"If what make a work of literature a classic is its ability to be a mirror held up against all times and all human societies — the personal experience and the political one — I think this short novel by Isak Dinesen (or Karen Blixen in her homeland, Denmark) must be in the process of becoming one. Read against our own times it can bee seen as a simple tale about a woman on the run from civil war who seeks refuge in an isolated community. Bringing nothing along with her into her exile but her natural kind spirit and knowledge of the culture of the culinary arts, Babette makes a quiet existence for herself as a simple housekeeper until the day she gets the opportunity to show and share her extraordinary skills. And there is nothing simple about that."

"“I love reading about astrophysics and quantum mechanics. I feel like I’m reading very advanced poetry. Or tackling an incredibly difficult crossword puzzle. I certainly do not understand all of the concepts but my mind loves stretching in novel directions and exploring improbable shapes that might, in fact, be real. My introduction to the genre was Hawking’s A Brief History of Time, so it is particularly delicious and poignant to gain an insider’s view into the squabbles and passions of physicists trying to establish the outer (or inner) bounds of our human knowledge. That such a noble pursuit is fraught with the attenuating demands of ego is kind of funny and relatable. For what it’s worth, I believe Susskind’s distinction that a literal singularity is an outmoded and limiting construct. However, Hawking will always be my OG."