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On this Podcast Saturday I'd like to recommend another pillar of my podcasting pantheon. Minor television personality John Hodgman is in reality a prolific comedian and author. The conceit of his podcast is that he is a judge that settles the kinds of interpersonal disputes we all have with our friends and family. The show is that, but also a frequently touching reminder to be kind and thoughtful with others. It's part of the Maximum Fun network where you'll find many more great podcasts.

Kanopy is a streaming service like Netflix that has a bunch of movies and documentaries that you've probably been meaning to see. It has classic films like L'Avventura and The 400 Blows. But also more recent A24 Films like Moonlight and Lady Bird. And also documentaries like Helvetica and Manufactured Landscapes. Additionally further besides entire runs of Great Courses videos. Also conjointly furthermore some classic PBS and BBC TV series. I was shocked at the depth looking through their catalog. The best part is that you can likely get free access through your library.

Good morning Newsletter Wednedsay fans! I have been a fan of Mule Design Studio since I lived in California eons ago walking around wearing this provocative shirt they designed. Their monthly-ish newsletter includes a handful of short posts from personal stories to global news. Sure it promotes their upcoming talks and books and events as well, but those things are good and you won't mind. This link is to their blog which I guess you could also subscribe to but this post is about their newsletter which you can sign up for at the very bottom. Your design mind will thank you.

If you missed the fallout from the latest revelations about Facebook, Jason Kottke has a good summary. Hiring a PR firm to create fake news to smear critics does transcend merely awful and puts them into the truly evil category. They made it! With all of this pressure to improve, Facebook feels like they're at war, but Josh Marshall asks: Who is Facebook at war with? Gina Bianchini thinks we'll see a renaissance in smaller social media because The Facebook Era is Over. I want to believe! (Maybe we'll all start blogging at LinkedIn instead?)

Have you ever been sitting there staring at an Excel spreadsheet thinking, "If I could just run a SQL query I'd have my answer." And then you have to export to CSV, import the thing into MySQL, and waste an hour figuring out why your import is failing. Anyway, this tool solves that particular problem nicely.

Sometimes I just assume everyone listens to the same things I do. I feel like this YouTube stream of chill beats to relax/study to by ChilledCow is ubiquitous, but maybe not! I throw this on all the time when I need to relax/study. Lately I've been throwing on a similar playlist on Spotify by Chillhop Music: cozy chillhop beats. It's not just me! Apparently these lofi hip hop streams are a thing.

Podcast Saturday continues with another one of my desert island picks. 99% Invisible is a design podcast that explores the mostly invisible work of planning and design that goes into all the things around us from cities to buildings to everyday objects. It is the Platonic Form of podcasts. Episodes are typically a tight, highly produced 20 minutes with interviews, locations, and music. It is a masterclass in audio storytelling every time. The show's host Roman Mars also started the podcast collective Radiotopia and if you're new to podcasts you won't go wrong browsing through their offerings.

Matt recently visited the Whitney Plantation, the only slavery museum in the United States. It sounds like a harrowing experience—and one that we should all have so we can understand our nation's history.

The Correspondent is an effort to create a news organization funded by news consumers rather than advertisers. They're raising money Kickstarter-style with a goal of raising 2.5 million in 30 days. They also have a nicely designed site if you're into that sort of thing.