Land’s End Striped Rugby Shirt. While researching the rugby shirt guide we published earlier this week, I purchased one from Land’s End. At around $50, it’s reasonably priced and well-made. It’s 100% cotton that’s been garment-washed so it feels broken in, not stiff. They’ve got several color options; I went with the dark walnut brown/navy stripe. Looks sharp and will definitely be a style staple for me this fall.
America Gave Up on the Best Home Technology There Is. The McKays have been looking into getting an old-school AT&T landline installed in our house. Surprisingly, our 12-year-old daughter Scout has been the one pushing for it. What’s funny is that I’ve been seeing more and more articles about people bringing landlines back to their homes after a decade of relying solely on cellphones. Ian Bogost recently made the case for it in The Atlantic, arguing that we lost something important when we ditched home phones. A landline belongs to the family, not just one person. When phones became personal property, we lost a sense of the household as a unit; when you’re sharing a line, handing off calls, and taking messages, you naturally know more about each other’s lives and function more as a team. Plus, there’s the safety angle of having a landline (your children know exactly where to find a phone in an emergency, no passcodes required), and it’s just a fun way for kids to talk to their friends before they have a smartphone (which is why Scout wants one).
Gone With the Wind. After Kate recently read Gone With the Wind (and pronounced the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel magnificent), we decided to watch the film adaptation as a family. We split the nearly four-hour runtime over several nights. It was my first time seeing the 1939 epic starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, and I honestly really enjoyed it. I wasn’t sure the kids would stick with it, but they were into it too. My daughter kept muttering, “She’s so cringe,” every time Scarlett threw a tantrum or manipulated another man (so these utterances were made a lot). The movie is beautifully shot, the story is compelling (though Kate says you lose an unforgivable amount of it from the novel), and the acting is top-notch. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend giving it a watch.
Range (Adapted for Young Readers) by David Epstein. We had David Epstein on the podcast several years ago to talk about his book Range. It’s one of my favorite episodes. His core argument is that generalists often outperform specialists, especially in complex fields. Epstein’s research shows that sampling widely before specializing often leads to better outcomes than drilling down early. So when I saw he’d adapted Range for young readers, I immediately picked up a copy for my kids. I’m always encouraging them to try a bunch of different things while they’re young, and it’s nice to have another voice reinforcing that message. The kids’ version has the same great stories but with a shorter length and without the academic jargon.
On our Dying Breed newsletter, we published Sunday Firesides: Don’t Judge a Decision Based on the Result and Dying Breed Dialogues: Baseball as a Way to God.
Quote of the Week
There are parts of a ship which taken by themselves would sink. The engine would sink. The propeller would sink. But when the parts of a ship are built together, they float. So with the events of my life. Some have been tragic. Some have been happy. But when they are built together, they form a craft that floats and is going someplace.
―Ralph W. Sockman
