Alfredo, Uncut Gems, and Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
A featured article by Elizabeth Meyer and a podcast covering Caramel directed by Nadine Labaki.
Welcome to the second installation of The Q: your one-stop weekly newsletter of culture recommendations. Can’t find a platform where you can receive condensed, reliable, pop-culture content? Yeah, we can’t either.
Every Saturday morning in your inbox, you’ll find a featured article, an album, a film, a playlist, a book, a video, and something funny we found that week. Oh, and a 2 Virgins podcast episode, where Sam and I talk about a recommendation while drinking virgin drinks. We also invite a guest onto the show every week (that guest could be you!)
Featured Article
“Running in Hyde Park” by Elizabeth Meyer
When I can’t sleep, I run. Hyde Park in the spring is an eerie mixture of birth and something haunted. It’s almost on the nose, the amount of life that emerges from a Hyde Park spring; the ducklings at Botany Pond, the blossoms, the extreme greenness of everything around you. Haunting the neighborhood is the mist, the grey streets, and ivy-covered buildings, the chill that doesn’t go away until late June. Especially at midnight, running down Woodlawn towards campus when the streets are empty and long, what lies in front of you obscured by all that mist, everything feels spooky. Still, you can’t get away from the scent of flowers blooming from every street corner and garden.
Album
Alfredo by Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist
“God made me sell crack so I'd have somethin' to rap about,” Freddie Gibbs spits on the standout track, “Something to Rap About” on his new album Alfredo. It sets the tone for the entire project and showcases why so many people have grown to love him.
Film
Uncut Gems directed by Josh and Benny Safdie
Uncut Gems follows a Diamond District jeweler named Howard (Adam Sandler), who is addicted to gambling and that rush of adrenaline one gets from making decisions that could end in win-all or lose-all situations. I think at the end of the day, the story of Uncut Gems hangs on a person’s belief that certain possessions or achievements will take you higher up the ladder, and only once you get there, will you finally be content. It is a game, fueled by an obsession tied to one’s concept of self-worth.
Book
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
Ria Chinchankar writes, “Reading Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire at a time of mass police brutality is nothing if not a series of eye-opening realizations. Freire’s insights about oppression, tactics of the oppressors, and what true liberation looks like remain immensely relevant.”
Playlist
Sam Fleming’s Dance Heaux features Kedr Livanskiy, Babyfather and KOKOROKO.
Sam’s favorite track: “Lyk U Use 2” by Moodymann, Andres
Description: “Dance Heaux is supposed to make you dance until you drop.”
Podcast
2 Virgins Episode #2: Caramel, Orange Juice with Lime, and Elina Arbo
On this week's episode, Sam and Teresa talk about the film Caramel directed by Nadine Labaki, over a cup of orange juice with lime with their mutual friend, Elina Arbo.
Podcast cover designed by Ellie Shemtov. Check out her art magazine and magazine t-art, which focuses on the intersection of art and technology to create a dialogue between the two seemingly disparate fields!
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