Best TV streamer/Save Wisdom/Portable $50 Record Player

Recomendo - issue #436

Best TV streamer

Our son recently convinced us to upgrade from a Roku streaming device to an AppleTV 4K device ($130), particularly since we are an Apple systems family. This small box is a huge and surprising improvement. It was insanely easy to transfer all streaming accounts using my iPhone, which I can also use as a remote. It easily pairs with Airpods for private sound, instead of the old wired earphones we had. But the best thing is how Siri is incorporated. You can ask, “what did they say” while watching a video and it will back up and repeat the last bit of dialog. Or I can audibly ask it to run “For All Mankind” and it will search and find it among all the streams we subscribe to. No typing to find out where a particular show can be watched. That alone is worth the price of admission, but there are a lot of other cool smart features as well, like displaying photos from my phone. — KK

1000 questions to save wisdom

SaveWisdom.org is a project dedicated to preserving individual wisdom. On the website, there are 1000 questions designed to interview someone about their early life, formative experiences, values, perspectives, and challenges. These questions are intended to invite deep reflections and greater self-understanding. They are open-sourced and can be used freely for personal use. Because of this website, I feel empowered to interview my grandmother, who is flying in from Morelia, Michoacán at the end of this month to celebrate her 80th birthday. Inspired by this list, I have been creating my own list of curious questions I would like to ask her. I plan to record her answers to gift to my extended family. — CD

Portable $50 Record Player

This retro-style Amazon Basics suitcase turntable is an inexpensive way to rediscover your vinyl collection. Audiophiles with precious LPs should steer clear, but this lets you play your dusty collection without committing to a complex setup. It has built-in stereo speakers and it plays all three speeds (33/45/78). Bonus: it doubles as a Bluetooth speaker for your phone. — MF

Mythic graphic novel

I am really enjoying the book The Mythmakers, which is mostly a graphic novel about the productive friendship between JR Tolkien and CS Lewis, who basically invented the fantasy literature genre for adults. This book slips in and out of text and comic drawings in an easy way, and it makes it fun to see the two friends inspire each other to invent. The pair, and the graphic novel, explore the meaning and power of myths, versus mere stories, as a transcendent medium. It’s the best thing on myth making since Joseph Campbell’s Power of Myth, which is free on YouTube. — KK

A list of happy outcomes 

I appreciated this Instagram post as a reminder that happiness or a happy ending does not necessarily mean getting what you wanted. When faced with challenges, I experience the most growth not by everything working out as I had hoped, but often by accepting situations and people just as they are. Acceptance also helps me discover a better, more resilient version of myself, one with a greater capacity to face obstacles. Some of the other possible happy endings listed are: finding yourself again, making new connections, and trusting yourself to take the next steps. — CD

Finding extraordinary stories on park benches

Tom Rosenthal wanders London's parks with a simple mission: find someone sitting alone on a bench and ask if they'll chat for his podcast, his podcast "Strangers on a Bench." He keeps his guests anonymous - no names, no workplaces. Listening to a few episodes hammered home the realization that there's no such thing as an ordinary life. — MF

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