• Do you know who I wouldn’t have guessed would be hosting a show with Bill Gates? Rashida Jones. Do you know who is surprisingly great at interviews and leading conversations? Rashida Jones. 
• This third episode features a conversation with Yuval Hurari, author of Sapiens. I quite liked Sapiens when I read it, and found his argument about the stories we tell ourselves to be compelling, which he expounds upon here. 
• Some quotes from Hurari: “People think about Frankenstein, the idea of creating something and then being overtaken by it, is a modern phenomena. It’s not. Technologically maybe it’s new. But humans have been enslaved by their creations for tens of thousands of years, by these stories that they create about gods, about nations, about money. They forget that we created them and then we are trapped inside the dreams of dead people.”
• About predicting if things will be better 20 years from now: “Data, and science, and all that is great, but you should never underestimate human stupidity.” 

• This is an interview with Moderna’s CEO, Stéphane Bancel, about the long path they have been on developing mRNA technology that has set them up for this moment.
• This is the company that just received emergency approval from the FDA for another covid-19 vaccine, just behind Pfizer/BioNTech’s. 
• It is actually fascinating hearing Bancel, who is a scientist, walk us through how all this works behind the scenes. He also offers excellent metaphors explaining the science.
• The story on how the actual vaccine was created over one weekend in January is pretty wild.
• We’ve been “growing” vaccines for decades, but we are now in the age of “printing” them. Crazy.

• A new travel show of sorts with a very intriguing opening episode.
• This episode is a first-hand account about a kayak trip gone wrong (very wrong), with just the right touch of production and poetic construction.
• As traveling continues to be a distant reality (and NY winter blues), I'm finally here for the travel podcasts.

• For anyone who has been into According to Need, this is also a must listen.
• This show is about homelessness in Olympia, the state capital of Washington.
• Reported by Seattle public radio station KNKX.
• Recommended by my brother Dan, who lives in Olympia (and who has all-around impeccable taste in shows).
• Not knowing about this show makes me wonder how many other countless local shows I'm missing out on?

Holiday listening to ease your brain instead of hurting it

• Helen Zaltzman has a funny and smart discussion around Christmas songs with Jenny Owen Youngs, who has written boatloads of them herself.
• The best part though is an on-the-fly creation of a perfect 2020 Christmas song.

• This show has been recommended in basically every year end list.
• That handedly puts it past the threshold of what gets something to the top of my queue. As usual, I'm late to the party, but I'll be the millionth person to say this is a great show that is just about perfect in being an antidote to 2020. 
• It was created during quarantine by Samin Nosrat (professional cook/writer, all around champion of home cooking, and author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat), and Hrishikesh Hirway (host of Song Exploder and cooking enthusiast.) Their chemistry is what makes the show. 
• Nosrat gets it: “A big part of my mission to explain to people is, you don’t have to be a restaurant chef at home. Chickpeas on toast and broccoli could be dinner. Like something super simple can be dinner. A bowl of pasta with just a little bit of parmesan and spinach can totally be a super satisfying meal. You’re not trying to impress anyone, it’s not about Instagram, it's about nourishment and joy."
• Jason Mantzoukas is hilarious as usual. Mantzoukas as guest is perhaps the surest path to a fun listen for any show. 

• Now combining the above two episodes, Home Cooking with a guest appearance from Helen Zaltman! We get to hear Zaltzman's love of gingerbread cookies and an explanation of her Twitter picture. And lots of delicious, mouth watering talk about cookies in general.
• The 14th (and perhaps final?) episode of this delightful “4-part” series that sprung into existence during quarantine.
• These happened to be the first episodes I checked out, but I think it's safe to say the whole thing is binge worthy.