This week's list
GREAT:
For me, It's hard to beat a Milano cookie. They're delicious but also feel fancy, despite being sold in pretty much every grocery store I've ever walked into. I could happily spend an hour discussing the nuances of a party that calls for a dark chocolate Milano versus a mint Milano gathering. (And let's not even get into the sick perverts who're eating Coconut Milanos in their basement right now.) But I never knew the backstory behind everyone's favorite "Distinctive Cookies" and how the bakery was started by a pioneering female entrepreneur and feminist. The Remarkable Life of Margaret Rudkin, Founder of Pepperidge Farm (h/t The Ann Friedman Weekly)
FUNNY:
Everything is Alive is a podcast where Ian Chillag, a former NPR producer for Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me and Fresh Air, interviews inanimate objects. It's a very funny concept and beautifully executed. Somehow it manages to be both genuinely funny and touching. (Here's a good overview of the show, with clips from Maeve Higgins as a lamppost and Louis Kornfield as a melancholy can of soda.) My favorite episode so far is with Emmy Blotnick. Emmy the Pregnancy Test
INTERESTING:
Amy Schumer is one of the most successful comedians of all time. So, perhaps inevitably, she provokes big reactions. Jason Zinoman looks at how her jokes have changed over the years and digs into why her comedy is so polarizing. Personally, I think Inside Amy Schumer is one of the greatest sketch comedy shows ever made. And while not every joke she's made has been perfect, it's hard to not see the connection between the level of hate directed her way and misogyny. (Related: I Don't Hate Women Candidates -- I Just Hated Hillary and Coincidentally, I'm Starting to Hate Elizabeth Warren) Anyway, read this profile. It's a remarkably open look at a comic at the height of her fame. Amy Schumer Doesn't Care What You Think (That Much)
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Enjoy the weekend,
Chris
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