Cool Stuff and Other Recommendations

In the first iteration of my newsletter, I made a bunch of random recommendations of cool stuff I came across for the week. I've went ahead and compiled them all in this one place.

Lessons

New Tactic - Listen to Youtube/Podcasts 2X with AirPods - I listen to a lot of Youtube lectures and interviews. Because I’m greedy and want to review more videos with limited time, I tried watching them at 2X speed, but the audio sounded too garbled so I missed important details. Recently, I tried it with AirPods and it was like BOOM! I caught everything! It’s my new go-to tactic if I’m working out or doing a repetitive, mindless task.

Recipes of the Week

Mayak Eggs. These jammy, delicious eggs were so freakin’ good. A Korean banchan version of ramen eggs. I had to restrict myself to only one a day. Okay two. Easy and simple to make too.

Ginger-Dill Salmon. This is by far one of my favorite recipes I've come across this year. It ticks all the boxes to be a keeper. It's fast, easy, healthy, and tasty. The hardest part is finding dill that's in season.

Browned Butter Miso Chocolate Chip Cookies | Probably one of the best chocolate chip cookies I've had, but I am partial to miso flavors. Highly addictive. Each bite hits hard with the browned butter finished with a hint of miso. Will join the hall of fame recipes for the year.

Reading

The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga
If you've ever felt trapped by the circumstances of your life, these tenets of Adlerian psychology provide practical advice on how to move forward.

Other

How Politics Became Pro Wrestling | Part 1 and When Fake Growth Leads to Real Violence | Part 2 | "Kayfabe" is the system of stratified lies that undergirds professional wrestling. Originally written as an essay in the anthology, This Will Make You Smarter, the two video clips convey Eric Weinstein's ideas on how politics and professional wrestling have grown troublingly similar. There's a lot to appreciate about these two videos, including the technical elements of how they were constructed.

It was particularly poignant for me because my dad, who grew up as a wrestler in Iran, believed professional wrestling to be real. So I grew up watching all that stuff. In fact, I held onto my Hulk Hogan lunchbox till my mid-30s #noshame.

How to Cure Aging | This Kurzgesagt ("In a Nutshell") animation gets into bunch of neat science stuff about growing older. Specifically, instead of increasing lifespan (how long we live) where most of our later years are spent sick and in pain, how can we increase our health span (the period of time when we’re healthy relative to having longterm sickness)?

The clinical trials surrounding the treatment of senescent cells really got my attention. Senescent cells are normal cells that basically turn into zombie cells that cause damage to the cells around them. This transformation is the byproduct of aging because with each iteration of cell reproduction, a little more of a cell's DNA unravels. What's shocking is that these senescent cells never leave our body and are the culprits for diseases such as diabetes and kidney disease.

Does cellular senescence hold secrets for healthier aging? Since the video was made around 5 years ago, I was curious how the research has progressed. If you’re interested this article cites some encouraging research. Far from being applicable as a treatment, but encouraging nonetheless.

Music: Cappuccino Lovely: No. 2. Milk by Chin Cheng Lin | I heard this song from Tim Ferris’s newsletter. Normally, I’m not a huge fan of his eclectic musical tastes, but this one is my jam. I’ve recently found the value in listening more to instrumental songs since I can’t focus on writing when there're lyrics to a song.  

What I'm Listening to – The Daily Stoic Podcast. [episode interviewing Olympian and mountain bike champion, Kate Courtney] Interesting interview all around, but the bit about the distinction between optimization and maximization was particularly insightful.

What I'm Watching - Yowamushi Pedal. I love that there's an anime about almost everything. This one is about a road racing cycling team. I may or may not have played episodes when I hopped on the Pelaton to get me amped up to ride harder. You can learn a lot about Japanese value systems from watching anime. My favorite theme from this one is that we don't make breakthroughs unless we're pushed to our very limits first.

Short Film of the Week | Hair Love - Oscar-winning short animated film. I love films without dialogue because they’re so darn hard to make. For me, the most resonating stories are the ones that hone in on highlighting and celebrating the smaller moments in life. This film gave me all the feels.