Lemmen's Nursery

D-Recs

By Danny lemmen |

Content is everywhere. There are think pieces about whether the omnipresence of content is good or bad. (From the annals of my algorithm, thumbs are pointing down!) There is meta-content. The Press Box, a podcast that frequently spends time critiquing the coverage of content, is one of my favorites. And favorites are what I am here to write about.

At least recent favorites. I’ve heard Steven Soderbergh does something like this, but I just checked out his website and it’s a little different from what I’m doing. He lists out all of the stuff he has “Seen, Read,” but I will go into a little more detail. Anyway, here is a bunch of cool stuff I’ve consumed recently. These are Danny Recommendations. These are D-Recs.

Robot Visions

By Isaac Asimov

This is a book of short stories by one of the all-time great science fiction writers. I read Foundation a decade ago, and I believe I read The Last Question online during college. I may have found that via Stumble Upon. I can’t remember where I picked this up, it’s definitely secondhand, and I love more for that fact.

One of my favorite parts of this collection was the introduction from the man himself. I am not ashamed to admit that I have historically been one of those people that skip introductions. But I wasn’t even sure I was going to dive into this book, and thought I would read the intro first and see how I felt after that.

Asimov is funny as hell, especially when writing about himself. It was really cool to get the context behind a lot of the stories before reading them. He writes about how he inadvertently coined the term “robotics,” with an existential dread, talking about how him doing that in his early 20s will in all likelihood be his most remembered impact on society.

The collection has short stories and essays about robots. I enjoyed The Bicentennial Man, but was fascinated by Galley Slave. Written in 1954, Galley Slave centers on a trial involving a defective robot. The part that has stuck with me is the end, where the supposed antagonist is basically making the same argument artists, and creatives are making right now about the rise of AI agents.

Then there is his 1989 essay Future Fantastic where he basically predicts the creation of Reddit (and internet forums in general).

Perpetual conventions will take place, in which individuals continually drop in and out, bringing in findings or ideas and leaving stimulated.

Now, I’m not sure this is exactly how he would describe things if he was here today browsing r/all. But he’s also not totally wrong. I’m sure once he got his own subs in order he’d find some value. Or maybe he would just shitpost in r/decks. Who can say?

Amidst all this perceptive forecasting are some other predictions that are utterly fascinating. One of the reasons I am fascinated by older science fiction is to see all the stuff they got right and the stuff they got wrong. For instance, in one of the stories there is an issue with a robot, and the researcher trying to figure out what is wrong is described at his desk with books strewn everywhere.

This is a world with spaceships, robots, and computers. But writing this Asimov, presumably without even really thinking too hard about it, can’t imagine a world where research isn’t done using books.

He eventually does realize this process would change, and a number of the essays in the collection are about how knowledge can be disseminated more easily with computers, and how useful that will be for learning. He also writes a really compelling essay about how our fear of death is really about our fear of change. Or maybe it’s the opposite? Anyway, really can’t recommend this collection enough.

LINK

Small Rain

By Garth Greenwell

From a collection of short stories, some of which were written in the 1940s, to a novel written last year. Now, I probably don’t need to recommend a PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winner, but this book is so damn good.

You wouldn’t think a hyper-realistic account of a middle-aged poetry professor in Iowa suddenly finding himself in the ICU for stomach pain could have you on the edge of your seat, but that’s exactly what happens when reading Small Rain. It’s beautifully written, emotionally resonant, and paced so well. It’s like watching and episode of The Pitt, but filmed with a GoPro strapped to the heads of one of the patients.

LINK

Shatterd Glass

The movie with Hayden Christensen, AND the article by Buzz Bissinger

This was on my watchlist for a while, and I finally threw it on a few months ago before bed, due mostly to it’s short runtime. There are tons of podcasts, articles, video-essays, about young men right now; and if that is something you are interested in and you haven’t seen Shattered Glass or read the article it’s based on, make a point to do so.

If you are unfamiliar with the story, (spoilers ahead, but it doesn’t ruin anything), Stephen Glass was a reporter who made up dozens of stories during his meteoric rise as a writer at The New Republic. He is eventually caught, and as conveyed in the Bissinger article, and portrayed by Christensen (as Glass), he is really worried about his editor being mad at him.

There is something in the psyche there that I recognize in myself if I’m being honest. It’s akin to the need to be liked by everyone. And that feels like something that is pervasive in the social media era. It’s been a while since I watched the movie, but I remember thinking how if Stephen Glass was born 20 years later he would have just been some wildly successful influencer.

LINK

The Feed is Fake

By Lane Brown

Speaking of influencers, this Vulture article by Lane Brown came out back in May and I really haven’t stopped thinking about it. It falls under the category of article frequently published by magazines like New York Magazine and The Atlantic that I think of as the “we are so cooked canon.”

Admittedly these are some of my favorite articles to read; and each time I read one I end up thinking about how this genre of content is the thing that is tailor made to distract someone like me who is aware that nearly everything that exists online exists to distract or sell ads… But I drift.

If you take me up on only one of these recommendations, make it this one.

LINK

Pablo Torre Finds Out

I found myself dialing up PTFO a lot this year, and while everyone aware of Pablo’s show knows about his reporting on Kawhi Leonard, Steve Ballmer, and the Clippers, they may not be as dialed in on some of his other episodes.

Above are three of my favorites, and I will admit I am not a “listen to every episode” guy when it comes to PTFO, but that is just to say there is likely more gold in the PTFO hills I have not yet mined.

The Mike Schur & Joe Posnanski episode tackles an issue that has only become more prevalent in recent weeks with the Lakers sale. The episode about Robert Pera is actually insane, and I’m not sure why it isn’t a bigger story since it seems like the dude was (is?) committing treason. Finally the episode about data is about what I like to think of as “the optimization of everything.” I listened to it back when it came out, sent it to a bunch of friends, listened to it again the next day, and then bought Nguyen’s book.

Hopefully you enjoyed (or found something to enjoy). I mostly did this because I like the idea of there being a record of things I find interesting. I might need to do this again in a couple of months. Stay tuned.