Welcome to InsideHook’s Staff Picks, a compendium of what our editors are digging recently. Note: If you buy through these links, InsideHook may earn a small share of the profits on some items
Some world records are stupid.
And some involve rabbits dunking, and you should watch that record being broken on repeat for a couple of hours:
And now on to this week’s staff picks …
Astorflex Combat Boot
Move over Dr. Martens. The best combat-style boot you’ll find all season belongs to Astorflex. We’re positive you won’t find anything more affordable and better-looking; the speckled soles seal the deal. — Michael Nolledo, Deputy Editor/Chicago Editor
Bose QuietComfort 35 Noise-Canceling Wireless Headphones
If there was life before these, I don’t care to remember it. I’m fairly certain people I run into on a daily basis have never seen me without them. The sound is great for the price, and I’ve picked up on new elements of albums I’ve known for a decade or more. Plus, the noise canceling is so good that I almost forget I live in New York City — but they aren’t smell-canceling, so reminders abound. — Athena Wisotsky, Senior Editor
Weck Tulip Jars
A man needs the right tool for the job, even when the job is repackaging your pasta, popcorn and assorted dry goods in a decor-friendly way. Enter these tulip jars, produced in Germany since the turn of the 19th century. There’s no better-looking — or, for that matter, secure — way to store (and show off) what’s in your pantry. — Diane Vadino, San Francisco Editor
The National Parks Series by Muir Way
No institution better encapsulates the American way of living than our National Park System. They are a living, breathing testament to the qualities that made this country so habitable in the first place: lush, diverse, verdant, robust, beautiful. Here, Muir Way commemorates all 59 of them with a series of clean, colorful wall maps that’ll look good in any room in the house. Be sure to pair with one of the available reclaimed wood frames; proceeds from every purchase benefit the Sierra Club. — Walker Loetscher, Editor-in-Chief
Homo Deus on Audible
When I look for an audiobook to keep me sane on my commute, I lean towards histories and thought books like Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, an erudite account of mankind’s rise from ape to present day. His latest book, Homo Deus, uses this prior knowledge of our origins to predict where we’re going (cyborgs, mutants, robots). Great conversation fodder. — Reuben Brody, Los Angeles Editor
State Franklin Duffle
To get from home to work to the gym to out on the town requires a special type of carry-able in NYC. Namely, a duffel. And I’m over carrying leather. It’s too heavy and my rank gym shoes were starting to seep into the hide in a way that would burn the hair off your face every time you opened it. This number is my new, perfect go-to. It’s the right size, convenient and something I don’t mind rolling up to Soho House with slung over my shoulder. — Shari Gab, New York Editor
Enso HD Hammered Damascus 8-inch Chef’s Knife
Listen, you could spend a solid week down the chef’s knife rabbit hole online and still never come to a decision. But culinary paralysis by analysis is no way to live — sometimes you’ve just got to pull the trigger. And I’m damn glad I pulled it on this handsome number from Enso — well-balanced, sharp as Don Rickles’s tongue even after three solid months of use, and sporting a gorgeous hammered finish that makes me happy to look at — and elicits compliments from all our dinner guests. Best part? At just over a hundred bucks, it leaves some coin left over for a nice cutting board. — Danny Agnew, Creative Director
Tequila Corralejo 1821 Extra Anejo
We were drinking cheap-ish margaritas the other night in the office (good gig if you can get it) when I pulled out this extremely limited-edition agave spirit — distilled in the same way the French distill cognac — to refresh the palate. While the tasting notes suggested a smoky/woody flavor with some herbal/fruity overtones — not wrong — we just found it to be a ridiculously smooth sipper. Liquid gold, indeed, and worth picking up if you can find it. — Kirk Miller, Managing Editor/Nation Editor
Let’s leave you with a bit of culture. Did you know Bill Murray’s releasing an album this week? It’s more of a Great American Songbook/narration thing, with bits of Gershwin, Bernstein, Hemingway and Twain intertwined with violin.
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