I’ve been known to consume a lot of content. Part of this is because I think you need to in order to be a good writer, but part of it is also because I’m a very curious person. That said, there are some things that I will pause my day to read or videos that I will plan my day around consuming on YouTube that I’d love to share with you. So, here it is.

Newsletters

My Sweet Dumb Brain: Curator Katie Hawkins-Gear speaks to my soul more often than not in her weekly newsletter, which is free, and in a bonus issue per week with her Patreon subscribers. This week’s issue was about “The fragility of it all.” She lost her husband suddenly three years ago and discusses the thought processes from this: “The fragility of life is hard to face. We tend to look away from it, because the alternative is far too difficult. If we consider the fact that we will die—and can die at any moment—it makes us question the point of it all.” I mean, come on.

Cruel Summer Book Club: I know, right off the bat it sounds like something up our alley, right? Jillian Anthony’s most recent edition is about rituals, those we love, those we hate, those that just happen, and how some very famous people have some very flawed rituals. I bought the book Daily Rituals: Women at Work, without thinking twice about my book budget, immediately upon finishing this week’s newsletter. It lives on my Kindle now and I can’t wait to jump in.

YouTube

ASMRxbabee: Have you heard of ASMR? If not, this video is the one you want to start with. In a nut shell, you know that tingly feeling you get when someone is playing with your hair? There are auditory triggers for this feeling, which eases anxiety and induces calm. Julia, the channel’s star, is a friend and also one of my favorite ASMR artists on YouTube. My Sundays and Wednesdays would be a much different place without her videos.

Julia’s stylings recently introduced me to two twin women who also do ASMR and I’ve been diving into their videos this week: Gracev and Mads ASMR.

Podcasts

Girls Gotta Eat: A friend of mine turned me on to this podcast and it’s now a ritual that I listen to it weekly. The hosts, Rayna and Ashley are in the same stage of life that I am and I find their banter refreshing and hilarious. The perfect Monday ease into your week, in my opinion. Listening to their podcast has also introduced me to some great New York comedians, such as Andrew Schulz. After hearing him on their podcast, I found he was playing a show in Philadelphia and took my brother for his Christmas present.

This American Life: There’s something about the rhythmic cadence of Ira Glass’s voice that just put me in a calm state of mind, totally open to whatever he would like to make the case for in that episode! I’m not exactly sure what day of the week new episodes are released for this, because I typically just ask my Echo to play it as I’m putzing around my home and she obliges. I love hearing how other people live, I love the multiple parts that all come together to bring about a cohesive argument. It’s all gold.

Blog

Learning at 30: I’d be remiss if I didn’t also include my besties newly launched blog. She features me in a post here. Tiffany and I go all the way back to freshman year at Penn State and suffice it to say that I would read anything she writes. She’s passionate and funny and thinks a bit differently than I do, which is what I look for in most of the content I consumer: an alternative viewpoint.

What content other than books do you consume?

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