Meru/Emoji to go/More Perfect

Exquisite documentary

I’ve watched my share of mountain climbing documentaries. A new one, Meru, streaming on Netflix, is among my favorites. Meru is a stone fishtail peak in the Himalayas that had remained unsummited until recently because it required climbers to haul their own 200 pounds of gear for the final overhang wall routes. The lure of this doc is that it includes an intimate record of two attempts by the same team, the first one failing within 100 meters of the summit. It also documents unbelievable disasters and horrors the climbers endured to before starting the second. Because two of the three ace climbers happened to be world class photographers (one works for National Geographic), no other high adventure has been this well documented, or as beautiful. The climbers are intelligent, warm and humble — and obsessed. Meru is a stunning experience, expertly crafted, comprehensive in capturing all moments, yet briskly edited, and a joy to watch. It entails the most innovative, thorough, and brilliant photography I’ve seen in any documentary. — KK

Emoji to go

I found a good searchable emoji database to use in the Future Now Newsletter I write for Institute for the Future. You can search for emoji by subject, and when you find one you like, just copy and paste it as you would with any text-based character. — MF

Vital podcast

Supreme Court decisions can be monumental in their consequences, but they often hinge on very specific, sometimes messy cases. More Perfect is a super podcast from the folks at Radio Lab that burrows deep into the specifics of Supreme Court cases, in order to illuminate their logic and meaning. All the episodes are fantastic, but a recent one on the Commerce Clause in the US Constitution — One Nation, Under Money — is especially great. I was shocked how little I knew about this clause, and consider this audio lesson to be essential listening for any American. No matter what your political tilt you’ll be perturbed, and educated. Afterwards, listen to the rest of the shows. — KK. 

Watch movie trailers

I love getting to the theaters early enough to watch all the movie trailers. Trailernite.com is non-stop trailer watching. If you don’t like it, just hit next. — CD

Simple reminder note

If there’s an affirmation or inspirational quote I’m really loving, I save it as my iPhone wallpaper so that I see it every time I open my phone until I’ve absorbed it or I’m sick of it. I’m sure there are lots of wallpaper apps you can download for free to create your own wallpaper, but I just use my Notes app and copy and paste text into a new note (centering it in the middle of the screen) > screenshot it > save to Photos > Use as Wallpaper. Right now my background just says “Pause.” — CD

Smallish green wirebound notebook

This 8¼” x 6 ⅞” spiral bound notebook costs $3.50. It has light green paper and 30 college-spacing rules per page. I like the smaller-than-usual size because it takes up less room on my desk and in my backpack. — MF

— Kevin Kelly, Mark Frauenfelder, Claudia Dawson

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