Harakiri. My latest Zone 2-watching, trying-to-become-a-film-buff movie was this 1962 Japanese samurai film directed by Masaki Kobayashi. It’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. The cinematography is amazing; nearly every scene could be a photo you could hang up in your house. But the story and acting are what make this film great. Harakiri is set in 17th-century Japan, during an era of peace that had left thousands of samurai without masters or livelihoods, and it explores how those warriors dealt with decline, along with the sometimes brittle nature of honor culture. There’s a scene where a young ronin is forced to commit seppuku with a bamboo sword. I’m still thinking about it. Absolutely brutal.
“Pray Without Ceasing” by Wendell Berry. Wendell Berry died this week at his farm in Port Royal, Kentucky, at age 92. He was one of my favorite writers. Jayber Crow is my favorite of his novels (I’ve recommended it before), and I’ve also enjoyed his poetry and his non-fiction about agrarian living, the importance of community, and not letting money and technology overtake our lives and dictate our values. One of my favorite short stories of his is “Pray Without Ceasing,” which appears in Fidelity: Five Stories. It takes place in Berry’s fictional town of Port William, the setting for a lot of his fiction. The story is about a guy who was shot and killed by his friend, who was drunk and despairing after mortgaging away his farm to cover his son’s debts. When a crowd gathers to avenge the murder…well, I’ll let you read it to see what happens. The story inspired one of my favorite songs, “Decent Man” by James McMurtry, son of Lonesome Dove author Larry McMurtry. Give the story a read and pick up some other works by Berry while you’re at it. You won’t regret it.
Osprey Atmos AG 65. Fall is here, and with it, prime backpacking season. My go-to backpack for the past several years has been the Osprey Aether Go AG (the AG stands for “anti-gravity”). The anti-gravity system is a tensioned mesh panel that suspends the pack away from your back, which keeps you nice and cool and just feels nice to wear. It’s comfortable. Osprey discontinued the AG suspension in the Aether line, but they still use it in their Atmos packs. If my Aether ever gives out, the Atmos AG 65 is what I’ll probably replace it with. If you’re looking to get into backpacking, check out our guide on how to take your first backpacking trip. Backpacking is certifiably the best form of outdoor recreation (while car camping is the worst!).
Ordinary Abundance. This fun, interactive website takes you on a scrolling tour through a modern apartment, stopping at everyday objects (a lamp, a fridge, the washing machine) to show you what people said about these things before they were invented or when they were brand new. In 1888, Edward Bellamy imagined that being able to queue up whatever music you were in the mood for, on demand, would represent the attainment of “the limit of human felicity.” An observer who was around for the advent of the telegraph called it a “perpetual miracle, which no familiarity can render commonplace.” Modern comforts and innovations now seem so ordinary that we take them for granted and walk past them without giving them a second thought. This site really puts things into perspective about how fortunate we are to be living in 2026.
On our Dying Breed newsletter, we published 16 Pieces of Practical Life Advice From William James.
Quote of the Week
No true man can live a half life when he has genuinely learned that it is only a half life. The other half, the higher half, must haunt him.
—Phillips Brooks
