The Complete Keys to Progress by John McCallum. I enjoy reading fitness advice from old fitness magazines. You’d think it’d be outdated, but it’s usually the opposite. Most of the advice is the timeless stuff that actually works: lift heavy, eat protein, be consistent. John McCallum is a perfect example of an old-school fitness guy who dispensed simple advice that works. From 1965 to 1972, he wrote a column called “Keys to Progress” for Strength & Health magazine. This book collects all of those columns and puts them in one place. He’d build each training lesson around recurring characters at the gym so you’re reading what amounts to a short story and walking away with a leg routine or a diet plan. The advice boils down to train hard on the basics, squat heavy, and eat to fuel your gains. Sixty years later, it’s still solid. Some of the nutrition stuff is dated, but most of the advice holds up.
Dr Pepper Strawberries and Cream. This was an impulse buy on our last grocery run. We got the zero-sugar version because why waste your calories on liquids when they could go toward something you can chew? Tasted like Dr Pepper crossed with a strawberry milkshake. You’d think that wouldn’t taste good, but it really does. Our family went through a 12-pack in just a few days. This will probably have a regular rotation in our beverage selection this summer.
The Quiet Crisis: Why Middle-Aged Men Are Dying. Anthony B. Bradley, who’s been on the AoM podcast, put together a tour through twenty studies on why middle-aged men in Western countries die by suicide at three to four times the rate of women, with the rate spiking hardest in midlife. What stood out to me is that the research doesn’t pin it all on depression. A bunch of things stack up at once for these guys: divorce, job loss, not seeing their kids regularly, and a lack of supportive friends. If you’re struggling, get help. Also, keep an eye out for your homies, and if you see one of them having a hard time, check in. Be sure to check out our podcast on the myths and truths around suicide.
1950–1955 Universal Newsreels. In the mid-20th century, people not only got their news from newspapers and radios, but at movie theaters as well. These compilations of the newsreels shown between movies are like stepping into a time machine. You’ll see clips from the Korean War, Eisenhower-era optimism, sports, and technology, all narrated in that clipped, booming, supremely confident newsreel cadence that doesn’t exist anymore. That needs to come back.
On our Dying Breed newsletter, we published Sunday Firesides: Life Bathing and Praised to Praiseworthy: Adam Smith’s Guide to Moral Development.
And this is your last chance to sign up for the Lonesome Dove book club — the reading starts tomorrow!
Quote of the Week
Life is a romantic business. It is painting a picture, not doing a sum; but you have to make the romance. And it will come to the question: how much fire have you in your belly?
—Oliver Wendell Holmes
