GH’s Roger Howarth Shares His Top Picks
Board Game: “Rummikub! Rummikub is an important part of any family night. It’s basically dominos; it’s the right level of strategy and fun.”
Book: “I’m halfway through the last volume of Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle and it’s amazing. If you have the time or the inclination to read, you know, 3,600 pages about some deeply personal, weird stuff, then he’s your guy! He can make really banal and seemingly simple things like pushing a kid to a park in the stroller or ordering something at a deli counter resonate. It’s crazy what happens when you read this book because he’s so detailed that you are drawn in. He’s unbelievable. It’s not for everybody, and I’ve had my ups and downs with it, but I’m going to be really proud of myself when I get through it! I mean, it’s not beach reading [laughs]! There’s no plot. The plot is a man’s life laid bare with all of his insecurities and struggles and confusion and he’s really honest about some crazy stuff. Anyone with a father should read the book. Or anybody with children or who’s in a relationship.”
Charitable Organization: “FeedingAmerica.org. What I really like about them is that it works really practically. On a practical level, they can feed a lot of people with not a lot of money and so smaller contributions can actually make a difference. They can feed people with even just a dollar, so it’s a great return. They say [they can provide] 10 meals for a dollar, which is incredible, and the way they do that is to take food that other people don’t need and get it to people who do. And that seems like a really practical pipeline. On a brass tacks level, they seem to be able to get food on a table for somebody.”
Kitchen Gadget: “I’m at a point in my life where I actually use a salad spinner. I think mine is OXO. It’s not fancy.”
Meditation App: “On the self-care tip, I love Insight Timer. It’s a free online platform for different kinds of meditative tools and everybody is represented on there. You can take a sound bath with didgeridoos or you can hear Gisele [Bündchen] talk you through a 12-minute meditation. It covers the gamut for anyone looking for a little peace and quiet. It’s one of those things where I think that if meditation is important to you to be aware that you’re doing it for other people, so that you can chill out so that you’re more present with other people, and one of the things it does is allows you, when you’re done, to see other people in your community that were sitting at the same time, which is really cool.”
Music: “So, Bon Iver did something with Taylor Swift [the song ‘Exile’] and then I had to rethink what I think of Taylor Swift — and she’s amazing!”
Netflix Series To Stream: “I’m watching STARTUP on Netflix. It’s super-smart, it’s glossy and it’s a fun ride. In the pilot, you see this card with a Bob Dylan quote that says, ‘To live outside the law, you must be honest.’ Every character on the show is both in and outside of their own honesty and their own law and I think that kind of shiftable morality is kind of fun to see [as] people struggle with power and family and murder. It’s a smart show. There’s one actor in particular [Martin Freeman] that you just can’t take your eyes off of. I’d watch that guy read the phone book. The kids are good, great performers. It’s just a really good show.”
Online Store: “To satisfy a late-night online shopping crave, I’ve been known to go on The RealReal [TheRealReal.com]. You get to consume things and there’s no cost to the environment because they’ve already been made, bought and now they are being sold again. So, it’s resale, and you can feel good about that; and there’s some really cool, fun clothes for sale there at a significant discount.”
Podcast: “The Slate podcast Decoder Ring. Willa [Paskin, the host, who interviewed him for a recent episode titled The Soap Opera Machine] is super-smart, she’s got a great sense of humor and a point of view and a curiosity and she seems to find a deeper, human level to every [topic]. I think that’s really compelling.”
Trader Joe’s Products: “The frozen gyoza dumplings. They are a staple in my freezer. And the peanut butter-filled pretzels are a must-have. Toby [his dog] really appreciates them, also.”
Yoga App: “Glo is an online platform that’s subscription-based. For $18 a month, it unlocks tens of thousands of yoga classes. I’m incredibly grateful to Jason Crandell, who’s my go-to instructor. He will teach a yoga class that has a practical value. He’s amazing.”
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