Cultural Analysis: La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind — Beppe Severgnini

Fiction: Dear Committee Members — Julie Schumacher

Non-fiction: How To Age (The School of Life) — Anne Karpf

Documentary: When Two Worlds Collide — Heidi Brandenburg and Matthew Orzel

Movie: Sing Street — John Carney

Music: Bonfires on the Heath — the Clientele.

Not-So-Ancient Inspiration: “If you never encounter anything in your community that offends you, then you are not living in a free society.” — Kim Campbell