Friday Flames | 3.22.24
A weekly synopsis of what we figured out about chemistry, economics, psychology, biology, politics, magical thinking, and banana-shrimp curry.
Now that our son has moved to the Boston exurbs to live with Magda, Doug is living alone—like alone-alone, not the-kids-will-be-back-next-week alone—for the first time since before there was a Rick to roll. And it turns out that the resulting collision of Nostalgia and Excitement creates a strong compulsion to winnow and scrub, on the way to embracing the next thing.
During those times when Nostalgia has the upper hand, it’s generally a tough beat to be surrounded by the artifacts of the life you’re leaving behind. But as you box up the size 6 soccer cleats and chuck the Children’s Tylenol, the Excitement starts to take over. Suddenly, you’re focused on what feels like an all-new, empty plot of land you’re about to build on, with almost no zoning laws.
When the family returns to visit, they will find a guest bedroom, a library, and one of a steady sequence of overflowing trash bins. This is gonna be fun.
Embers in the News
Here are some of the links that peeked through the noisy news cycle this week:
Pigs help our kidneys Mass General has successfully transplanted a genetically-edited pig kidney into a 62-year-old man with end-stage kidney disease.
Dogs help our moods Want to lower your blood pressure, concentrate better, and feel more relaxed? A new study says: Get a dog.
Fighting cancer in space … Since cancer grows like crazy in zero gravity, researchers are experimenting in space to develop a cellular "kill-switch" therapy.
… and with fake DNA Researchers at Penn are making artificial chromosomes more quickly and precisely in order to advance better gene therapies.
This week on the podcast
Sometimes, the best therapy for adjusting to living alone is a long, discursive chat about The Price Is Right, Rush lyrics, Groundhog Day, and why ADHD affects your ankle bones.
Currently reading
Magda found Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus very satisfying. Earlier this week, she read Mikki Brammer's The Collected Regrets of Clover, about a woman who works as a death doula and decides to start living her own life a little more fully. It was just delightful.
Doug is trying to make sense of the current political tar pit by reading about all the backstabbing shenanigans among the colonials. Currently he’s alternating between David McCullough’s John Adams and Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham—and wondering how their feud might have escalated if they had Twitter.
Currently watching
Doug sits firmly among the two-thirds of Americans who wait for a movie to stream before watching it. He was eager for All Of Us Strangers to arrive on Hulu, and man, that wait was worth it. After Sherlock and Fleabag, you’ll see a whole new side of Andrew Scott’s versatile charisma. Get ready to sob, then call your parents.
Now that our 18-year-old has arrived in Massachusetts, Magda has been watching a lot more South Park than she ever hoped to. Yeesh.
Currently cooking
Magda turned the cheap metal insert for the gas grill into a poor woman's Ooni and made excellent homemade thin-crust pizzas. Then she made lasagna, halal street cart chicken and rice, and gochujang tofu with broccoli. She's now working on plans for Easter dinner. (Tell her what you're making for Easter in the Facebook group!)
Doug’s Instagram algorithm has been feeding him recipes that take three minutes to demonstrate but hours to prepare, cook, and clean up after. So instead, he has been reveling in the nauseating fun of the 70s Dinner Party feed. How bad could the Whiskey Yams with Peaches ‘n Ham be? It rhymes, right?
Next on the podcast
Eldercare won’t be much of a concern for Amanda Magee, who is still processing her difficult decision to stop communicating with her parents.
Thanks for reading, and where else would you find celeriac and tongue mayonnaise?
Magda and Doug