Links I’ve clicked…recently

Here’s the thing: I’m always reading something online. I’m just not always gonna remember to blog about it. So, I’ll keep up this series, but I’m gonna put it out there: it might not be every Sunday. So far so good…This week, I want to include the links that caught my eye, but also a couple discoveries I’ve enjoyed of the non-link nature that I think you will, too.

I’m not immune to memes as they make their way around social media, and it seemed everybody and their sister was posting this little gem on advise we might give our younger selves. Sure enough, it’s the no-brainer kind of life guidance that I wholeheartedly endorse now and wish I’d understood better then.

I usually skip past the ads and promos on the many podcasts I listen to – one can only hear about stamps.com or Squarespace so many times – but I recently heard a shout-out for a new NPR podcast that caught my attention. Sure enough, NPR Politics is my newest earbud mainstay, the broadcaster’s politically-minded reporters gathering for what amounts to off-the-record conversations about the stories they cover for Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

As the days get shorter and shorter and the temperature drops, I’m summoning every bit of willpower I can muster to keep my spirits up. Were it an option, I’d hibernate with books and Netflix and GrubHub delivery until March, so over winter am I already. Which is why this quick read on facing winter with the right attitude was especially timely for me this week. There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes. Ain’t that the truth. (PS – that’s Norway down there; if my winter looked like that I’d be pretty happy, too…)

I grew up watching WTTW Channel 11 (the window to the world!) here in Chicago; how is it that I didn’t know until reading this story in the Tribune that there’s another public channel in the city, WYCC. Now, as the city is strapped for cash, the channel could be sold for north of $400M. Turns out the signal it takes up as a TV channel is more useful in 2015 as a data network. The big question is, will they or won’t they sell?

I have not kept up as much as I’d like on my off-line reading this year, having only made it through a handful of actual books. The one I’m in now, though, may be the best in recent memory and I’m only a hundred pages in. After several unsolicited recommendations, I picked up a paperback copy of AMERICANAH from the used bookstore I pass on my way to the train every morning, and I am thoroughly enjoying every page as much as everyone said I would.

And in this week’s industry read, I’m going with my own bias and calling out this super intriguing read featuring some of the best documentary filmmakers of the year (including one of which I am particularly a fan). Documentary filmmaking is having a moment right now, with the stories and styles in recent films elevating the genre to all our our advantage. This latest roundtable discusses that evolution and so much more.