Soak Up the Last of Summer: Late Summer Recommendations from the Clapham Team
This Fall we’re making a small change to our journal. You’ll now hear from us twice a month: once from Mark & once from our staff and affiliates! You can still expect Mark’s reflections on the intersections of faith, politics, and culture, but you’ll also hear from our Clapham staff and affiliates on recent projects or trends they’re observing within their portfolios of work. We’re excited to start this new rhythm and for you to get to hear from the broader Clapham community about the work that is important to us.
Before you start hearing from them, we want you to get to know the staff at Clapham.
It may be mid-August and whispers of school starting again are floating through the air, but here in Washington D.C., it is still 90 degrees and we’re soaking up the warmth of summer (and the humidity). Before summer takes a bow, here are a few of our recommendations for what to read, watch, and listen.
Mark Rodgers, Principal
READ: The Chronicles of The Deryni by Katherine Kurtz for pure fantasy escapism. Each chapter begins with a reference to a Scripture passage. Along with Madeleine l'Engle, Kurtz was a pioneer in female-authored fantasy literature.
WATCH: Thirteen Lives is a new movie directed by Ron Howard about the miraculous rescue of the Thai soccer team who become trapped in the Tham Luang cave during an unexpected rainstorm. It has 89% critics and 94% audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes.
LISTEN: Marcus Mumford’s new solo album and the heartbreaking video for Cannibal directed by Steven Spielburg.
Anna Fronzaglia, Senior Associate
READ: Momo by Michael Ende. Michael Ende, author of the Neverending Story, uses fantasy, epic characters, and excellent storytelling as a channel to engage the reader on transcendent challenges of our human experience. What then is the challenge posed by Momo? Time. What is time? What is our attitude toward it? Do we have enough of it? How do we qualify it? Is it really as simple as adding up numbers to organize our life? It’s only a matter of time until you discover these answers for yourself and the true treasure of how we can live it fully.
WATCH: Full disclosure: I am an inspirational sports film junkie. If I'm being honest, it’s pretty much the only time I “watch” sports (exception: tennis). From chess (yes, I went there) to golf to boxing to hockey to football (here, here, here, here, and here), it's all about the underdog’s tenacious spirit and tumultuous journey to beat adversity and restore hope for the rest of us. To my fellow and/or aspiring junkies looking for that powerful emotive experience of connection, tears, joy, and encouragement, I got you: Seabiscuit.
LISTEN: Something’s gotta give. Literally. For those in pursuit of light-hearted, easygoing background music for cooking, entertaining, writing, eating, driving and/or just trying to live life “la vie en rose,” Something’s Gotta Give soundtrack c’est pour vous! Frenchy and fun, may this album transport you to the picturesque lavender fields of France with great cheer and camaradeship. Apprécier la musique!
Chris Bullivant, Senior Associate
READ: “Gardens of New Spain” by William W. Dunmire. I picked this up at one of the local second hand bookstores in Charlottesville, where I’m based. The book reviews the agricultural foodstuffs that came over from Spain as the Americas were colonized. Who knew how many of the foods we now associate with Latin American cuisine actually originated in China and the Near East. Always fascinating to learn from other disciplines, and this book from a retired National Park Service naturalist in New Mexico doesn’t disappoint.
WATCH: Counterpart on Amazon Prime (2017) is strangely riveting. The pitch must have been, “What if Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin wasn’t a divide between East and West… but between parallel universes!” An interesting survey of human potential, good and evil, and free will, with master performances from J.K. Simmons and, in particular, Olivia Williams, who manages to play entirely different characters for her two counterparts either side of the border - particularly impressive as she spends, as she did in Sixth Sense, much of the show asleep.
LISTEN: Sacrifice by Steve Jablonsky, written for the Transformers franchise. Jablonsky has scored many films and computer games, but IMHO he entirely peaks with this breathtaking score, best played on a Megaboom at full volume. Evocative of God’s deepest commitment to mankind.
Phebe Meyer, Senior Associate
READ: As a Jane Austen fangirl, I was shocked to realize I never read Persuasion, her last novel. I borrowed it from a friend to take with me on a family road trip this summer and found myself swept away by nostalgia and taken back to summers in high school reading Austen by the pool. Persuasion may in fact be my new favorite of her books. Her nuanced female protagonist, elegant turns of phrase, and complex storyline do not fail to delight.
WATCH: I watched the “Country Classics” live show at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville last week, and it has me craving a rewatch of Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns. 16-hours of country music history and hits? Feels right.
LISTEN: Tobe Nwigwe dropped his latest album, “MoMINTS” this week, and it feels like a parting gift from summer. Tobe seamlessly weaves his faith, values, and culture into lyrically rich and musically complex songs. The album features stellar collaborators, including Foggieraw, who was with us for the Ownership is the New Black DC Launch.
Trisha Shank, Associate
READ: I often find myself reading multiple books at once (bad habit or superpower?), so I’ll share the two I’m swimming through currently. First is Dune by Frank Herbert, a complex but well-orchestrated, heavily-mystic sci-fi adventure that unravels on a futuristic desert planet experiencing the trauma of cross-planet warfare & seeking the hope of a savior. Second is Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves, a witty window into a core tenant of the Christian faith which explains the fellowship of the triune God (and the mercy and meaning of that beautiful truth) grounded in the Scriptures and church history.
WATCH: There’s just something about the small town family, familiar coffee shop scenes, and the clever, punchy writing in Gilmore Girls that I have found so delightful this summer. Two takeaways as I rewatch the series: (1) it feels like a serene escape to the truest essence of the 2000s and (2) I’m on a mission to make myself as familiar to the baristas at my favorite local coffee shop as Lorelai is at Luke’s diner.
LISTEN: “Dancing in the Street” by Stephen Day will make you want to literally dance in the street during these last hours of summer. Recommendation: listen to it on a drive at sunset, and crank the volume – enjoy!
Jay Han, Operations & Events Manager
READ: My search for a helpful framework to understand the intersection between culture and faith has led me to Andy Crouch’s Culture Making. Even though the book is almost 15 years old now, the message to create culture instead of merely critiquing, copying, or consuming culture seems as relevant as ever. He masterfully combines findings from sociology and doctrines from biblical exposition to not only help the readers understand culture but also inspire them to redeem it.
WATCH: When I first watched CODA last year, I unexpectedly was overcome with emotions, enough to have cried by myself at a matinee! Watching it again this summer, I can now put into words why this story of familial empathy and sacrifice led me to experience catharsis. Ruby’s wrestling between family obligations and her dreams is intimately relatable as a young adult trying to discern how to best split my time between pursuing my ambitions and spending time close to my family. Family movie that makes you process and feel all together.
LISTEN: I am a year behind on this, but I just started listening to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill by Christianity Today. As someone who had been only vaguely familiar with Mark Driscoll and his church, it’s been eye opening to hear the details of the saga.
David McCurdy, Intern
READ: While I find myself listening to more and more audiobooks today I still love the feeling of flipping pages from time to time. A series that I find myself picking back up from time to time is none other than Harry Potter with the fifth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, being my personal favorite. The accompanying fact that this series was converted to the big screen so well just makes me enjoy re-reading the books even more.
WATCH: My favorite over the last several years has been The Peaky Blinders headlined by Cillian Murphy. The character development and how the storyline is so difficult to predict just adds to the excitement I feel when sitting down to watch the newest episode. It is a show you will not regret starting.
LISTEN: Sell Out, a country album by one of my favorite artists Koe Wentzel has been one of my most listened to albums so far this year. With a good variety of songs that seem more like Jason Aldean and less like Florida Georgia Line, it is right up my alley.