In this week’s essay, John Dickerson looks back on a Sunday morning in 2021, and ruminates on the empty spaces left behind by the people that once filled our lives. 
 
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Notebook Entries:
Notebook 75, page 6. September 5, 2021:
“Oh my god. We dropped our son at college and our dog is dead.” – Anne.
 
References:
“Sunday Morning Coming Down” by Johnny Cash
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot
“When Someone You Love is Upset, Ask This One Question” by Jancee Dunn for the New York Times
“A Case of ‘Sunday Neurosis’” by Jena McGregor for the Washington Post
“Waking Early Sunday Morning” by Robert Lowell
Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything is Changing by Brad Stulberg
Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed
“Alabama Pines” by Jason Isbell
 
 Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.
 
Host
John Dickerson

John Dickerson’s Notebooks: An Exploration of Inklings

Political Gabfest host John Dickerson has been a journalist for more than three decades, reporting about presidential campaigns, political scandals, the evolving state of our democracy. Along the way, he’s also been recording his observations in notebooks he has carried in his back pocket. On the Navel Gazing podcast, John Dickerson invites you to join him in figuring out what these thirty years of notebooks mean: sorting out what makes a life—or a day in a life—noteworthy.

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Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

News

Politics

In this week’s essay, John discusses Mothers’s Day, playing tennis with the Attorney General, medical scares, and more.
 
Notebook Entries:
Notebook 19, page 16. April 2011
Is it possible, through applied thought, to become systematic in an approach to life? If you were to do that how would you proceed? 

Notebook 16, page 6. July 26, 2005
“I’m here with a bunch of midshipmen and wondering what there is to do around here.” - Boy trying to hit on a girl working @ The Reef in Castine, ME.

Notebook 15, page 30. September 2004
Head problems:
Sunday 9/5 morning
Tuesday 9/7 evening
Wednesday 9/8 before lunch

Notebook 22, page 22. April 24, 2014
Question: 
What did you want to be when you were a kid? 

What do you want to be now?

Why the difference?


Notebook 9. 1995
“That’s just the ticket the doctor ordered”

Notebook 13. 2001
“Free as a clam”

Notebook 17, page 67. December 2006
The man sitting next to me has a face on the boil and garlic and old booze on his breath. When he sleeps, he sighs. For this leg of the flight I am wrapped in his breathy gumbo.

Notebook 15, page 7. April 2004
“In all these there are messages for those who use their reason.” - Quran quotation

Notebook 15, page 80. 2005
Would like to meet her.

Notebook 54. July 26, 2020
“Writing requires a reader. You can’t do it alone.” - John Cheever

Notebook 15, page 71. 2005
In the light of sobriety not sure what this means

Notebook 13. March 2001
Yesterday I played tennis with John Ashcroft the atty. general of the U.S.

Notebook 13, page 108. December 11, 2001
Anne just called. There is one little heartbeat beating in her today. Everything is okay for this hurdle. I must say, I was really worried.

Notebook 20, page 10. December 24, 2013
“Sometimes Dad says weird stuff, just ignore him” - Anne to kids about me

Notebook 15, page 84.
“Life goes on,” Hayawi says. “We are in the middle of a war [in Iraq] and we still smoke the water pipe.”

Notebook 45, page 24. April 16, 2019
Our savior lives by the manner in which we live.

Notebook 19, page 23. 2011
People on their mobile phones in England say goodbye a lot: “Cheers, alright then, speak to you soon, ta.” (That’s four ways of saying goodbye). Amelia tells the story of a man who thanked a ticket-taker by saying “Ta, magical, cheers.”

References:
Disaster on the Penobscot - John Henry Fay for Naval History Magazine
One Man’s Meat by E.B. White
The House at Allen Cove I E.B. White House Tour - New England Magazine
Little Plastic Castle - Ani Defranco
“Two Years of War: Taking Stock” - Anthony Shadid for the Washington Post

Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus to get access wherever you listen.
 
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.
Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com

John Dickerson’s Notebooks: Time Travel Via an Assortment of Journal Entries

In this week’s essay, John discusses the differences between moving around New York in 1991 and 2021; remembering 9/11 twenty years later; and more. 
 
Notebook Entries:
Notebook 75, page 12. September 2021
Notebooks to Garret

Notebook 75, page 13. September 2021
Can you make a typo with handwriting? What’s a typo with handwriting called?

