In the Library

I don't cite studies to win an argument — I cite them so you can go check my work. This page is the short list of places I actually trust: what I read, what I check before I write, what's held up over time. Not everything, not everywhere — just what's earned a spot.

Food & Diet

Distinct set from the In the Kitchen hub list — not a repost.

Books:

  • Bee Wilson, The Way We Eat Now — How eating habits actually shifted, not the theory of how they should.
  • Dan Barber, The Third Plate — A chef's argument for eating around what the land actually produces, not around a diet plan.

Magazines:

  • Saveur — Food as culture and place, not just recipes.
  • Food & Wine — Broader lifestyle angle, useful for the reader who wants range.

Podcasts:

  • Gastropod — Food through the lens of science and history — close cousin to the tension I write from.
  • The Sporkful — Casual, curious, unafraid to ask a dumb-sounding question until it isn't dumb anymore.

Websites:

  • Serious Eats — Testing and technique, written for people who actually cook.
  • The Kitchn — Everyday, practical, low on hype.
  • ChefSteps — Technique-forward, good for the reader who wants the how, not just the what.
  • Civil Eats — Food policy and systems journalism — the wider view behind any single meal.

Heath & Wellness

Distinct set from the On the Porch hub list — not a repost.

Books:

  • Atul Gawande, Being Mortal — Clinical thinking written by someone who still trusts a human being over a protocol.
  • Peter Attia, Outlive — Long-view thinking on healthspan, useful even where I end up arguing with parts of it.

Magazines:

  • Scientific American — General science literacy, the kind that keeps me honest before I go argue with a study.
  • Prevention — Practical, everyday health writing, low on jargon.

Podcasts:

  • The Peter Attia Drive — Long-form, dense, good for the reader who wants the full argument, not the summary.
  • Huberman Lab — Approachable science breakdowns — I don't take every conclusion as gospel, but the framing's useful.

Websites:

  • NIH News in Health — Plain-language reporting straight from the source, no spin.
  • Harvard Health Publishing — Where I check when I want the research itself, not someone's take on it.
  • Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials — Clinical but readable — a good second opinion alongside Mayo.
  • STAT News — Health and medicine journalism with real depth, especially on drug and treatment coverage.

Apple & Technology

Distinct set from the hub list — not a repost.

Books:

  • Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs — The origin story, useful context even decades on.
  • Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism — A counterweight to the gadget enthusiasm — how to use tools without the tools using you.

Magazines:

  • Wired — Broader tech culture, good for the stories that reach past Apple specifically.
  • Fast Company — Tech through a business and design lens.

Podcasts:

  • Accidental Tech Podcast (ATP) — Three engineers arguing it out — closer to how the tools actually work under the hood.
  • Connected — Casual, personal-tech-focused, closer to a porch conversation than a keynote recap.

Websites:

  • TidBITS — Long-running, deep Apple coverage without the hype cycle.
  • Macworld — Steady, practical Apple reporting — reviews and how-tos over speculation.
  • The Sweet Setup — App and workflow recommendations, curated rather than exhaustive.
  • Stratechery (Ben Thompson) — Tech strategy and business analysis — the "why" behind the moves, not just the news.

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