different time, some of us had a black-and-white TV — our main set was color, sure, but the extra B/W set floating around sometimes came in handy — so the explanation from John Chancellor is helpful…but what’s striking in these days of Red Vs. Blue is the fact that Ronald Reagan’s Electoral College victory is shown…with the states he won colored in blue.
Also it’s big fun to see and hear the throwback names: not just Jessica Savitch and Tom Brokaw and Garrick Utley, but the first segment has names like Dan Quayle, who won his first Senate race that year.
NBC told us from the jump: Reagan was gonna win. And win he did.
Finally: That’s Bad Advice
Yes, yours truly is part of another YouTube show, this one with my friend Jennifer Brown, who is known online as Redhead Ranting.
We just recorded the third episode in this series we’re calling That’s Bad Advice, and here’s a link to the first couple episodes:
Episode 1:
And Episode 2:
Make it a phenomenal week, will ya? Be good to each other, and yourselves.
Dave