See or Read: “The Fever,” a one-man gut punch written and performed by Wallace Shawn. You’ll instantly recognize him from his memorable roles in “The Princess Bride” and “Young Sheldon,” but Shawn is also an accomplished playwright. Written decades ago, but eerily relevant today, “The Fever” follows a well-meaning traveler whose privileged worldview unravels in a far less comfortable corner of the globe. The performance is part monologue, part moral reckoning, and fully the kind of theater that sticks with you long after you’ve left your seat. It’s on stage now in New York, but you can also read the script and imagine for yourself the vivid and unsettling reality he describes. – Tony
Read: “The Kite Runner.” Khaled Hosseini’s epic 2003 novel follows a boy called Amir as he tries to navigate the horrors of the Afghan-Soviet war that began in 1979. Stories like these remind us of the human tragedies that citizens face when their country is at war. While it would be erroneous to make any clear-cut comparison between the Soviet-Afghan war and the current conflict in neighboring Iran, we should be acutely aware of the devastation that some Iranians face while the Islamic Republic goes to battle with the US and Israel. This book may provide some clues. – Zac
See: Paintings by UK-based artist Jess Allen. If you need a small dopamine hit during the day, I highly recommend taking a few minutes to marvel at Allen’s colorful (and now online) exhibition, “We Want to Believe in Impossible Things” that showed in London last year. – Natalie J.
