Algorithm-Free Reco List, No. 33

My new favorite show, my new favorite airport

Here is my latest collection of things I can’t stop thinking about!

If you have things you can’t stop thinking about, please tell me about them (or reach out about doing a guest edition)!

Portland International Airport

The best airport experience I’ve ever had! Was stuck there for a few hours before a flight a few weeks ago and was going on and on to my partner how “airports should have movie theaters.” So you can only imagine how I completely lost my mind to discover only minutes later that PDX HAS A MOVIE THEATER! Plus: Great bathrooms! Reasonably priced food! No super loud music! Limited crowds! After spending so much time at LAX (a place that has zero of those things, plus a bunch of other terrible things), I was awash in gratitude.

Current Rothko

This is a website that matches a Rothko painting to the current weather outside. If you are a fellow weather-neurotic, this will not help answer important questions like “which layer should I bring,” but I invite you to join me in microdosing the unknown.

“Thunderstruck” by Elizabeth McCracken

My available-to-read-online story pick of the month! It’s long, but worth it. Runner-up was “Things Boys Do” by ‘Pemi Aguda (from the incredible Ghostroots), which I re-read for a workshop.

Trust Me: The False Prophet (Netflix)

I know, I know. This sounds like just another cult/cult-adjacent documentary about FLDS members. But let me assure you it’s much more. I first heard about this via Leigh Stein in this endorsement, and she was correct—there is indeed a lot to learn about plot structure if you’re looking for that. If you’re not, you will still find a wild tale with the kind of footage and “people admitting insane shit on camera” one can usually only come across in a Nathan Fielder joint.

Making your lock screen something like this

Via Holly Brickley in Chelsea Bieker’s newsletter.

Widow’s Bay (Apple TV)

It’s only June but I’m prepared to call it. This is my show of the year. The premise is basically “a mayor attempts to increase tourism to his haunted New England island,” but the overall result is unlike anything I’ve ever watched on television. It’s bizarre, hilarious, and beautifully shot, with an incredible cast and endless visual gags. The best comp I can make is Somebody Somewhere meets Atlanta meets an A24 horror film (presumably—I’m a baby, and I do have to watch the scarier scenes through my fingers). Also, the Ti West-directed episode (E6, “Our History”) is what I was expecting Yesteryear to be.

“Do you hate Jia Tolentino, or do you hate yourself?”

Really liked this by Hilde von Bingen about self-absolving admissions of guilt, beliefs vs. action, and so many other things. Endless bits to quote (you should read the whole thing), but this was my personal fave:

Corporations do more harm than little old me. But corporations are also composed of people, many of them progressive. This fact is minimized by our acceptance of the idea that we are reflections of what we believe, rather than of what we do. Thus, leftists can go manage funds that worsen the housing crisis, build algorithms for Meta, sponcon with Airbnb (a company I personally watched normalize violent land expropriation), or program rockets at Lockheed Martin—and as long as they watch some political TikToks before bed, the Universe will neutralize their misdeeds.

Criticism in surprising places

Like this absolute takedown in a old dictionary I found on a free table in my neighborhood.

If you say so!

Not really a true reco, but…

In case you missed it, I have a new short story out. It’s called “Wild Boys” and you can read it here!

This newsletter brought to you by:

• The Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, specifically my cohort with Lesley Nneka Arimah. I’m still not recovered from the sleep deprivation, but I feel comfortable saying my life (writing and otherwise) has been changed.

• Spotting D-list celebrities on my flights both to AND from Cleveland Hopkins.

• Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Oatmeal Coconut Cookies, which I expected to taste like glue, and was thrilled to be proven incorrect.