I mentioned in my last post that I may (or may not be) turning 30 this year. And lately, maybe because I am getting older and wiser, or maybe it is just pure luck, I feel like I have stumbled across some really great new things. And I just don’t think it would be fair of me to keep these all to myself. So here are some of those new things that I have been into lately that I want to share with you today…
1. The New Yorker:
I gave my husband a subscription to this magazine for his birthday because they have incredibly interesting articles that he loves to read so I knew he would like it (and partially because he kept buying copies anyway so it felt economical). I have been liking it as much as he has because he reads the magazine first and then tells which articles he thinks I would like (and then I read them!). It works out great because the articles are all long-form and require a time commitment, so I like knowing ahead of time which ones will appeal to me. Along with the subscription, we also purchased online access so we can also take advantage of reading the articles on our iPad mini.
2. Pocket:
Speaking of time commitments, this is an awesome new application that allows you to save articles to it so that you can read them later. You can download the browser icon to save the article or email a link to the article to add@getpocket.com from your email address and it will automatically load the article for you. I LOVE this because I often come across great articles and don’t have the time to read them at that moment and then forget to go back and look for them. It is the perfect application for traveling as well because you have articles you are excited to read all conveniently organized in one cute little app. Go get it now and thank me later.
3. Podcasts.
I may be late to the game on this one, but I have recently discovered how awesome podcasts are and I can not get enough. There are many FREE and interesting podcasts on iTunes depending on the topic you are interested in. I walk a 4 mile round trip to and from work everyday, so podcasts are the perfect way to pass the time, and I even listen to them with one earbud in on long walks with my dog. I have recently been very into natural, non-toxic cosmetics, home cleaning products, clothing, home goods, and the list goes on, and there are quite a few good finds in the podcast world on this topic, including this series from The Nature of Beauty which are interviews from various industry experts. NPR is also an all-star in the podcast world with a wide range of topics, as are the WBEZ Podcasts. On a side note, a really interesting series I just listened to from WBEZ was ‘This American Life’ on Harper High School Part 1 and Part 2. Their short description of this series is: “Staff from the radio show spent five months at Harper High School in Chicago, where last year alone 29 current and recent students were shot. They went to get a sense of what it means to live in the midst of all this gun violence, how teens and adults navigate a world of funerals and Homecoming dances.” I would highly recommend listening to it.
4. Matt Schwartz – Artist of She Hit Pause Studios
I was recently hanging out at our good friends house and noticed an awesome photograph on their wall. And after gushing to them about it, I found out that they bought it when they were living in New York, from Brooklyn-based artist Matt Schwartz, and founder of She Hit Pause Studios. Below are a few of his prints that I really like! Okay, I’m lying, I LOVE them and would like one of each in some antique frames for my small apartment walls…
5. Goop: Gwyneth Paltrow’s Weekly Newsletter and Website
Goop was founded by Gwyneth Paltrow and is a weekly publication delivered straight to your inbox offering exclusive limited edition collaborations, recipes, travel notes, shopping ideas and wellness tips for you, your wardrobe and your home. As it states on their ‘about’ page: “Goop gives readers exclusive access to recipes, travel guides, fashion, wellness tips, cultural notes and more. Incorporating the knowledge of expert contributors and tastemakers, along with our own editorial eye and uncompromising style, issues are delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday. Additionally, the publication in its entirety can be found right here on the site at any time, making goop.com a wealth of knowledge and an indispensable resource for all who love to make, go, get, do, be and see.” I really like getting their weekly newsletter that comes towards the end of the week when my workload is winding down and I have the time to enjoy it.
6. Coursera
This is a situation where I saved the absolute best for last. It is stated best on Coursera’s ‘about’ page: “We are a social entrepreneurship company that partners with the top universities in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. We envision a future where the top universities are educating not only thousands of students, but millions. Our technology enables the best professors to teach tens or hundreds of thousands of students. Through this, we hope to give everyone access to the world-class education that has so far been available to only a select few.” You are not reading that wrong, they are offering FREE courses online from the top universities in the world. They currently offer 323 different courses in a wide range of topics and this number is continuing to grow. To give you an idea of some of the 62 universities that participate, here are a few from the list: Duke, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Stanford, Rice, Northwestern, University of Michigan and even my alma mater University of Wisconsin-Madison. The list also includes many top universities from places around the world like Hong Kong, Barcelona and Copenhagen. I personally couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take free courses from top universities so I signed for the following courses:
- Know Thyself – a 10 week course beginning March 4th, 2013 offered by the University of Virginia (this one starts soon so I will keep you updated on how it goes!)
- Climate Change – a 9 week course beginning August 2013 offered by the University of Melbourne
- The New Nordic Diet from Gastronomy to Health – an 8 week course beginning September 2nd 2013 offered by the University of Copenhagen
- Epidemics – The Dynamics of Infectious Diseases – an 8 week course beginning October 15, 2013 offered by Pennsylvania State University
- Confronting the Big Questions: Highlights of Modern Astronomy – a 4 week course beginning February 2014 offered by University of Rochester
- Basic Behavioral Neurology – a 4 week course date TBA offered by University of Pennsylvania
- From the Big Bang to Dark Energy – a 4 week course date TBA offered by the University of Tokyo
- Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Comparing Theory and Practice – a 5 week course date TBA offered by Universiteit Leiden
So that completes my list for today. What do you think of these ‘things’?!? Do you have new and interesting things you have recently stumbled upon?!?
Radiolab is a superfab podcast with quality, interesting content. What makes them my favorite is their level of production. It’s like a poem, where they skillfully (or, tastefully) integrate sound effects and multi-layer audio to give life to the program. Check it out!
Thank you for this suggestion, I will definitely check it out!