What I've Been Reading/Watching/Listening To

Here are some recent things I've been following and would recommend:

Books:
1984 – It had been a while since I read this. In light of my experiences last year–the personal and the political–I dusted this off, and I am newly impressed by Orwell's world.
Infinite Jest – Apparently one of the best novels of the 21st century, this book has been enjoyable to read so far (I'm about half-way through). It's the first book I've read in a while that's an intellectual puzzle with obscure references and a counter-intuitive structure that one has to piece together.
Superforecasting – Social scientist Philip Tetlock discusses his forecasting tournaments, which set out to figure out how to predict the future–and do just that. It's both fascinating and important.

Films:
Call Me By Your Name – I loved this movie. From the music to the photography to the actors' playful banter, it's a beauty to behold.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi – You've all seen this by now so why say anything more? This is very, very different from other Star Wars movies and a heady one to work through. Every few minutes there's a plot twist, and the plot lacks the nice linear trajectory most of them do.
The Shape of Water – Lots of this movie is very weird, but on the whole I was surprised by how old-school Hollywood this ended up being. I realized during the finale that the movie was basically a Creature from the Black Lagoon/Beauty and the Beast fusion more than an art pic, and that helped me understand it better.

TV:
Wormwood – Errol Morris is brilliant at making murder cases into events of world-historic proportions and crafting gripping thrillers out of real life.
Black Mirror – The latest season's opener is an alternatively fun and twisted adventure story. Its brilliance makes me grateful that our generation gets a Twilight Zone.
The Marvelous Miss Maisel – A comedy-drama about a Jewish housewife in the 1950s who becomes a profane comedian after her husband leaves her. It's a perfectly-shot period piece with a glorious story of a woman rising above her time.

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