Friday Fixations

What I’m into right now

Happy Friday, my fellow suffering beings. Each week, I share two things I’m digging right now (books, TV shows, movies, music, and the like) plus one online video of nearly zero cultural merit.

• The Gilded Age: My wife and I recently had the good fortune of befriending Celia Keenan-Bolger, the actor of both screen and stage. When we heard she was in this show, we started watching it. (I’m not sure why we waited this long; Bianca and I were both big fans of Downton Abbey—by the same creator.) Anyway, The Gilded Age is pretty good! While Downton Abbey was set in the UK, this one is set in New York City. Having lived in NYC for decades, it’s been interesting for me to see how social snobbery, and suspicion of wealthy arrivistes, has been part of the scene for generations.

  

• Kingdom of Heaven: One of my favorite podcasters, Chris Ryan, recently mentioned that he had gone back and watched the director's cut of this 2005 Ridley Scott historical epic. I vaguely remembered the movie coming out to mixed reviews. But I like and trust Chris, so I gave it a shot. It was cool to learn more about the Crusades, and the movie definitely held my attention—despite its three-hour-plus runtime. But I can’t say the mixed reviews were totally unwarranted! Worth a watch, nonetheless, if you’ve got a bunch of spare time.

  

• If every player was like this dude, I’d watch way more baseball.

• Oh, one more thing… On Sunday, September 21 from 1-5 p.m. ET, join me and Leslie Booker at the New York Insight Meditation Center in NYC as we lead a workshop titled, “Heavily Meditated – The Dharma of Depression + Anxiety.” This event is both in-person and online. Sign up here.

A reminder: Starting next week, paid subscribers can join us for weekly live sessions. Up until now, we’ve gone live once or twice a month. Now, every Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. ET, you can join a live meditation and Q&A with our meditation Teacher of the Month and/or me. First up: This Tuesday, September 2 at 4:00 p.m. ET, I’ll be joined by our September Teacher of the Month, Vinny Ferraro.

And heads up, this is our last Friday Fixations email. Moving forward, on Fridays you'll receive the recording of that week's live meditation and Q&A. And don't worry, I still plan to share my questionable movie preferences via Chat and Notes on DanHarris.com for anyone who wants to weigh in.

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