Friday Flames | 2.2.24

A weekly synopsis of what we figured out about the fasting prime minister, the feast for Saint Brigid, and how not to die alone.

February is a magic month, and not just because it hosts Magda’s birthday. It celebrates hedonism and piety and love and James Baldwin. It accommodates weird Roman superstitions and stabilizes our solstices. But mostly it heralds the end of January, well documented as the epicenter of Suck.

Punxsutawney has a massive Q-rating and an ageless, classic movie, but the real dirt on January’s grave is Imbolc, the festival that honors St. Brigid. And she is worth honoring, because myths say she invented keening and was born with a flame in her head. Every February 1 celebrants build crosses and effigies to signify purification and rebirth, now that we’re halfway from our shortest day to Springing forward.

So light some candles today—because you know we dig that —and set your calendars for Bealtaine, which offers cultural events that are “welcoming to older people.” Sold!

Embers in the News

Here are some of the links that peeked through the noisy news cycle this week:

• Is malnutrition nutritious? Is it a good idea for middle-aged men to start every week with a 36-hour fast? British PM Rishi Sunak thinks so.

• In defense of daily two-hour naps To the surprise of zero people, a Yale study says sleep is good for brain health later in life.

• Hot cabbage and gut health Because of the probiotic benefits of fermentation, a daily dish of kimchi can cut the risk of middle-age obesity by 11 percent.

• Grandparents need help from Uncle Sam Over the past decade, public demand for more government help with eldercare has doubled.

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This week on the podcast

We’re starting a forum about coping with the new “simplified” FAFSA—which is severely delayed and mathematically inaccurate—in our Facebook group.

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Alumnews

After her car accident, Episode 9 guest Jodie Ousley wrote about how getting back behind the wheel is a lot more mentally complex than she remembers.

Episode 9: "I don't know what my brain's going to do."

Currently reading

Magda read How To Not Die Alone by Logan Ury, an impulse borrow that is way more practical than philosophical. It’s worth a read for anyone who wants a stable, committed relationship and is willing to reevaluate strategies that haven't worked. It also confirms her suspicion that she was ready to act when Mike showed up because she'd worked through a lot of dating mistakes and was ready to open herself up. (FWIW: Some of this material would also be really useful for hiring employees.)

Doug doesn’t think you should date your employees. But he is really enjoying Less Is Lost and this massive Vanity Fair piece by Michael Lewis about Tom Wolfe, which inspired his viewing choice below.

Currently watching

Doug returned to the golden age of celebrity journalism and watched Radical Wolfe. Very entertaining insights into Wolfe’s world view, as well as those of Joan Didion, Truman Capote, Gay Talese, Norman Mailer—and Wolfe’s friend Hunter S. Thompson, who once called him a “thieving pile of albino warts.”

Magda is watching Groundhog Day today, because obviously.

Currently cooking

Tonight Magda is going to make scallion dumplings. Since she can't find decent wrappers at the regular grocery store (and Aldi doesn't carry them), she's going to try making her own with this process guide from Red House Spice, who always writes very clear recipes.

Doug likes to cook family favorites on Groundhog Day, on the off chance it’s the last meal he’ll ever eat, over and over again. Tonight, it will be sticky gochujang-honey chicken, so he can spend eternity licking his fingers.

Next on the podcast

As a sandwich caregiver to her parents and her nine-year-old daughter, single mom Jessica Ashley talks about her master’s degree in women’s studies and why eldercare so often defaults to the daughters.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for reading, and thanks for reading, and …

Magda and Doug