What I'm Reading, Watching, and Listening To

From faith to TV to Southern rock, a few things worth sharing this month

Good morning, everyone.

I recently read Sally Pipes’ new book, The World’s Medicine Chest, which discusses how the US stole the pharmaceutical market from Europe.

The word “stole” is not accurate, of course. As I explained in my review of the book for Civitas, Europe essentially gave away its hold over the global pharmaceutical market.

I also recently finished Lee Strobel’s book The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus. I haven’t enjoyed a book this much in a very long time. If anyone is looking to deepen their Christian faith or better understand how so many people can believe something that sounds preposterous—that a poor Jew who was crucified by the Romans in the First Century rose from the dead and was the Son of God—I can’t recommend the book enough.

As I mentioned before, my wife and I are also watching The Sopranos, which we’ll likely finish this month. The show is amazing, but dark. David Chase (the writer and creator) shows that the line between good and evil truly does run through every human heart. The writing for The Sopranos is incredible, and I think it’s this show that ushered in the Golden Age of television (a mercy, considering that film is slowly dying). I have it next to Breaking Bad on my Mount Rushmore of greatest TV dramas.

I also recently watched Happy Gilmore 2 with my kids, which, to my surprise, was not awful; in fact, it was rather enjoyable.

Finally, I thought it worth mentioning that my wife and I recently went to a concert: Whiskey Myers.

I’ve never been much of a country music fan—and Whiskey Myers is not technically country (it’s “Southern Rock,” I’m incessantly told)—but I’m suddenly becoming one at 45 years old. (I’ll elaborate on this in a future post.)

If you haven’t heard of Whiskey Myers, I’ll share my two favorites with you.

One of them (“Broken Window Serenade”), which will make you cry. It’s pure poetry and brilliant songwriting and tells a really sad story, which touches deep inside when accompanied to that wailing harmonica. Listen closely to the lyrics.

The other one (“Stone”) is a mellow tune that, after a slow boil, turns into pure jam. The simple piano and electric guitar are killer. It’s a song I can listen to over and over.

I’m grateful for good art, which I enjoy talking about way more than the political squabbling that seems to consume so much of our attention today.

If you have any recommendations, drop them in the comments. (I won’t promise to read, watch, or listen to everything, but I will check it out.)