Iām a big fan of Sam Harrisā writing and podcast (Making Sense) but his meditation app, Waking Up, has been huge this year. His 28-day intro course and subsequent lessons, conversations and myriad practice sessions are well worth the subscription price tag (though Harris and his team allow those who canāt afford a subscription a free year till their luck changes). I couldnāt recommend a more important practice in a time filled with this much uncertainty and despair. At the very least, youāll be taking 10 minutes out of your day to chill out. At its best, youāll be taking the steps necessary to become a more calculated, attentive and mindful human.
You might first need to do some research on what sort of meditating you might be interested in, but if you're looking for mindfulness with none of the spiritual woo woo, I've used this app for years on and off and really like it. There's an intro section to help get you started, new daily meditations, and lots of lecture series if you want to dig in a bit further. I mostly just listen to the daily meditations.
Like anything else that lots of people are telling me to do, I resisted meditation for ages (thatās my contrarian complex). The continuous search for purpose finally broke me down and I tried meditation, starting with short, guided practices on insight timer. This app has everything! Meditations, courses, music, trackers, and the eponymous timer. I am consistently impressed with the functionality of the app and the quality content that teachers generously share. If youāre using the free version and a particular piece of content really resonates, you can easily send money to the creator. Plus, once you get into it, meditation is like free entertainment, advice, and connection, all in one.
If youāre super busy but still want to sneak in some meditation, Simple Habit is pretty handy. Itās got these quick five-minute sessions that are perfect when youāre short on time. Plus, they have meditations for stuff like stress and sleep, which is great. You might want to give it a shot! Just a heads-up, though, it does cost $12 a monthly and $60 a yearly.
I enjoyed Call Me By Your Name so much, I saw it three times in the theater. I was unfamiliar with Luca Guadagnino prior, but I quickly became a huge fan. His new tv show (itās more like an extended film), We Are Who We Are, takes you through some months in the intersecting lives of Military-teens going through the confusing and horny motions of early adulthood. Itās soft and dreamlike at times, and devastating and mind-bending at others. Itās soundtracked by Dev Hynes of Blood Orange, and the cast includes big names like ChloĆ« Sevigny and Scott Mescudi, though many of the new faces on screen truly steal the show. Watch this show. Share it with someone you love.
Hands down the best store in New York and nowhere else comes close. Itās tucked away on Bond Street in SoHo and its owner, Sweetu Patel, keeps it stocked with a perfect mix of wardrobe essentials. He also designs a flawless house brand. Itās an insiderās store. Thereās nothing fussy or trendy to find here. Itās clean, itās simple, and itās rare that 90% of a storeās stock calls oneās name but CāHāCāM does just that. Plus, thereās always someone well-dressed perusing the shopās wares and if thatās not a marker that youāre in the right place, Iām not sure what is.
Eric Weinstein might be the smartest person with a podcast. Iām really not a podcast person (too many people think their voices need to be heard) but the sheer range of topics he can cover with authority is out of control. Heās a polymath in the truest sense. Guests include Werner Herzog, Bret Easton Ellis, Andrew Yang, Ashley Matthews (aka pornstar Riley Reid), Kai Lenny, Sir Roger Penrose⦠the list goes on. My favorites are #17 with Anna Khachiyan of Red Scare and #27 with Daniel Schmachtenberger, a āneurohackerā youāve certainly never heard of but trust me here.