Hello beloved people,

I’ve decided to start a newsletter because as many of you know I’m fond of sending around articles and podcasts that I find interesting. But why not expand my reach to a newsletter. Many of you will still receive personalized articles that make me think of you, but the exceptional articles of the week (or month — I haven’t decided on a frequency yet…think of it as a Poisson process with an unknown p) will come to your inbox in the form of Odessa’s Oddities & Curiosities. I mean, I am newsletter royalty (looking at you, Breakfast @ Tiffany’s).

I imagine the form of this newsletter will shift over time. Some editions may have more or less items. This may in fact be the only newsletter from me you ever receive. I make no promises.

Podcasts:

I was browsing the NYT’s list of the top podcasts of the year, when I stumbled upon Decoder Ring. I had heard of Decoder Ring, but I was originally dissuaded by the odd name for a podcast (despite my affection for oddities). But NYT and my first listen have thoroughly convinced me otherwise. For this week’s Oddities & Curiosities, I submit two episodes of Decoder Ring:

A Brief History of Making Out: Turns out what the producers term “sexy” kissing is not a given in human societies. Only about half of human societies “sexy kiss.” In fact, an aboriginal woman expressed her disgust at the practice: “If you like someone, why would you spit in their mouth?” Their society prefers eyebrow nibbling. They track the evolution of kissing, utilizing insights from a delightfully nerdy Danish couple. The conclusion of the episode is lovely and made me nearly tear up while listening in the gym.

The Fast Decline of the Slow Dance: In this episode, they track the decline of slow dancing from its ubiquity in 80s Rom Coms to DJ admitting that they know a slow song will clear the dance floor. At first, people used to pay for dances (10 cents for a taxi girl!), because even the waltz was seen as super promiscuous. Now slow dancing feels quaint and unusual. They share fun insertions of people’s first slow dance stories…what was yours?

Articles:

In a realm totally outside of my expertise, I was utterly fascinated by the article “Behind the Scenes of the Most Spectacular Show on TV”. In all honesty, I would have guessed Love is Blind, but rather the authors are talking about Sunday Night Football. Elena recently explained to me the football schedule…apparently a lot of football gets shown on Sunday. I thought football screenings followed a uniform distribution, but I was quite wrong — they peak on Sundays. Anyways, the authors detail all the ways the audio and video is mixed together with the complicated array of cameras and microphones. It will mesmerize any logistics nerd.

Also in the New York Times, I Clerked for Justice O’Connor. She Was My Hero, but I Worry About Her Legacy. Sandra Day O’Connor’s tenure on the court was a bit before I was a politically conscious human, thus it was from this article that I learned about her career and her marriage — how she stepped back from the court to care for him and supported his romance with another Alzheimer’s patient. Not in an effort to make the legacy about a powerful woman about a man, but I think there is something so ruinously human about her decision that I felt deep in my chest.

Youtube:

During the pandemic, I discovered my favorite travel vlogging couple: Kara and Nate. I’m not quite sure why I follow their videos so closely — it is a mixture of their Tennessee accents, strong marriage, and enthusiasm — but their uploads are a highlight of my week. I watch little 10-15 minute spurts while brushing my teeth/washing my face at night. The current 5-part series I highly recommend is Biking Across America, where Kara & Nate + 2 other couples trade off biking across America on a trandem bike (3-seater!). Their resilience is inspiring!

Music:

Liana reminded me recently of an old favorite song: “Top of the World” by the Carpenters. We belted it out loud while planking at the gym. To our delight, two gym bros started singing along with us.

Also, “You’re Losing Me” by Taylor Swift is just devastating.

This past week was Spotify Wrapped time. My top artist was Taylor Swift…no surprise. But my top song was “Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry. So add that to the queue.

Books:

Math Without Numbers by Milo Beckman. I discovered this book while browsing books at the Strand Bookstore (a process nearing painful but joyful overstimulation). Milo is a math prodigy and has a gift for clear elucidations of mathematical concepts. I loved my introduction to topology (ask me about manifolds!)…very very excited to keep reading.

Some of you may know, but Hannah and I have started Yale’s first Jewish Fantasy Bookclub. We’ve started with the inimitable Cassandra Clare’s first foray into adult fantasy: Swordcatcher. Swordcatcher is so goddamn good. It took a maximal amount of self-control to stop reading at our designated stopping point (think lots of activation of my dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex). The world is rich and complex and multicultural. The characters have the sharp witty dialogue that is Clare’s signature. And best of all, one culture in the book is based on Jewish culture (The Ashkar). So many exquisite references. I cannot express how much it nourishes my bookworm heart to see such magnificent Jewish representation.

It was from peering Maya’s shoulder at the November Goldberg Family Gathering that I discovered God, Human, Animal, Machine by Meghan O’Gieblyn. O’Gieblyn is a deft writer pulling in references from her religious past and how the metaphors we use to talk about technology transform how we think about ourselves. I’m only at the beginning of the second chapter, but I must highlight her whole section on disenchantment. She cites Weber’s quote that modernity as a “world robbed of gods.” Chills.

That’s all for now. Writing this newsletter has been serving as my most highfalutin form of procrastination for the three finals I have in the next two days. Unfortunately, I have to get back to studying.

Please do write if you choose to consume any of the aforementioned media. I would love to hear your thoughts.

With love & curiosity,

Odessa