In this week’s newsletter, we ask our new contributing editor Dalya Benor about her media routines and rituals, get gardening lessons from Frances Palmer, ponder the impacts of A.I. with David Wallace-Wells and Jerry Saltz, and more.
Good morning!
One of the things I love most about hosting Time Sensitive is to have a reason—okay, an excuse—to sit down with people I wouldn’t necessarily have any business meeting otherwise. This week’s guest, the chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller, widely celebrated for his three-Michelin-starred restaurants The French Laundry, in Yountville, California, and Per Se, in New York City, is someone I’ve long wanted to interview. Because of all the finely tuned touchpoints—the service, the ingredients, the cooking, the plating, the taste, the vibe—a meal at one of his restaurants will lodge itself in your mind forever. Not surprisingly, perhaps, memory-making is one of the main goals of Thomas’s hospitality group.
Time, of course, is deeply connected to cooking, so naturally we’ve had several chefs on the show to date—Daniel Boulud, Daniel Humm, Dan Barber, Eric Ripert, Ruthie Rogers, and Rita Sodi, in that order, and now, Thomas. I’ve found something curious about all of these conversations with top-of-their-game chefs and restaurateurs. Each has followed a decidedly smooth progression and flow. Maybe it’s their training, their ability to stay focused and in the moment, and the precision involved in their work, which must on some level trickle into their daily lives. After my conversation with Thomas, I told him, “I hope this doesn’t come across the wrong way, but that may be the easiest interview I’ve ever done.” He replied, “Well, I’m a chef—we’re good at following instructions.”
One of the notable things I discovered in preparing for my conversation with him is that, in his kitchens at both The French Laundry and Per Se, he has installed five Audermars Piguet wall clocks with the phrase “Sense of Urgency” underneath them. (I spotted this while watching his recent Chef’s Table: Legends episode.) “Sense of urgency,” he tells me on Time Sensitive, “is a philosophical attitude that we have on how we work or how we progress, how we are preparing ourselves for the future.” This carpe diem mindset is something that all our Time Sensitive guests exude: Years of training, preparation, and deep focus, plus action, led each of them to pivotal, momentous breaks and to the lofty posts they’re in today.
Slowness is also embedded in Thomas’s approach to his life and work, which might seem counterintuitive to a “sense of urgency” mindset, but actually, it’s not. To be swift in the moment doesn’t mean that you can’t also take a long view. Hence the tongue-in-cheek name of the Time Sensitive podcast. Slowness and urgency don’t have to be opposites. The author Rebecca Solnit—whose latest book, No Straight Road Takes You There, is one of this week’s “Three Things,” below—would call this outlook longsighted.
To be longsighted is no simple task, though. To do so requires persistence in the face of the unrelenting capital “N” Now. Conveniently for Thomas—as he speaks about beautifully on the episode—persistence is his greatest form of pleasure.
—Spencer
“Memories give us a sense of internal wealth that can’t be replaced by anything else.”
Listen to Ep. 132 with Thomas Keller at timesensitive.fm or wherever you get your podcasts
Life with Flowers: Inspiration and Lessons from the Garden by Frances Palmer
The art historian and ceramicist Frances Palmer begins her latest book, the graceful and elegant Life with Flowers: Inspiration and Lessons from the Garden (Artisan)—a six-part journey about the seasonal life of flowers—with a reflection on hellebore plants. From there, she takes a curated, colorful approach to gardening and floral design—capturing fresh takes on both blooms themselves and the subject of patience. A seasoned potter, Palmer cultivates her flower beds with a level of care equal to that of the ceramics she crafts. From outlining the history of each plant to tracing the soil conditions best suited for them—such as violet and citron-colored prevernal hellebore blossoms that spring up from a bed of ice—Palmer’s latest book integrates her knowledge in both plants and pots to help readers navigate variables in growing year-round. Palmer’s approach not only explores the craftsmanship inherent in florals (see her chapter “Making Flower Anthotypes”), but also how humans, like plants, can bloom following periods of darkness.
No Straight Road Takes You There by Rebecca Solnit
When the author and activist Rebecca Solnit was the guest on the finale episode of our At a Distance podcast, in December 2023, she said, “Slowness is a superpower.” Her new book of essays, No Straight Road Takes You There (Haymarket Books), could be viewed as a manifesto for exactly that sentiment. Appropriately, in the book’s first essay—titled “In Praise of the Indirect, the Unpredictable, the Immeasurable, the Slow, and the Subtle”—she hails “slowness, patience, endurance, and long-term vision, because these things seem like crucial equipment for changing the world or even understanding it.” Indeed, this slim volume makes the case for pursuing what she would call a longsighted life, one that accepts the winding, twisting, turning path ahead by remaining deeply grounded in memory and drawing from the patterns of the past. As Solnit is wont to do, she meanders (one piece is titled “In Praise of the Meander”), but she always brings her essays back to several core themes: time, the climate crisis, feminism, democracy, power (and those who abuse it), and hope. She advocates for engaging in deep time (as opposed to “shallow time”), equipping oneself with a “historical imagination,” and the necessity of collective action (“even the world’s greatest conductor needs an orchestra”). To read this book is to take a hike with a guide who may not know exactly where she’s going, but she’s fully present for the entire journey. And did we mention the mind-expanding views?
