Tomorrow is just another Friday
Postcard #35
Hello and welcome back to another edition of THE POSTCARD, Unregistered’s fortnightly roundup of recommendations.
Thoughts, tools, and treats
In November, journalists occasionally approach me, seeking my perspective on Black Friday as a humanities scholar specializing in material culture and author of a book on quality. My assessment is common sense: Don’t buy anything you wouldn’t buy anyway; if you were going to buy something anyway, use the discounts; invest in quality. In any case, this week’s postcard is, as the occasion demands, unapologetically consumerist. ;)
Buy books
If, like me, you buy more books than you can read, keep going, because you support an industry that, all things considered, is still one of the most likable. If you’re struggling to choose, here are five books for understanding why we choose what we choose.
Read newsletters
No, you don’t have to pick between print and digital. Much lively debate initially or primarily takes place online. The best example of this are attempts to renew classical liberalism, including the series Why Liberalism over at Persuasion and The Pursuit of Liberalism, a promising new Substack by political philosopher Rebecca Lowe and literary critic Henry Oliver. The classical liberal project, they argue, „is too often perceived as overly economic and technocratic: as something that ignores the deepest problems of human life, and is unable to speak to the whole human experience.“
Think and re-think
Anyone who wants to reflect more deeply on consumption can now access the English translation of a whitepaper I co-authored. The original German version is available here.
Wear clothes
This Fall, Déborah Sitbon Neuberg’s Parisian brand De Bonne Facture is „revisiting the academic style of the 1990s“ and offers „professorial silhouettes“ as well as a T-shirt „printed with handwritten geometry figures from a family archive of 1964 ‚classe préparatoire‘ notes.“ Plus, generous coats and cardigans in beautiful hues like forest green and plum.
Drink wine
Peter Wagner, who took over his parents’ winery in Oberrotweil, Baden, in 2016, makes wine from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Müller-Thurgau. These wines are both vibrant and precise, and exceptionally delicious. His Chardonnay and Pinot Noir can easily compete with much pricier wines from Burgundy.
Noteworthy
“Looking back, I am very glad I visited Tokyo in 1992. The lesson is that you can in fact do time travel. You do it by going to some key places right now.”
—Tyler Cowen, remembering his first trip to Tokyo
A mystery link leading into the unknown
The Age of...
As always,
Dirk
P.S.: Feel free to send me pointers to articles, books, sites, pods, tools, and treats that could be interesting for this roundup. While I cannot promise to link them, I read and appreciate every hint.