Bake: in the sun of exile. “Do you think the life that you lead here is better than death?” asks one of the characters in Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani’s celebrated novella “Men in the Sun.” It tells the story of four Palestinians in the 1950s trying to slip illegally into the economic promised land of Kuwait. Kanafani’s work – novellas, short stories, journalism, criticism, even graphic design – is a controversial but compelling window into the ongoing trauma of displacement that befell hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from 1948 onwards. Kanafani, who served as spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was assassinated by Mossad agents in Beirut in July 1972, in retaliation for the group’s terrorist attack on Israel’s main airport several months earlier. – Alex
Watch: A new season of “Fargo” recently launched on Hulu, and it inspired me to finally jump on the bandwagon and check out the series – from the beginning. I inhaled Season One this past week and am enjoying Season Two so far. It’s kind of like “True Detective” in that each season focuses on a different murder, but it’s less angsty and set in the Midwest. If you’re in need of a new show, check it out! – John
Protect yourself: Get your flu shot and COVID booster! I didn’t take my own advice and am now paying for it. Vaccinations protect you and your family, they protect your neighbors and co-workers, and you’ll be wishing you followed my advice if you catch whatever I caught.
– Matt