Notebook 4. 1991
We have to unplug the light to run the vacuum, so we do a lot of our vacuuming in the dark.

Notebook 75. September 11, 2021
Fritz want something?

References:
Smythson Notebooks in Blue
9/11 ceremonies, events and coverage on 20th anniversary - CBS News
Richard Drew on Photographing the “Falling Man” of 9/11 - CBS News

Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus to get access wherever you listen.
 
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.
Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com

John Dickerson’s Notebooks: Moving in New York Twenty Years After September 11th.

In this week’s essay, John discusses the Pomodoro Routine (among other productivity routines), why he especially needs a meditation pillow, and how a particular teacher captured his heart. 
 
 
Notebook Entries:
Notebook 75, pages 8 and 9. September 2021
OReinstating the Pomodoro Routine…
Starting Marshall again…
Write Brice…
Send Laura the larger project list…
Work on budget to get accounts in order
Meditation pillow upstairs.

Notebook 18. December 6, 2009
Instapaper
Alpha Smart
Richard Hugo on poetry
Degrees of Gray In Philipsburg.

Notebook 18, page 105. June 4, 2011
Visit to Mr. Mead. He was playing piano as we entered. [During our conversation, he asked]: do you find your work fulfilling? Do you have a close circle of friends? Questions about life and living it well…


References:
Getting Things Done - David Allen
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey 
The Questions That Will Get Me Through the Pandemic - John Dickerson
43 Folders - Merlin Mann 
The Hardest Job in the World - John Dickerson
Essays of E.B. White
“Merlin Mann” - Tina Essmaker for The Great Disconnect
More about Ernest “Boots” Mead
“Because Buying New Running Shoes is More Fun Than Actually Running” - Merlin Mann for 43 Folders
Atomic Habits - James Clear
The Creative Habit - Twyla Tharp
Free Agent Nation - Daniel Pink
“Sharon Salzberg On: Openness, Not Believing the Stories You Tell Yourself, and Why the Most Powerful Tools Often Seem Stupid at First” - Ten Percent Happier

Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus to get access wherever you listen.
 
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.
Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com

John Dickerson’s Notebooks: The Sneaky Pitfalls of the To-Do List

In this week’s essay, John discusses an onboarding memo for his assistant Laura, and recounts his early days living and working in New York City. 
 
Notebook Entries:
Notebook 75
Onboard memo for Laura

Notebook 3, page 44. May 1991
June 17 start job. Good stuff

Notebook 3, page 46. May 1991
Tips on buying renting in NYC
Ask about broker
20s and 30s East side. Murry Hill
Live on no major avenue
Interest bearing account for security deposit
Medeco locks

Notebook 4, page 15
Scared standing on 34th and Broadway
$6 cab fare

Notebook 4, page 42
Getting lost in the village

References:
The Little Brown Book of Anecdotes by Clifton Fadiman 
Medeco Locks
“Here is New York” by E.B. White
“Silly Job Interview” - Monty Python 
John Cleese on Creativity in Management
Herbie Hancock: Miles Davis’ Essential Lesson On Mistakes

Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus to get access wherever you listen.
  
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.
Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com
 
Host
John Dickerson

John Dickerson’s Notebooks: Remembering Early 1990s New York

In this week’s essay, John discusses the art of attention and how to develop the skill of slow-looking.
 
Notebook Entries:
Notebook 75, page 8. September 2021
1016
 
Notebook 1, page 54. June 1990
-   Magna carta 1215 at Salisbury
-   Girls skipping
-   The Haunch of Venison
-   Chris
 
References:
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
A Little History of the World by E.H Gombrich
Artist Jeff Koons
“The Art of Divination: D.H. Lawrence on the Power of Pure Attention” by Maria Popova for The Marginalian
“Gabfest Reads: A Woman’s Life in Museum Wall Labels” for Political Gabfest 
One Woman Show by Christine Coulson
“Grammy-winning artist Jason Isbell talks about the craft of songwriting and his latest music” for CBS News
A Journey Around My Room by Xavier De Maistre
“Just think: The Challenges of the Disengaged Mind” by Timothy Wilson, et.al for Science
“Our Rodent Selfies, Ourselves” by Emily Anthes for the New York Times
One Man’s Meat by E.B. White
 
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.
Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com
 

Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus to get access wherever you listen.
 
Host
John Dickerson

John Dickerson’s Notebooks: An Exploration of Inklings

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