Your Mid-Week Experiment
Welcome to all the new subscribers!
There are many more of you than there were before last weekend when “The Curse of Austin” came out. Since Sunday, the essay has been shared more than your racist uncle’s email proving Obama was born in Africa. Kenya believe it? The essay is already the 5th-most read post on The Experiment, right after Poncho Navárez’s first-person account of his post-politics sobriety and ahead of the real story behind the opposition to closing Dirty Martin's Kum Bak.
So, a few ground rules for the new folks: We take tips and sell merch, but this newsletter is free. On the weekends, there’s an essay. On Wednesdays, we do the Mid-Week Experiment that includes stuff I’m reading, listening to, watching, and cooking. All the songs posted each week get added to The Experiment’s Spotify playlist.
Other than that, there’s sodas in the cooler and beer in the fridge. Make yourself at home. Grab a seat, because the show’s about to start.
Let’s get to it:
“Darling, I say. I have waited for you all my life.” (Maggie Smith)
You can ban TikTok now. They’re never going to top this.
If you have 18 minutes and 36 seconds, read this, and you will understand the economy — and be entertained. Really. (Scott Galloway)
Being poor costs you time (Cory Doctorow)
I missed that my friend Sarah Hepola did a Texas Monthly podcast about the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.
But the reason I’m mentioning her today is that S listened to the Armie Hammer episode of her podcast Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em.
Austin lives rent-free in San Antonio’s head, chapter 18 (San Antonio Express-News)
I am so embarrassed that I like this so much. It’s a million times better than the movie with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. But still, don’t tell anyone I’m watching this.
Thanks to Noom, I lost 40 pounds over 2020-21 and have kept it off since then. Click on the blue box to get 20% off. Seriously, this works. No, this isn’t an ad. Yes, I really lost all that weight with Noom.
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. The New York Times bestseller is 44% off and the same price as a paperback now!