This week at Cog #13
Mark Twain’s 190th birthday, the love in Little Free Libraries and teaching AIDS literature
We got our first snow of the season where I live today, and it made me a little sad. Historically, every time school was cancelled for snow, our family of five walked to the same neighborhood pub for dinner. We’ve been doing the same thing for about 15 years. But now that my husband and I are empty nesters, we pay less attention to the snow forecast and whether or not school is closed. (I just checked: It is!) Instead of going to our usual snow day spot, we’ll keep the reservation we made earlier this week at an oyster bar. Change is hard. Eating better food helps.
Yes, traditions are lovely. And research shows they provide us with a sense of stability and connection we carry through life. But traditions can evolve — just like our families do — over time. So here’s to a new ritual: oysters and champagne on snow days! Hope you’re staying warm wherever you are. — KNC
This week’s stories
Cruelty and compassion, sin and forgiveness, cowardice and heroism, these are the conjoined twins that, for Mark Twain, structure the rhythms of American history, writes literature professor Ann M. Ryan.
‘You are not forgotten’: How teaching AIDS literature honors my father, and so many others
Alysia Abbott was 18 when the first World AIDS Day was observed on December 1, 1988. I was aware of the disease and terrified my gay father would get it, she writes. But I didn’t tell anyone. Now, I’m teaching AIDS literature and AIDS history to students who are the same age I was when my dad first got sick.
There is more than books in my Little Free Library
In my childhood home, we struggled, surviving on what other people didn’t want or need, writes Meaghan Shields. But my mom was the most generous person I knew. And that generosity was extended to me — in the form of books.
Bonus content
Some people keep a notebook. As a musician, I keep a very long list
David Tanklefsky has been a performing musician for more than 20 years. He has a list of every show he’s played — all 900 of them — along with each setlist. It’s like a decades-long diary, in shorthand.
Make space on your bookshelves
This year, NPR’s Books We Love was sourced from a wider group — not just the NPR books staff and critics, so it’s a little more eclectic and diverse. “We’re not saying, like, here’s the 10 best books of the year. We’re saying, here’s a couple of options,” explained Andrew Limbong on All Things Considered. But there are more than a couple of options here: There are 380 books in all — and you can sort them with traditional filters, such as fiction/nonfiction/mystery and thriller, or use topical filters, including “let’s talk about sex,” “rather short” and “rather long.”
Amy Poehler and Ina Garten is a “Good Hang”
I love Amy. I love Ina. Put them together – and voila! Surely, many of you have been sent this episode by a well-meaning sister, friend, auntie, by now. We are here to tell you: it’s worth the hour of your time. There is champagne, a fake roasted chicken (really), a guest appearance by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a lot of laughter and a hefty dollop of wisdom too. It will send you running to the kitchen in the best possible way.