Hello! I hope you're okay-ish. This time, stuff to read, watch, listen to and eat, all of which will hopefully provide some comfort in dreary times: everyone is pivoting to Substack; a Turkish film that I loved; two poets to read/listen to; and a hattrick of enjoyable stuff to distract and delight.

Article: Is Substack the media future we want? by Anna Wiener, published by the New Yorker in January 2021
Everyone is pivoting to Substack: the hockey analytics writers, that political commentator you hate, the only three non-organisational newsletters I subscribe to. Substack, as I'm sure you know, is an email newsletter service start-up (much like the one I use to send this email) which lets writers charge a subscription fee for their newsletter, theoretically enabling people to live off their emails. Because it's a start-up, it also promises to "reinvent publishing" (which includes paying some writers a large fee to join). Because this is an Anna Wiener article, she asks what it means to "monetize individuality" (ugh), if newsletters make it harder to discover new voices (yes, at least compared to regular magazines or websites), what the model means for the future of media (inconclusive) and if the turn to newsletters is good for journalism (no). In conclusion: I still miss blogs, including my own, and I wish you were reading this on blogspot dot com.

Film: Times and Winds (Beş Vakit), written and directed by Reha Erdem (2006)
In my opinion the best way to watch this film is knowing nothing about it beforehand and focusing on nothing else while it's on. That's not because it has a complicated plot or is very demanding; it's just because that's what I did and when I read up on it afterwards I found all the blurbs and reviews either misleading or extremely annoying. But I'll give you my own annoying blurb anyway! This is a beautiful film that follows three children on the cusp of adolescence as they live their lives in a small Turkish village. Parental figures are the source of joys and pains and small humiliations, and the various relationships between parents and children, which repeat themselves over generations, are at the centre of the film; but friendship, nature and the small experiences of daily life are equally important. This is a film rooted in place, observant, attentive and non-judgmental about its various characters, structured around the five daily calls to prayer. The score – various pieces by Arvo Pärt – really heightened the contemplative experience of watching it. All in all: two hours during which I felt grateful for art and the world.
Note: This is currently streaming on Mubi which is also currently doing a sale (until Friday). Every film I've watched on Mubi has been either brilliant or nuts so: I recommend it.

Book: Tomas Venclova and Emily Berry poetry readings
I hope you'll forgive me for not recommending a book as such this time. For some reason I've been thinking about two poetry readings that I attended in the winter of 2014/15 recently, and I thought it might be nice to share something that you can listen to for free.
The first reading was by the Lithuanian poet Tomas Venclova at a Vienna literature festival. His recitation of his poems in Lithuanian in the huge, beautifully lit venue was a moment that has stuck with me ever since. There is no recording from that evening, but I regularly watch youtube videos of his readings (here's one for his UK publisher, with English translations by various translators). Venclova, a dissident who was forced into exile in the 1970s, is a political poet whose work deals with exile and the passing of time.
The second poetry reading that stuck with me from that winter was Emily Berry reading poetry inspired by (and partly assembled from) Freud's letters at the Freud Museum in London, at an event I co-organised. Freud has a lot to answer for in my opinion, but his letters make for lovely poem collages: "To mourn is of course permissible."

Other: 12 min music warm up / Subtilitas architecture blog / Kaiserschmarrn
I gather that everyone is having a shit time right now, so here are several things that I enjoy. In November the youtube person who did the Folklore dance workout posted a warm up video to songs by Kacey Musgraves, Mac Miller and Harry Styles. I reckon it must be my most watched youtube video by now: for me, it works to melt away anxiety and stress, to do something more jumpy when yoga is too slow, or, I guess, to "warm up" (for what?). Doing the same routine so many times also means that for the first time ever I can do simply moves in time with music, even if it's just star jumps. Incredible.
Subtilitas is an architecture tumblr and instagram (and facebook, apparently... in this house we don't acknowledge facebook) that regularly posts projects (otherwise known as "houses") that are clean, simple and often fairly timeless. I was drawn to it years ago because many of the projects were in Switzerland or Western Austria and I'm interested in how the traditional wooden architecture of those regions is being developed into something new and sustainable. 
Finally, one of the truly beautiful things in life and living in Austria is eating desserts as mains. Truly a comfort in hard times. The sweet dumplings I love aren't the easiest to make at home – I have not and will never attempt to fill a huge yeasted dumpling with plum jam –, but everyone can make Kaiserschmarrn at home, which is essentially a version of shredded pancakes (but better). Try this recipe. Don't skip the raisins. Eat with plum compote or applesauce and complain about incompetent politicians for the full Vienna experience.

That's it! Until next time.