MC: Great. And then we could all use it to measure our cake pans.
LG: That’s right.
BB: I also, I think I do remember sharing a cab with Lauren at CES that year and having her suddenly go and stare off into the distance for a minute as she got an incoming text.
LG: That’s right. There was something going on with like, you were telling me something and I was like, “Oh, this thing is happening at the Golden Globes,” or something like that. It was ridiculous. And you were like, “What?”
BB: Although I did appreciate the update. I am a big Golden Globes fan.
LG: I think it was the Golden Globes. It was something like that.
MC: I can’t wait for our technology to make us even more distracted than we already are.
LG: Right. I think Brian was probably telling me some really cute story about his family, and his wife and kids, and I’m like, “Uh huh, uh huh. Ooh, news alert on my face.”
[Brian and Mike laugh]
MC: All right. Let’s take a break and then when we come back, we’ll do our recommendations.
[Break]
MC: All right. Welcome back. Brian, you are our guest. What is your recommendation?
BB: I am going to recommend a book again. I like to recommend books. It’s called A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet or Millet. I am sorry that I don’t know if that has a French pronunciation or not. It is terrific. It is a real gut punch. It is a climate change parable for the modern age. Everyone should read it, and it really sticks with you.
MC: How long is it?
BB: It’s not that long. It’s a quick read. I read it in a day and I am not the fastest reader.
MC: Nice.
LG: Is it a new book?
BB: It came out last year. So new-ish, but not hot off the presses. But it takes place in modern times. It’s very allegorical in spots, but not in a way that makes you feel like you’re in AP English.
MC: A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet. Millet. Thank you, Brian. Lauren, what is your recommendation?
LG: Brian is a wonderful guest, but I am missing Gilad a little bit this week. Gilad was on our show last week and he joined us just for the recommendations portion of the show and things got really out of hand. So in honor of Gilad not being on the show this week, I’m going to make a Gilad-like recommendation, which is, take a bath. I really like baths.
BB: You should talk to fellow WIRED senior writer Lily Newman, who wrote maybe the definitive baths are better than showers piece on the internet when she was at Slate.
LG: Really?
BB: Yeah. She is, for better or worse, she is the online presence for the baths are better than showers movement.
LG: Let’s include that in the show notes, because that sounds like a fantastic piece. And I haven’t even read it yet and I can say it’s one I probably support. Because I’ve always been a bath fan, but particularly in the time of the pandemic, I really enjoy a nightly bath. I put things in the bath, things such as arnica, which is good for sore muscles, or Epsom salts or bubble bath. And the thing that I’ve learned is that showers are too much work. You have to stand up in a shower, and you have to move around to clean oneself. And if you have long hair, it often gets wet in the shower unless you go through the work of putting on a shower cap, which, again, is more work. Whereas in a bath, you can just put it up in a bun and it will not get wet.