Hallelujah Anyway, Babylonian Complaints, and Tennessee Mountains
Neil Goldberg's videos of disappearing NYC, Ea-nasir's inferior ore, and Jad Abumrad's epiphany
What a tragic week. My heart goes out to the families of the people killed in the anti-Asian hate crime in Atlanta. And to everyone living in this country who has to fear for themselves or for people they love. White terrorist violence is the biggest threat the United States is facing and it has been since the beginning. We have to acknowledge that and dismantle the forces that allow violence like this to be commonplace.
But don’t listen to me. There are so many more eloquent and insightful voices to highlight this week, like Karen Chee talking about why calling this a hate crime matters or Ocean Vuong on how our language pushes men to see violence as an answer.
Action is important. Solidarity is important. I also think that learning about history, reading fiction, and watching films/TV can be useful. Personally, I love everything Min Jin Lee has written (I finished Free Food for Millionaires last weekend and was blown away). I also loved Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu and Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. Sarah Kay’s poetry always sticks with me. I think Minari is destined to win many awards and it deserves them all. But there’s so much else out there!
I don’t know. It feels utterly inadequate to suggest you read a beautiful book or watch a thoughtful movie as a response to murder. So don’t just do that. But I do believe that expanding and deepening cultural representation and growing our empathy through art matters.
Podcasts and Livestreams
How to Be a Better Human - This week on the podcast, sex educator Emily Nagoski talks about how to have a more authentic and joyful connection to your own sexuality. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
TONIGHT! EXTRARIDDICULAR SCIENCE - Saturday, March 20th at 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific. Dillon Stevenson and I are the comedian contestants who will go head-to-head with the audience on this gameshow about brain science. How has your brain changed during the pandemic? Why does your brain fall for optical illusions? Who first studied this vital organ? I have no idea! But I’m told I will find out. To register for free tickets, click here
You’ll Find This Humerus: Brooklyn Free Clinic fundraiser - Thursday, April 1st at 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific. A livestream comedy show with me, Sarah Cooper, Aparna Nancherla, Mary Beth Barone, Joyelle Johnson, and more. A great lineup and a great cause. More details here
This week’s list
GREAT:
Neil Goldberg is one of my favorite artists. His work has been exhibited at serious places like MoMA and he teaches at Yale, but Neil still has the finely tuned humor of a sketch comedian. I love that his work often makes me laugh and then turns on a dime to make me sad about all the beautiful small moments that are gone forever. Neil’s videos are an effort to preserve those tiny details that other people might never even notice in the first place: “The riveted expressions of lunchgoers scanning a salad bar [or] the split-second disorientation of commuters emerging from the subway onto the street.” In Neil’s newest piece, he revisits a video from the early 1990s, “of shopkeepers near [his] East Village apartment throwing open their gates in the morning, to reflect on the perpetual change and resilience that mark life in New York City.” Hallelujah Anyway, Anyway
FUNNY:
Have you heard the jokes about Ea-nasir? They’re old. They’re VERY old. He lived almost 4000 years ago. I recently learned about the Complaint Tablet to Ea-nasir, an ancient Babylonian clay tablet that is sometimes known as the first ever customer complaint. It was inscribed in 1750 BC “by customer Nassi to merchant Ea-nasir, complaining about Ea-nasir selling him sub-par copper, a practice Ea-nasir was known for.” That on its own is enough to make me laugh, but the fact that this clay tablet has become the subject of a whole world of niche memes has kept me laughing as I explore more and more of them. This Simpsons collection is particularly great.
Ea-nasir memes popped back up this week because of an incredible recent news story: Trader Buys $36 Million of Copper and Gets Painted Rocks Instead
INTERESTING:
I loved Jad Abumrad’s deep dive series, Dolly Parton’s America. But I hadn’t ever seen this talk he gave about how and why he decided to make the show. It’s definitely worth watching. He’s one of the most incredible storytellers and producers working and this is a very cool look behind the scenes. “How do you end a story? Host of ‘Radiolab’ Jad Abumrad tells how his search for an answer led him home to the mountains of Tennessee, where he met an unexpected teacher: Dolly Parton.” How Dolly Parton led me to an epiphany
BONUS FOR PAYING SUBSCRIBERS:
Thank you, as always, to so much to all paying subscribers for making this newsletter possible. This week’s subscriber bonus is that I will send you a postcard. Actual, real, tangible mail! Very exciting! All you have to do is reply with your mailing address if you want one. If you’re not currently a paying subscriber but you want a postcard and you feel like this is the cheapest way to get one, you can always upgrade your membership and join the club. Also you clearly don’t know how much postcards cost!
That's it for this week. Thanks for reading! Please help spread the word and share Bright Spots with someone you know would like it.
Stay safe and take care of each other,
Chris Duffy
This has been Bright Spots, a newsletter. Here is a literal bright spot, when seen from space: Hong Kong