Your Mid-Week Experiment

In the last couple of weeks, we’ve added a bunch of new subscribers, so let’s give them a howdy and walk them through our always free, reader-supported mid-week edition of The Experiment where we share great things to read, cook, listen to, and watch. As always, this bugga free.

---

Let’s get right to it:

If you haven’t seen Joseph Gordon-Levitt musically moderating the presidential debate, you have been missing out! (New York Times)

Here’s what an FBI body language expert noticed at the debate. (Joe Navaro)

A TV critics breaks down how Kamala Harris broke Donald Trump down like a TV producer. (James Poniewozik)

Smart piece on why there’s no incentive to post on social anymore because they’ve changed from social networking to social media platforms. (Julia Alexander)

How they did Red Lobster dirty makes me feel stabby. (The New York Times)

I wrote earlier about a new version of American masculinity being proffered by the Democrats, but this essay does me one better by smartly focusing on the evolving role of husbands. (Rhonda Garelick)

If you like public school personnel drama and hate Nazis, this one’s for you. (Michael Soffer)

This is probably all you need to know about the Reagan movie starring Dennis Quaid. I know it’s all I needed. (Jason Thompson)

There are a lot of issues at play here—civil forfeiture, police reform, to be sure—but this is a movie about how aggressive de-escalation can be much in the same way Ghandi treated non-violence.

Why would aliens capable of interstellar travel not bring when them a more efficient way of getting around on Earth. And for that matter, if they can’t survive in water, why choose a planet mostly covered by water? And is this enough of a story to sustain the Day One framework? Other than that, I liked it.

This is so bad. I am posting this as a warning.

A rare pilot that made me want to watch the rest of the series.

---

We set up a merch table in the back where you can get T-shirts, coffee mugs, and even tote bags now. Show the world that you’re part of The Experiment. 

We’ve also got a tip jar, and I promise to waste every cent you give me on having fun, because writing this newsletter for you is how I have fun.

Buy the book Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick banned from the Bullock Texas History Museum: Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of the American Myth by Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and myself is out from Penguin Random House.