A Drink With a Friend

After a short summer break, Seth and Tsh are back! To kick off another season, they talk about many vs few: why does it matter how many people we follow online, friends we stay connected with, names we know, or celebrities we keep up with? Turns out there’s some anthropological science to the overwhelm we feel when we keep track of thousands of people online yet don’t know our neighbor’s name across the street. Perhaps this isn’t how we’re designed to live?Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Orgain protein powderDunbar’s Number: Why My Theory That Humans Can Only Maintain 150 Friendships Has Withstood 30 Years of Scrutiny, by Robin DunbarBear Grease Podcast1,000 True Fans, by Kevin KellyBrideshead Revisited, by Evelyn WaughStart With Why, by Simon SinekThe Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

It’s not just the not doing of something… It often takes a certain proactivity to truly rest. Seth and Tsh talk about what it looks like to rest physically, emotionally, spiritually, and even sensory rest (which we all need more than we realize, what with all our modern sensory input everywhere). Resting well is a game-changer — especially when it’s in tandem with a dignified view of work and real play. This episode puts their first season in the books! Seth and Tsh are taking a short summer break to REST, but they’ll be back soon.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!The 7 Types of Rest that Every Person Needs, by Sandra Dalton-Smith, MDHow Soft Fascination Helps Restore Your Tired Brain, by Markham HeldLeisure: The Basis of Culture, by Josef PieperRest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less, by Alex Soojung-Kim PangThis Is Where You Belong, by Melody WarnickManifest on NBC (and on Netflix) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

It’s a kid’s m.o. to play; it’s how they learn and walk through life. But we adults need to play, too, and some of us (🙋‍♀️) frequently forget how. Play benefits our health in all sorts of ways, but it’s also just …fun. That’s a gift. Being a real, responsible adult doesn’t mean taking everything seriously.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Leisure: The Basis of Culture, by Josef PieperInterior Castle, by St Teresa of Avila (selected passages)An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good, by Helene Tursten This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Recognizing beauty is a habit, and it’s also not optional if we want to live a sacramental life. In this episode, Seth and Tsh share specific examples of beauty they’re currently witnessing in their lives, and you’re invited to notice your own as well.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!“We’ve Always Asked the Wrong Question,” on The CommonplaceAndrew Wyeth: Website | MoMA CollectionJess Franks on Instagram This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Good stories matter — we all know this. But how do these good stories shape us, form our imaginations, make us better parents, and remind us what really matters? Why do the best stories sacramentally peel back the surface to reveal what’s really there? Seth and Tsh talk to their friend, novelist Shawn Smucker, about what it means to immerse your life in good stories — and why it’s not optional. To borrow a quip from G.K. Chesterton about children and fairy tales (because it’s just as true for adults): good stories don’t tell us dragons exist. We already know this. Good stories tell us dragons can be killed.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsiteShawn Smucker: Books | Podcast | Twitter | Instagram | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Journal of a Novel, by John SteinbeckWorking Days, by John SteinbeckEvilene Killerman on InstagramAnything is Possible, by Elizabeth StroutThe Surrender Experiment, by Michael A. SingerRadical Face's albums The Family Tree: The Roots, The Branches, and The LeavesRadical Face guidebook This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Two episodes ago, Seth and Tsh talked about artists who are no longer alive but still live on through the great art they left us. As a follow-up, in this episode they chat about the artists who are very much alive and are making the world a bit better through their art.Seth's and Tsh's criteria? Artists who aren’t as commonly well-known, as well as people who aren’t out to make a name for themselves as an Influencer™ or ThoughtLeader™. They’re also some who aren’t even literal artists, per se, but they use their preferred medium like an artist would —  curated, thoughtful, and with the receiver in mind.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Lesley Villareal on InstagramRepertoire, by James Acaster on NetflixJames Acaster On the Absurdity of the British Empire, on YouTubeWonderful Arkansas on InstagramRick Steves - Podcast + YouTubeCity on Fire, Garth Risk HallbergJohn Blase: Website + TwitteChimamanda Ngozi AdichieHeather King on InstagramBoze Herrington on Twitter This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

What’s the difference between a vacation and a pilgrimage? A roadtrip to see extended family and stepping somewhere sacred? So much of it has to do with our own mindset about what we’re doing in the first place. ‘Tis the season for summer travel, and after a year-plus of pandemic-tide, so many of us are itching to get the heck outta dodge. Seth & Tsh explore what it means to travel sacramentally — whether you’re flying internationally or driving the next town over.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us! Tsh's travel memoir, At Home in the WorldSweet Tooth on Netflix“Ash Wednesday,” by T.S. EliotStoryWorth: get $10 off your first purchase This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Our modern culture loves the here-and-now, preferring all our focus tilts towards the latest trends, the newest relevant art, the loudest and most attention-getting current Thought Leader™. But… Will this work and these ideas endure? Some of it, possibly. But a whole lot of what’s applause-seeking now will be forgotten in a year, or decade, or heck — next month.This is why it’s good for us to notice what stuff has stood the test of time, whose art has endured. There are SO many dead people who still live through their phenomenal work, and in 2021 we should both enjoy it and listen to what it teaches us …because clearly there’s something noteworthy there. Seth and Tsh unpack whose older work affects them today — and who they’ve grown to appreciate even more the older they get.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Pride & Prejudice, by Jane AustenThe Illustrated Man, by Ray BradburyMary Oliver’s collected poemsThe People Yes, by Carl SandburgOrthodoxy, by G.K. ChestertonThe Presence of the Kingdom, by Jaques EllulRequiem Mass, by MozartA Love Supreme, by John ColtraneRobin Williams in Dead Poets SocietyJimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful LifeBattlestar GalacticaThis Beautiful Truth, by Sarah Clarkson This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

It’s a good thing to have disagreements, but we often forget to have a learner’s posture when we hear the “other side.” Are we surrounding ourselves only with sources and ThoughtLeaders™ that confirm our already-held biases? Or are we willing to genuinely learn? Seth and Tsh lean into GK Chesterton’s insight from almost a century ago: “People generally quarrel because they cannot argue. And it is extraordinary to notice how few people in the modern world can argue.”Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Speaking 5+ Languages with my Polyglot Grandma (Part 1), by Nathaniel DrewAnthony Bourdain’s World Travel: An Irreverent Guide, by Anthony Bourdain & Laurie Woolever This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Routines are going to the grocery store on Tuesday mornings, listening to that one podcast in the school pickup line, and brushing your teeth twice a day. What, then, are rituals? Seth and Tsh unpack why they matter — because they tie our actions with our beliefs and values — and why both the big and small ones matter. Weddings and graduations are necessary, yes, but so are Friday pizza-and-movie nights, evening neighborhood walks, and praying along those beads.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Bishop Robert BarronAssurance, by William StaffordThe Anthropocene Reviewed, by John Green This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe