How to Zoom Your Room & More June Reads
Battling the Big Lie, Phasers on Stun! & more
I recently announced Season 3 of I Think This Is Great! With Clay N. Ferno. The theme will be short stories and will feature stories from my guests and myself.
On the sly, I have somehow had time to finish a couple of books so I thought I could wrap June with some book recommendations.
Room Rater: The Ultimate Style Guide on How to Zoom Your Room - Jessie Bahrey, Claude Taylor
10/10 pineapples for this fun and amazingly illustrated book about our favorite pandemic layover — the ultimate zoom background! Followers of the Twitter account are already familiar with cord violations but the authors and illustrators lay out how to keep your calls from looking like hostage videos. Spoiler: digital backgrounds are out!
This calls back to the time in the pandemic when I was obsessed with getting the perfect setup.
…still striving as you can see. In case you missed it, here’s the most important ten pineapple (🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍🍍) thread on the internet: 🧵
Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media Are Destroying America - Dan Pfeiffer
Pod Save America’s Dan Pfeiffer’s latest attempts to mobilize the Democratic Party by speaking up ourselves in media and with service.
PSA as an organization has focused on policy and mobilization. With Roe overturned, we have to vote. This is why I personally support tough guy and loudmouth Pennsylvanian Senate candidate John Fetterman. We need powerful voices to swing some states, ditch the filibuster and get us to 60. We must codify Abortion Rights, Voting Rights and stop this steam train of Minority Rule. The Big Lie is not going away, it is snowballing.
It’s not a side-by-side comparison, and perhaps I am being a bit too harsh, but Ben Rhodes’ After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made earlier this year was a slow read. It’s certainly a good book but were I recommending just one of these PSA books to someone, Dan is the clear winner.
Phasers on Stun!: How the Making (and Remaking) of Star Trek Changed the World - Ryan Britt
I have over 20 Star Trek books in my digital library chronicling the lives of Shatner, Nimoy, and the production of my favorite franchise over the years. Ryan Britt’s Phasers on Stun is an excellent companion. Ryan tells the story of Trek in a way that is charming, a little sugary sweet, and … daresay Progressive-leaning! He lets his green-blooded heart take refuge right on his sleeve as it were. And you know what, I am fine with it.
"Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. Symbolizing the elements that create truth and beauty." – Spock 2
The publication date is May 31, 2022, and I am impressed with the amount of new Trek (Prodigy, Lower Decks, Discovery, and Strange New Worlds) in the book. Trek is constantly changing, constantly evolving, retconning the timeline, and has always done so. While during the pandemic I was shocked to find out that my podcast co-hosts define Trek as Kirk/Spock/Bones, whereby my personal view of the franchise is more in line with Ryan’s. For me, my high school memories of watching TOS after dinner, then going out to hang with my friends only to return home to watch TNG at 11 pm, I guess my relationship with Trek has always, and always will be, a friend to all of it.
Happy-Go-Lucky - David Sedaris
The master wordsmith is at it again. This book directly inspired the new season of I Think This Is Great! With Clay N. Ferno (the companion podcast to this substack, my dear reader). With the usual aplomb, Sedaris takes on aging, gun culture, and his family and siblings with humor and existential observations. Some of the audio is recorded live in front of audiences of various sizes. If you ever were Sedaris curious, this is a great place to start.
Back soon with more information about what my podcast benefits paid subscribers will get, but in the meantime, stay safe out there and check to see if you are registered to vote at the button below. Seriously, do it.