Sluice Issue #19

Sluice  | by Arthur H. Manners

Issue #19

Things to share this week

1. Podcast:Ezra Klein interviews Cal Newport. Found through Austin Kleon's recommendation. I knew of both of these people, but getting them both at the same time really grabbed my attention. This episode is full of tidbits, from Calport's WIP 'the Deep Life', to their shared love of satirists and top writers. I'm now following both Klein and Newport's podcasts because of this episode.

2. Books: H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. I've read a lot of non-fiction books lately where you initially wonder how a publisher ended up green-lighting the book. Somebody's dad dies to they buy a hawk and try to train it? I mean, okay, sounds a bit off-the-wall, but I'll give it a shot. Some books are just words for the sake of words, but this one isn't among them. It's a beautiful account of a woman struggling with spiralling depression after her dad dies, as she regresses into her childhood obsession with hawks. There are a lot of parallels drawn between her experiences and those of the writer T.H. White, author of The Sword in the Stone and The Once and Future King. The prose could cut glass. Top notch stuff.

3. Film/TV:The Legend of Vox Machina. YES! It's finally here, and it's glorious. If you're not a Dungeons & Dragons fan already, I urge to check out the Vox Machina campaigns. It's nerdy as hell, and a masterclass in storytelling and entertainment — and also crowdfunding and community and constant streams of smut. The adaptation into animated series on Amazon Prime is superb, just so brilliantly done. The visuals are stunning, the story is really fun and well put together, and the voice acting is second to none, with guest stars including David Tennant and Dominic Monaghan. 

4. Newsletter: Ampersunder. I found this via Jason Gurley's newsletter, Letters From Hill House. Laura Joldersma's newsletter is what I'd love my own newsletter to be some day: a treasure trove of links to all sorts of media. Poetry, essays, YouTube, whatever. Elegant in its simplicity and something I'm really pleased to have in my inbox.

5. Creativity:Only the Questions. Austin Kleon posted about this software recently. Clive Thompson has been pursuing creative projects with software, and his most recent release is a tool that takes in text (say, an essay or a novel chapter) and strips out everything except the questions. I love this idea. So simple, but so powerful. He posted about the results here — I just love the kinds of thing that come out, like George Orwell's distinctly Orwellian results, as well as Emily Dickinson's invitation to madness.

Until next time, be good.

Best regards,

Art

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