National Geographic... the pictures made me so curious about the world around me and hungry to learn so much more about it and the variety of different people and cultures that exist and they just looked at them and showed how awesome everything out there is and interesting and worthy of being appreciated. The world is a completely fascinating place and I can't shake the fact that I still think that it's worthy of staring at agape like some sort of hick who wandered into the big city and saw skyscrapers for the first time
New York Times food section- sure, it may be elitist at times, but the descriptions of foods that I may not try otherwise in a manner that made them sound fascinating and mouthwatering has led me to try a lot of things, food and otherwise, that I may not have otherwise... what's there to lose? Sometimes the place you secretly suspect fails health inspections has the ribs that you'd run your grandmother over for... and you can apply that metaphorically
Reader's Digest collection of fairy tales (in something like 10 volumes)- my grandmother owned a copy and I always borrowed them... the universality of stories and how they cross cultures and how they move fluidly over time... it just shows how humanity is interwoven in a way
Borges- the worlds that he created and the possibilities that he suggested... so much is possible. The human mind is amazing
Walter Reuther- if you believe in something fucking stick to it... and be clever. A little emotional manipulation for a good cause is nothing to be ashamed of. However, you're an asshole if your causes only focus on yourself... if you don't care to make the lives of others a bit more worth living it doesn't matter how nice you are, you're a shitty person. And anger can be useful. (yay for high school biography projects!)
Studs Terkel- listen
