What's Good?

Happy Friday! What's good?

A year or so ago, I backed a campaign on Indiegogo for a small ice cream maker. I honestly do not remember where I saw mention of it or why I decided to buy one. I think, at the time, I was overwhelmed with the fruit in our CSA, and I thought that perhaps I could use some of it in sorbet. Now, of course, we live on the other coast and my freezer is full of bagels, not apricots. But yesterday, the ice cream machine finally arrived, and I'm actually quite excited to start making frozen concoctions. (Can I rationalize ice cream as a breakfast meal? You bet I can! Look for a month’s worth of breakfast ice cream recipes soon! And they won’t all be bullshit ones with cottage cheese, either.) Anyway, this new machine makes a very small batch — just a pint — which is sort of ideal — or at least, is the size of the containers we have in the freezer. Is this a New Yorker thing, Kin and I wonder, as we find ourselves very much leaning into its consumption since moving here.

I don’t like to think that the machine-makers said that “ice cream machines haven’t changed in hundreds of years.” But lord knows almost everyone does use that annoying phrasing. Everyone wants to be a goddamn innovator.

Elsewhere in the health and wellness innovation hustle: Just when you thought this storyline couldn’t get any worse — "Ozempic for Kids? Drugmakers Test Weight-Loss Shots for 6-Year-Olds." "Ozempic and Wegovy Don’t Cost What You Think They Do," says The New York Times, promising that your health insurer will get you a better deal that the prices that are cited now. Eye-fucking-roll. "A New Era of Psychedelics in Oregon." (Just don't fly a plane while high, eh?) "More Than a Third of Women Under 50 Are Iron-Deficient." This also fills me with dread: "What’s the best diet for your body? A federal study aims to find out."

This week's food stories / food panics: "What to Know About the 4 Food Additives Banned by California" — make some room on the shelf where you’ve been stockpiling sriracha to stockpile peeps. Laura Thomas responds to some of the fear-mongering about ultra-processed foods. "Panera Bread’s Charged Lemonade Is Linked to Death in Lawsuit" — be careful of caffeine. Yikes. Lyz Lenz on "The eternal allure of Engagement Chicken."  You know the answer already if you're reading Second Breakfast, but The Washington Post explains "Why breakfast sandwiches rise and shine as cereal keeps losing steam." "How cookies conquered New York."  (I did not know that the founders of Levain Bakery are endurance athletes which, if you know the cookie, explains a lot.)

Some sports and sports-tech news: I have pre-ordered Caster Semenya's book and you should too. "Running in a Body That’s My Own" — her op-ed in The NYT.  And an interview in The Cut.  Dr. Stacy Sims writes, "What Women Need to Know About Zone 2 Training" — once again, a lot of the recommendations about fitness (and data) are based on science that doesn't necessarily apply to women's bodies. But often “what we need to know” is more confusing than it’s worth. "Hot yoga potent antidepressant in study," says Harvard.

I wrote about super shoes. "Even Short Runs Have Major Health Benefits," says The NYT. But here in the city, it’s all about that upcoming long run: 26.2 miles the first weekend of November. The Washington Post highlights a couple of local runners in their story on "marathoners at the back of the pack." I'll have more to say next week about the NYC Marathon. I'm not running — just volunteering at Mile 25 and cheering later in the evening with Project Finish.

Everything feels pretty awful right now. May we all find some peace and some joy.