Read, Watch, Listen is a collection of articles, videos, and stories that have caught my intellectual eye. There’s a variety of fun stories I’ve read or watched as well as some social issues that are important to discuss. Enjoy 🙂

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

As a busy college student, I don’t have much time to read. On my last week of winter break, I made reading a priority. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is an incredible story about a girl living in a Chinese village in the 90’s who has a child out of wedlock and is forced to give her daughter up for adoption.

If you enjoyed Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, you will definitely like this book. This is such a great story about love and mother daughter relationships. I finished this in a week!

US Agricultural Department Wants to Lower School Nutrition Guidelines (The New York Times)

Fourteen million children in the United States are obese. During Michelle Obama’s time as first lady, she worked to combat childhood obesity and change the nutrition standards in schools to serve healthier meals. 

Now, the US agricultural department is trying to lower those guidelines to cut down on waste. They’re not trying to cut down on “waste” for environmental reasons, they’re trying to cut down on waste because feeding children good food in schools costs money. It’s financial “waste”.

I know we’ve all eaten school cafeteria lunches at some point in our lifetimes and they’re certainly not healthy or appetizing. At my high school, they served soggy fries, soggy pizza, soggy burgers, and some small pineapple cups soaked in a sugary liquid.  It’s hard to believe that school meals could get any worse. 

30 million US students rely on eating at school and for students living in a food desert (no grocery store within 1 mile) eating lunch at school could be their only opportunity to eat somewhat healthy meal. It’s crazy to compare school meals in the United States to school lunches worldwide.

Why Your Amazon Purchase Could Come From the Garbage (Wall Street Journal)

If you’ve ever purchased anything from Amazon, you NEED to watch this video. Basically, some 3rd party sellers are sourcing their items straight out of the trash! The Wall Street Journal tested it out by dumpster diving and then set up an online shop through and ordered their own items that arrived in Amazon packaging.

I don’t shop on Amazon super often, but when I do, it’s hard to not become overwhelmed by all the options. I’m so glad I saw this video to make sure I’m checking out the 3rd party seller before I buy from them.

Russian Doll (Netflix)

Russian Doll is a show about a woman who continues to die and come back again to her birthday party each time she dies. The show is about her trying to figure out why she keeps dying. This is one of those shows that is truly unique and addictive. I enjoyed this show so much that I’m watching it a second time with my boyfriend. 

While the plot itself is addicting, the cinematography is also really incredible as well. The episodes are about 20-30 minutes long which somehow makes it more addicting because you can’t wait to figure out the answer. Also, I love the main character, Nadia’s, edgy menswear inspired outfits. This is one funky show that you must watch!

I haven’t written a Read, Watch, Listen post since October, but I really hope you enjoy this series! I’d love to hear your thoughts. What have you enjoyed reading, watching, or listening to lately?