DEMO2025
Assembling an impressive array of experts spanning art, design, digital media, science, and technology, the DEMO2025 festival—the third edition of this visionary annual event—will kick off on June 4 at WSA in Manhattan’s Financial District. The three-day conference and 19-day installation will explore how advancements in fields such as A.I., worldbuilding, and social architecture have the power to augment and alter art and the planet. Championing and highlighting the entrepreneurial spirit of the New Museum’s New Inc. cultural incubator, 44 participating practitioners—such as the multidisciplinary artist Gabriel Massan and the “digital somatics” creator Hiba Ali—will present their work in gallery-like showcases and experimental panel discussions. One of the projects on view, Katherine Adam’s “Time Signature,” explores how the perceived permanence of the human experience can be affected by technological happenings and recordings, thus illuminating the unpredictability and happenstance of our lives.
Our new contributing editor Dalya Benor places a particular emphasis on seeking out pleasure in her daily life: A staunch believer in the power of deceleration, she’ll occasionally start her weekend mornings with a movie, or perhaps spend an hour more than may be socially sanctioned under her duvet. She also loves to indulge in books—in bed, on the subway, even while walking on the sidewalk. Naturally, Benor runs the Substack The Pleasure Lists, which catalogues the greatest pleasures of various authors, aesthetes, and creatives, from The New Yorker staff writer Lauren Collins to our very own editor-in-chief. She’s also a finger-on-the-pulse art and culture journalist who writes for publications such as The New York Times, Vogue, and Wallpaper. This week, she published a profile of the Tribeca design gallerist Alex Tieghi-Walker in The Observer, and in last week’s Slowdown newsletter she interviewed the designer, producer, and artist Alexandre de Betak. Here, Benor tells us about the people and places that capture her spirit—and the media rituals and routines that resonate most with her.
How do you start your mornings?
I’ve never been a morning person—and I don’t know if I ever will be—but I’m getting better. On the subway to work, I like to read a book and try not to check my phone the whole time. If I’m super engrossed in whatever I’m reading, I’ll read while walking, too. It’s a nice analog way to start the day. I don’t usually listen to music or podcasts in the morning—I feel like it shuts me out from the world. I prefer to take in my surroundings and observe.
If it’s a weekend, I like to have a slow morning and stay in bed as long as possible—read first, then get up and make coffee and breakfast.
Where do you get your news from?
For current affairs and politics, The New York Times mainly; for everything else, newsletters, group chats, and Instagram.
Any favorite newsletters?
Rachel Tashjian’s Opulent Tips newsletter. I read each one religiously and click on all the links (there are many). She’s a funny, whip-smart fashion critic who brings so much bygone grace and elegance to fashion writing. Other newsletters I currently like include Zoe Latta’s Rotting on the Vine, which has a hippie-L.A. vibe for niche shopping finds; Dossier; and for travel inspiration, YOLO Journal. I also love Emily Wilson’s The Angel, Kaitlin Phillips’s Gift Guide, and Passerby.
Any favorite podcasts?
I love The Critic and Her Publics with Merve Emre, who’s a brilliant, insightful author, interviewer, and professor. Her podcast goes deep into the art of editing. It’s a real writer’s podcast that scratches the precise itch I have for this niche topic. I listen to Time Sensitive, too, of course.
I used to listen to a lot of How Long Gone, because they interview a lot of writers I admire and am inspired by. I think they are great interlocutors. They keep it spicy, snappy, and fun, which is my ultimate trifecta.
What are your favorite magazines?
The New Yorker, especially the Food and Culture sections. T: The New York Times Style Magazine, too. I love reading a cultural deep dive accompanied by beautiful photography and a good story. Others I read include Cultured—I think they do a great job of curating and featuring rising talent in the art and design worlds—and the Financial Times’s HTSI.
I was absolutely obsessed with magazines when I was growing up—I catalogued every issue of Allure when Linda Wells was the editor-in-chief. Now, I don’t buy magazines often, but when I do, it’s more of a keepsake.
What book or books are you currently reading?
I just finished Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume (Book I) and am now onto Book II. It’s so good—truly a page-turner. I’m also reading Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo, and am picking up and putting down The Uncollected Stories of Mavis Gallant.
Any guilty pleasures?
I’m a cookie and muffin freak. I love Knead Love’s pastries and stopping into Happier Grocery on Canal Street whenever I’m in the area. Can you tell I’m from L.A.?
Inspired by Rachel Tashjian, I too have taken up the guilty pleasure of “morning movies”: On weekends, I’ll sometimes wake up and put on a Criterion Collection movie on my laptop and watch it in bed.
This interview was conducted by Becca Rashid. It has been condensed and edited.
Our handpicked guide to culture across the internet.
More than a decade since the debut of her trademark Roly-Poly chair, the designer Faye Toogood (who was also recently a guest on Time Sensitive) discusses the multidisciplinary approach vital to her studio’s success [Pin-Up]
David Wallace-Wells (the guest on Ep. 56 of Time Sensitive) and Jerry Saltz debate both the usefulness and the political and reality-altering effects of A.I. on art-making [Vulture]
Hanif Abdurraqib reflects on how the depths of his grief counterintuitively became a state of comfort—challenging the avoidance of suffering so commonplace in American culture [The New Yorker]
Writing about a new exhibition at Karma gallery of wood sculptures by the 98-year-old artist Thaddeus Mosley (the guest on Ep. 111 of Time Sensitive), art critic Will Heinrich notes that Mosely brings out “every last bit of [hardwood’s] natural aesthetic splendor, as Noguchi did for stone” [The New York Times]
The author Jhumpa Lahiri (the guest on Ep. 69 of Time Sensitive) will see Unaccustomed Earth, her 2008 short story collection, adopted into a Netflix drama series [Tudum by Netflix]