What Are You Listening To Right Now?
Whether you need to tune in or check out. Plus Ozempic (again!), sleepover safety, and the perfect farmhouse island.
Friday Thread: What’s In Your Ears?
After years of resisting them, I seem to be suddenly in my audiobook era. And having more alone time now is why. I am not a Background Television person (no judgment if you love it, but for me it’s nails-on-chalkboard not relaxing), but when the kids are at their dad’s, the house can feel a little empty. I’m playing music more, but I also love having an audiobook keeping me company as I’m puttering around. Plus this solves an age-old weekend leisure time question: Do I want to sink into a novel, or do I want to garden/work on the dollhouse/do something else crafty with my hands to relax? Why not both!
For me, the audiobook sweet spot is lighter fiction. Since I don’t just sit and listen, I need to be able to zone out for a few minutes here and there and still keep up. A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting and A Lady’s Guide to Scandal, both by Sophie Irwin, were a perfect recent weekend binge. Feminist romance also works here, for sure. But I can also see memoirs narrated by the author being perfect for this.
And of course, I also have an audiobook; actually two so I’m not going to say non-fiction never works for this format! Plus audiobooks are also great for kids! My younger one is obsessed with this Meryl Streep-narrated version of Charlotte’s Web.
So I’d love to know: What are you listening to right now?
Audiobook recs highly encouraged, but also give us your current music and podcast obsessions. On that front: When my kids aren’t constantly playing the Barbie soundtrack, I’ve been playing a lot of Sam Phillips. And my always-listen podcasts are Maintenance Phase (you didn’t need me to say that one), Slate’s Mom and Dad are Fighting, It’s Been a Minute, Nerdette, and Sam Sanders’ Into It. Normal Gossip is also so addictive and fun to binge!
PS. To listen in (see what I did there!) you do need to be a paid Burnt Toast subscriber. Here’s how to join us! Do check out our thread rules if you’re a new commenter.
PPS. I linked to all of the above audiobooks on Libro.fm, my preferred way to find them because you can support your local indie bookstore with your audiobook sales! Library apps are also great for this.
Friday Links & Recs
A body-positive doctor talks about how Ozempic is complicating things —one of the rare useful contributions NPR has made to this discourse.
Even better:
and nailed every BIT of nuance in their Ozempic episode this week.Why does the social media algorithm show us so much diet content?
You have preordered Unshrinking by
, yes?Appreciate
on are sleepovers safe. (Paid and worth it.)No, ob*sity is not an addiction. (Whew.)
My five-year-old turns six today and I absolutely used this as an excuse to buy more cute things for our dollhouse. Sure, we can pass these off as presents for “her:”