I was expecting more from March. It seems to have flown past me with speed light, unlike other months. However I am still content with everything I have read and watched.
March was a bit of an executive month for me (that month when you get lot of sh*t done, but the results only come out later), yet I am still stocked for April – it’s gonna be packed, and I need to make progress with lots of projects, but I am very much looking forward to it! Meanwhile this is what I loved during the past four weeks:
MOVIES, SERIES, DOCUMENTARIES
I remember that three days after the 2019 Oscars ceremony I made a note in my phone to go watch Free Solo after it topped its Documentary category. Fast forward one month, I finally went to the cinema to see. It’s safe to say it is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. You immediately get sucked in Alex Honnold’s life and ambitions as a free solo rock climber and you cannot stop yourself from rooting for him and wanting him not to kill himself while climbing Yosemite’s El Capitan. It’s full of suspense (I overheard other filmgoers say it made them more stressed than any exam, but it think it makes a good point highlight how big AND small humans feel in relation to nature.
If you know me, you can probably tell by now I am not a huge fan of series. I dislike the seemingly controlling power Netflix has over me when they display the next episode starting in 5…4…3..you get it. So usually I stay away from series (unless I am in a holiday), even though it means missing out on good content. However, this was not the case for The Good Place. I saw it mentioned in a couple of places, but none of my friends were talking about it, so I was sceptical to try it out. Oh, how wrong I was. This series is absolutely amazing, terribly clever and very ingenious in the way writers play with the universe they made. Oh, it’s also incredibly funny. Did I mention each episode is only 22 minutes long, so perfectly bite-sized?
I’m not going to write a lot about Queer Eye, because you have probably heard of it, but I had to mention it because the latest season (released this March) was so good and as per usual, incredibly uplifting and heart-warming!
BOOKS
Call me by your name – André Aciman
While this is not necessarily a fresh book out of press, I have been wanting to read it for a while. This March I finally did and it exceeded all my expectations. I am not usually the biggest fan of introspection-heavy books, but somehow this worked. It broke my heart, it made me go over certain paragraphs again and again because they were so beautiful and it quickly became one of my favourite books. I don’t know whether I would have been persuaded to read it without falling in love with the movie first, but I guess we’ll never know. I also read some rumours about a sequel to the movie, but I strongly feel good movies should be left untouched and not “stained” with the usual money-making desires. We’ll see whether Luca Guadagnino and the main actors manage to produce something at least at the same level as the first film.
Again, not a new book, but one which I read during the most appropriate month for me: February and March have been quite creative and productive months for me, so reading about creativity certainly helped me channel it better. I thoroughly enjoyed most of her views on the topic (especially those against this unrealistic idea of the tormented, depressed artist living life alone and creating art out of misery). I don’t think it’s a book for everyone, but if you like Liz Gilbert and you want to change a bit your relation with your creativity, then this is a great read for you.
AUDIO & VIDEO
I seem to have too few hours per day to listen to all the podcasts and audiobooks I want, but I think this will never change, so at least I can be happy for testing one podcast per week. One of my March favourites is this business-econ one which has more than 900 episodes (!!!). I listened to two of them so far, one about antitrust rules in the tech sector (super good and very relevant!) and one about Panera and their attempt at trying to create dining environments where people from all financial backgrounds could have a nice experience. I just downloaded more episodes, so Planet Money is sure to become a constant on my biking commute.
Although I like Jessie J, I somehow have never heard of this song, released in May, 2018. She sings about body-positivity, ignoring society’s ideals and self-love. It’s very catchy and it has a fabulous message.
Rutger Bregman – “Utopia for Realists” and Big Ideas for an Equitable Economy – The Daily Show
We so rarely get to hear someone like historian Rutger Bregman get so many spotlight moments for telling the truth, willing to have uncomfortable discussions at Davos and bringing into the mainstream ideas such as tax avoidance, universal basic income, 15 hour work week and so on. I am about to order his book (“Utopia for Realists”) and will get back to you in a future Monthly Recommendation article with my thoughts on it.
Filmmaker reacts to crazy Hollywood camera techniques – Peter McKinnon
Okay, this video is mostly for entertainment purposes. If you are a movie nerd like I am, you’ll love to see the brilliant snippets discussed in this video.
EXTRA
I am not subscribed to many newsletters (I purged lots of them along the years), but one which I deeply love comes from The New York Times (of course 🙂 ). In the most recent one, I found this INCREDIBLE piece about Generation Z (commonly 1995-2010, but still under debate) with HUNDREDS of portrays of young people and quotes about what they think makes them different from their friends. It’s an incredible piece and definitely worth exploring if you want to understand more about this generation without the judgements made by others.
Also, as a reminder, don’t forget to check out the podcast I am co-hosting, Admit That You’re Wrong, and the YouTube playlist I made with all the educational/inspiring videos I have mentioned in all my Monthly Recommendations so far. I also published one more translated article from my collaboration with ELLE, which you can read here.
Until next time!
Laura
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