Good morning,
And welcome to the Cultural Reads Newsletter with worldwide book, music, and movie recommendations.
In today’s newsletter: A Year of Reading the World, Colombian Movies, African in Greenland, Desert Blues, Japan Series & Taiwanese Aboriginal Music.
In 2012, Ann Morgan started a life-changing project: A Year of Reading The World.
She decided to spend one year reading a book from every country.
The project changed her life, led to many friendships with famous authors, a TED Talk, and several book deals, and inspired me to start Cultural Reads.
Last week, I finally had the chance to interview her. Check it out!
Three years ago, I shared my three favorite Colombian movies.
Now, with a Colombian girlfriend and my first trip planned, it’s time for an update.
Here are the 10 best Colombian movies!
As a kid, Tété-Michel Kpomassie fell gravely ill after a snake attack. When he recovered, he found a book about the Greenland Eskimos and realized they had no snakes because of the cold.
This fun fact became an obsession for Michel, who traveled for eight years to live with the Eskimos in Greenland.
The result is a fantastic autobiography that is adventurous, hilarious, and incredibly culturally sensitive. It comes from someone who decided to immerse himself in a culture and climate opposite to his own.
Besides the book, here’s a short BBC interview about his experience. I got the tip from Ann Morgan from ayearofreadingtheworld.
The loyal readers probably know that I’m a fan of desert blues music, so much so that my most listened-to song on Spotify last year was Achinkad by the Algerian band Imarhan.
Last week, I finally had a chance to see them live. Check out the incredible performance above!
Are you looking for an excellent series to binge-watch?
Check out Shogun, a TV series on Disney and Hulu about the first Englishman to sail to Japan after the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the second Great Unifier of Japan.
Shogun has an 8.7 on IMDB, earned 25 Emmy nominations, and became the first Japanese-language series nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.
Although dramatized, it’s based on actual historical characters, making it an exciting way to learn more about history.
Want more like this?
Check out the best historical fiction books, historical movies, or the best Japanese movies.
Music is a universal language, so it’s fantastic to see international collaborations (like the European bands I featured in the previous newsletter).
A great example (and one that this article agrees with) is David Darling and The Wulu Bunun.
The Wulu Bunun are an indigenous Taiwanese aboriginal group famous for their unique polyphonic vocal traditions. On this album, they collaborate with American cellist Davis Darling to create a beautiful blend of two worlds.
My favorite song is Lugu Lugu Kan-Ibi.
