BYT PICKS: Stuff We Love That You Might Too ⋆ BYT // Brightest Young Things

At BYT, we like stuff! (We even LOVE stuff!) And we think you might, too, so here we’ll share with you what we’ve been reading, watching, listening to and more. (Sometimes there will be guest stars! Exciting! In fact, in honor of National Black Owned Business Month, today’s special guests are Bria Bryant from Killa Cakes, and artist and performer Chazmen McCarter. Catch Killa Cakes live next Thursday at 3pm on @brightestyoungthings instagram live, and Chaz goes live every Wednesday on our instagram at 5pm with the performance art piece @bettyblack_dc.

We also wanna know what YOU are loving right now, so let us know in the comments, or share with us on social media! (@brightestyoungthings on IG, @BYT on Twitter)

HERE WE GO:

SVETLANA LEGETIC

August happened and I immediately felt like I needed a vacation which I could not go on. So my default theme this week is “Dad Vacation” mode:

Book: I just finished John Grisham’s Camino Winds (don’t even start with me, desperate times call for desperate measures) where a thriller writer is killed during a tropical storm on a Florida island and the local bookstore owner sets out to investigate. I don’t really recommend it aside from the fact that it takes approx. a day to read and zero brain cells to process. Which I guess means it does the job. Currently in hand: Michael Connelly’s The Poet series which feels even more Dad-on-vacation like, especially since all the technology in it is deligtfully outdated.

Song: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood soundtrack as a whole. Which is what I imagine cool Dads would listen to on roadtrips.

Movie: We did a based-on-a-Peter Benchley-book double feature this week: JAWS (always and forever excellent) and THE DEEP (not excellent but fun and Jacqueline Bissett’s summer style vibe is very iconic)

TV Show: Playing House on USA. This is actually kind of Mom TV but ….

Something I am excited about: I have been taking Wednesdays off to fully lean into my Dad murder mysteries these past few weeks and I highly recommend it.

MEGAN BURNS

Book I am currently reading: I read Deepak Chopra’s Metahuman: Unleashing Your Infinite Potential over the weekend and like, at the risk of sounding like a totally insufferable kook, I thought it was p. revolutionary! I don’t know if I had a leg up re: easy(ish) comprehension since I have been reading books about quantum physics (somewhat inexplicably since I do not have a science or math brain) for the past five years or so, but a lot of the connections he makes really stood out and stuck with me. (Like, my mind was blown thinking about the uncertainty principle in the context of how it applies to the macroworld.) Anyway, even if you’re not familiar with ye olde quantum jargon, there are a lot of great, graspable points to consider re: not buying into ultra-contrived societal norms, and I would highly recommend giving it a go!

Tune of the week: I have been alternating between Roosevelt’s “Sign” and Pilotpriest’s “Don’t Let The Dark Times Get You Down” all week long.

TV show I recommend: I wrote a whole thing about how I’m obsessed with In My Skin (which just premiered on Hulu last week) // if you haven’t watched it already, DO IT.

Movie I recommend: NOT THIS ONE.

Something I’m excited about: I’m very excited that Bandcamp Friday is back, not just for today, but once a month for the rest of the calendar year! That means if you shop on those designated Fridays, the artists you sup

MARISSA RUBENSTEIN

Book I’m currently reading: I just started The Boys Club by Erica Katz and it is Wolf of Wall Street but with a female lead and so far is very good.

Tune of the week: I am all Run the Jewel’s “RTJ4″ all the time. Currently on repeat is “the groud below“, which samples Gang of Four’s 1979 song “Ether.”

TV show I recommend: I know I’m behind with this but I’m currently watching The Last Dance, which now that it is on Netflix is 100% a series everyone needs to watch, as it is both inspirational and I think a really important look at sports history (or actually just history in general). Also I keep calling it Save The Last Dance in my head because I am stuck in 2001.

Movie I recommend: Before Sunrise is now on HBOMax and is absolutely one of my favorite movies ever to watch and re-watch and watch again and ask yourself the forever question, WOULD YOU GET OFF THE TRAIN WITH ETHAN HAWKE IN VIENNA? Yes. Absolutely.

Something I’m excited about: All month long we are celebrating National Black Owned Business Month with a series of instagram takeovers on BYT’s instagram live and the lineup is very special and features some incredible businesses. See the full lineup here.

DIYA EGGLESTON
Chief Creative Officer of our sister agency, Exactly (and new mom).

I’ve managed to do nothing but childcare this week. I guess my song of the week is Baby Shark???

Tune of the week: Your Nightmares “Baby Shark”

Bria Bryant
Founder and Owner of Killa Cakes

Book I’m currently reading: Plants Only Kitchen by Gaz Oakley (ya girl just went plant based)

Tune of the week: Sad Sometimes by Emma Oliver (a good friend of mine and so talented)

TV show I recommend: Ugly Delicious (David Chang) I love the deep topics they discuss while also discussing cuisine. Like exploitation of cuisines from other countries in fine dining.

Movie I recommend: Recently watched Moonrise Kingdom again and omg I adore it.

Something I’m excited about: My Bite Club Boxes are back! I really made a lot of changes and adjustments and I’m so excited to get them out in the world.