Many Voices, Many Rooms: Week 8

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Highlights This Week

The first highlight this week is another "I'm late to the party" entry, Radiotopia's podcast Ear Hustle. Produced by Nigel Poor, a visual artist and now podcaster, who has been volunteering at California's San Quentin prison for eight years, and Earlonne Woods, an inmate at the prison, this podcast gives listeners a look "inside." The stories they tell are both shocking and sweet, and also important as we as a nation are forced to take a closer look at the inequities in all of our systems, including the penal system. No spoilers in this review, but season three includes a very happy ending for one of the inmates. A great listen.

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray -  Another entry this week about the penal system and its effect on a family. This is a hard read, covering a wide variety of difficult human issues including bulimia, infidelity, aging, divorce, fraud, betrayal, estrangement, and abuse, but with glimmers of hope around the edges. I enjoyed spending time with these characters and this was one of those books I didn't want to end.

The Farewell - Yes! I saw Awkwafina's latest last weekend and it was as spare and effecting as promised in the previews. Make sure to stay until the very end or you'll miss the punchline of the whole movie.

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