|
|
|
|
You all really came through.
I asked for your favorite songs of the 2010s, and now, we have a most excellent playlist for you to mix in with your podcast listening during your holiday travels and cook prep. (Special thanks to WNYC Studios intern Jennifer Sanchez for her playlist assembling assistance.)
This playlist is one thing I am thankful for. Other things include the health of my family and friends, two kids learning to shriek with laughter together, my husband, my dog, loving and reliable child care, house plants, Slack, family recipes, grocery stores, books/music/movies that broaden my emotional vocabulary, the Death, Sex & Money team and podcasting as a phenomenon.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Catch you all again after we're done digesting.
—Anna and the Death, Sex & Money team
|
|
|
This Week on Death, Sex & Money
|
|
|
Writer Anne Lamott has sat with many people as they died—including her father, who died of metastatic melanoma, and her best friend, who died from breast cancer in her 30s. But despite those losses, Anne told me when we talked live on stage at the Reimagine End of Life festival last month that she doesn't fear death. "Your life will be greatly enhanced by spending time with dying people," she told me. "Death is not the enemy. Snakes are." We also talked about her decision to get married earlier this year at 65; her (to me!) life-saving parenting manual Operating Instructions; and why she often feels the urge to jump when she's in high places. Find our whole conversation here.
|
|
|
Your Responses: Songs of the Decade 🎶
|
|
|
Last week, I asked you to send me your favorite songs of the past ten years, and you really went above and beyond! We've collected all of your recommendations into this handy Spotify playlist—just in time to download for your holiday travel and/or cooking. Listen, enjoy, and also check out these great stories from some of your fellow listeners about why they suggested the songs they did:
|
|
"My current go-to bop is 'Might Not Make It Home' by LPX. It just reminds me of the feeling of being free and a little wild on Saturday nights in my early 20s. Even though my life doesn't look like that now, it's really fun to reminisce and sing at the top of my lungs."
—Allison
|
|
"My all-time favorite reset song is '45' by the Gaslight Anthem. It came out in spring 2012, just as I was graduating from college and deciding between moving to DC (where I had a job on Capitol Hill, grad school, and my then-boyfriend already waiting) or the much riskier move of staying put to run a Senate campaign as a 21-year-old. I had made the decision to stay and run the campaign (deferring grad school and effectively ending my relationship), but wasn't confident in my decision. I walked into our graduation brunch, and the person who put together the slideshow clearly shared my alt-rock tastes because '45' was the soundtrack. I bawled right then and there (and I am not one for public crying); I felt like it was the sign I needed to move on with the next stage of my life. I learned about the Gaslight Anthem from my ex and it had been 'our' band, but that day their music became mine and something that carried me through that summer and fall. My boss dubbed the song the official 2012 campaign song, and we won by a landslide on election night."
—MaryRose
|
|
"I’d add Morgane and Chris Stapleton’s rendition of 'You Are My Sunshine' to the playlist. My wife and I try our best to do the harmonies when our daughter is having a meltdown and sometimes it works!"
—Kevin
|
|
Listen to This: Audio We Love
|
|
A few years ago, producer B.A. Parker started recording her phone conversations with her dad, who suffers from stage 3 vascular dementia. Then, she started recording her conversations with her grandmother, whose memory is also diminishing due to a diagnosis of "being 96." On the most recent episode of Invisibilia, Parker plays some of those calls and talks through what she hears—what emerges is a window into the conversations we have with the people we love, and an exploration of what stays constant in those relationships even as our minds fade.
And before you dig into a big ol' plate of turkey on Thursday, dig into the latest episode of the MeatEater podcast, hosted by conservationist and hunter Steven Rinella. He talks with Dr. Larry Todd, an archaeologist/anthropologist who studies what happens after an animal dies—in his case, those that died many, many years ago. (Listen for a shoutout about Anna's husband Arthur's study of elk migration routes!) And maybe don't listen to this podcast immediately before your Thanksgiving meal...or any meal. Decay doesn't sound all that appetizing.
|
|
Next on Death, Sex & Money
|
|
|
People cheat. But they don't often talk about the aftermath, and how they and their partners decide what comes next. Four years ago, when I asked you to send in your stories about infidelity, I heard from so many of you who have found yourselves cheating...and being cheated on. Next week, we're bringing you those conversations again.
|
|
Happy Thanksgiving!
We're grateful for all of you.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
