Permission to Recharge

If you are on the pandemic struggle bus with the rest of us, you may be in desperate need of some time to yourself to recharge your batteries. Our YPS officers got to talking about their favorite ways to decompress, and we all got some good ideas from one another.

We thought we’d share our favorite TV shows, podcasts and day-off activities in case your relaxation routine needs a reboot!

Contributors: Dr. Whitney Faulconer, Dr. John Corker, Dr. Sara Andrabi, Dr. Jessica Best, Dr. Scott Pasichow, Dr. Nnenna Ejesieme and Dr. Puneet Gupta

Podcasts:  

• Whitney: Patient Zero (amazingly-produced podcast about the discovery of Lyme disease)
• John: Call Your Grandmother (hilarious Jewish Grandmothers getting interviewed by their grandkids... fun and insightful)
• Sara: Southlake
• Scott: Cautionary Tales (Podcast about historic disasters and what lead to them, and what we can learn from them going forward)
• Nnenna: Mad Money
• Puneet: WEM Live! (it's a wilderness medicine cast)

TV Shows & Movies: 

• Whitney: Lego Masters (for the nerds: gameshow where people compete for best Lego creations); Crime Scene Kitchen (teams compete by trying to figure out what was made and reproducing it); Tomorrow War  (Chris Pratt stars in a sci-fi action movie about a war in the future)
• John: Lupin (Netflix), 90 Day Fiance (TLC), The Big Sick (sad, but funny and endearing)
• Sara: Mare of Easttown, Schitt’s creek, any of the Real Housewives franchise, Succession, Big Little Lies, Little Fires Everywhere
• Jessica: Ted Lasso, 9 Perfect Strangers, Manifest
• Scott: Workin' Moms (Canadian comedy about raising children and working full time), Brooklyn 99, Wroth (the story of how the 9/11 funds were distributed to families of the victims)
• Nnenna: Manifest, Dynasty, Reign
• Puneet: Big Trouble in Little China, Star Wars and Firefly!

Books:  

• Whitney: Project Hail Mary (The new book by the creator of The Martian has outdone himself with this first contact alien adventure. Might even be better than The Martian!)
• John: Leadership in Turbulent Times (Doris Kearnes Goodwin)
• Sara: Moth Smoke
• Scott: The Data Detective (an instruction manual for how to consume statistics and stories in the media)
• Nnenna: Kite Runner
• Puneet: The Wheel of Time series was a personal favorite that I can read again and again. I’m currently working my way through Dante's Divine Comedy. 

Day Off (guilty pleasure): 

• Whitney: Go to a get a foot massage (I live for these on my day off)
• John: Canoeing/Cabrewing
• Sara: Massages and pedicures, trying new restaurants
• Jessica: With baby? Walking on the trail. Without baby? Hair, nails, lashes, whatever I can squeeze in!
• Scott: Massage and a good podcast
• Nnenna: Working out and going to dance classes
• Puneet: Going for a long run/skateboard trip and then either eating a multicourse meal or having a bowl of ramen in a hole in the wall with a solid Asahi (argh that crisp lagar is the best), followed by a museum or something cool.