I enjoy discovering and subscribing to new recommendation newsletters, especially those written by women. Here’s a list of what’s currently in my inbox. — CD

• What I Loved This Week by technology worker Sarah H., a newsletter featuring book and entertainment recommendations, along with curated links and rabbit holes.

• A thing or two with Claire and Erica, which delivers the 10 finds they’re most excited about—from recipes to books to beauty products—that are destined to make your Mondays better.

• The iivy by Kelsey Wheeler, a weekly newsletter supporting a community of women who share the best tips, products, routines, and advice to help you become the best version of yourself.

• Sam’s Seven, a weekly list of 7 things that art director and stylist Sam Kidd Shelton is eyeing, buying, reading, and recommending.

If you're curious about the occult and esoteric but unsure where to begin, Vestus Mysteria is a great newsletter to subscribe to. Joe, the writer, is a history buff who provides clear and easy-to-understand context on the most mysterious subjects. I appreciate that he includes links to sources and book recommendations for those who want to learn more. Each issue feels like taking a sip of the unknown. Here’s a link to a recent issue where he explains the origin of the phrase "Dark Night of the Soul". — CD

I've intentionally cut down on my social media time, but there's one account I never scroll past because it always makes me smile: Official Stick Reviews on Instagram. It's the internet's go-to spot for stick reviews submitted from around the world. Initially, I thought it was satire, but I soon realized the enthusiasm for finding cool sticks is both genuine and contagious. Here’s a good example. — CD

The Recomendo team is trying something new that might interest you. Once a week we will ask readers a simple question and then we’ll curate the best answers to share in a newsletter the following week. These questions won't be about current events, nor will they solve any mysteries. Instead, they are about finding what's good and true and beautiful in everyday life. There are no right answers and there is only one question. We’ll run this as a free one-page newsletter (similar to Recomendo), and we’ll keep going as long as people enjoy it. If you want to read the best answers and see the next question, sign up for Just 1 Question here: https://just1question.substack.com/

One of my favorite zines of the early 1990s was Beer Frame: The Journal of Inconspicuous Consumption. In each issue, the author, Paul Lukas, reviewed mundane products by examining their packaging and design details in a way that made me look at everything in the human-made world with fresh eyes. He stopped publishing it a few years later and focused on reviewing sports uniforms for the next 25 years, which held zero interest for me, unfortunately. But a couple of months ago, Lukas rebooted Inconspicuous Consumption as a Substack newsletter. After reading the issue about the superiority of "Beware of Dog" signs over "Beware of the Dog" signs, I immediately bought a subscription. — MF

Tastes in music and art vary tremendously person to person. I have no idea whether you’ll enjoy these artists as much as I do, but here is a short list of the artists I follow on Instagram. I tend to follow those who keep surprising me.

• Ad hoc, guerilla, tile art on the street

• Cartoonist and art teacher

• Designer of odd and unexpected things

• Ultimate spirograph artwork

• Digital gif-like abstract images

• 1950s-vibe collages 

• New Yorker cover artist

• Floating ink, in action

• Color pencil photorealist

• Inventive miniature dioramas

• Psychedelic rainbow colors

• Scrapwood abstracts

• Vinyl-toy-like ceramics 

• Illustrator of botanical forms

• Outsider art

I am sure I have only touched the surface of all artists posting. — KK

I’ve been learning a lot about visual thinking from Terri Lonier and her free newsletter, SOLO—designed to help solo entrepreneurs stand out. Terri holds a PhD in Business and Brand History and has extensive experience as a strategic advisor, and because of this, every issue feels like a master class in visual frameworks, storytelling, typography, and more. In her most recent issue, she shared her "7 Heroes of Visual Communication," which directed me toward many new and fascinating resources. Check out her archive and subscribe here. — CD

Craig Mod is a writer, designer, photographer, friend, and world-class walker who lives in Japan. He is currently walking from Kyoto to Tokyo (for the third time!) along a traditional route at the crazy pace of 30-40 km per day for 18 days. At the end of each looooong day, Craig is writing up the most lyrical and lovely observances of modern Japan along the way. His daily letters are insightful, honest, dark, luminous, sweet and prolific. When the walk is done at Tokyo, the daily newsletter stops and all emails are deleted. He’s one-third done, but you can sign up for his “popup newsletter” called The Return to Pachinko Road here. – KK

If you find Recomendo useful, you’ll definitely enjoy Rambull — a newsletter that profiles a different person each week and shares 6+ recommendations for living, buying, experiencing, and more. I had the pleasure of being profiled last week, and I was truly impressed by the thoughtfulness and care Rob, the creator, invests in crafting an issue. A few of the things I shared were ones I had intended to recommend here, making this a bonus Recomendo! — CD

Genius Wisdom is a daily newsletter I don’t mind invading my inbox. Each issue highlights a “legendary thinker” with practical tips and tasks for applying their genius vision to your own life. It’s a good daily motivator. — CD

I don’t know whether chiropractic care is effective or not, but just watching this animal chiropractor adjust the skeletal system of dogs makes me feel better. Known as Der Knochenknacker (“The Bone Cracker”), Murat Colak is an animal osteopath from Germany who has TikTok and Instagram channels with videos of him loudly cracking the joints of dogs. His love for animals shines through in the clips. — MF

Watch sidewalk artists in Waikiki draw extreme caricatures of customers, and their customer’s hysterical reactions. The drawings are much more exaggerated than typical caricatures yet they look uncannily like the subjects. I was laughing along with the people who bravely sat for the drawings. A guaranteed mood lifter. — MF

Generative AI art is particularly suited for architecture. My favorite AI Instagram follow right now is Midjourney Architecture. It features the best examples from diverse creative AI co-artists who generate ultra imaginative buildings and unexpected interiors. It doesn’t matter if these won’t ever be built. (There is a set of multiple images behind each image on the home page.) — KK

Noted is a weekly newsletter on the art of note-taking that focuses on the personal notebooks of creative and historical figures. I’m always amazed at the in-depth research and insights by English professor and literary historian Jillian Hess. Her passion and curiosity for note-taking are evident and very inspiring. Peeking inside personal notebooks offers an intimate glimpse into someone’s inner space and this newsletter has influenced the way I organize my own thoughts. Highly fascinating and highly recommended. — CD 

I try to limit my subscriptions to daily newsletters, but the 1-min Daily Question newsletter cannot be snoozed or ignored. Each question is a prompt to reflect on my life and goals (like what patterns am I stuck in? or what does success look like for me?). Every email redirects me to a 60-second timer that acts as a timeout from the busyness in my head. It's a short respite, but its peaceful and I appreciate the gift of clarity. — CD 

Structural Failures on Twitter is a collection of fascinating videos of collapses of buildings and towers, showing the catastrophic consequences that can result from engineering and construction mistakes. (There's no gore, but some of the videos show workers in peril.) — MF

One of my favorite living artists is Tauba Auerbach. I first encountered her work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where she had a solo show at the age of 40. There is a nerd appeal to her work. She enjoys knots, new materials, geometry, calligraphy, camouflage, glass blowing, weaving patterns, all in service of beautiful surprises. She is a good follow on Instagram, and is worth a trip out of your way to see her exhibits. — KK

Here’s a list of the top 50 Substack newsletters with the most number of subscribers. I am not subscribed to any of these, but I did check out all their archives and the only one I was interested in was Organizational Psychologist Adam Grant’s newsletter Granted. Most of the newsletters I noticed were political. This list made me realize that the number of subscribers does not at all reflect a newsletter’s usefulness or personal value. Here’s a list of my top 5 favorite newsletters on Substack right now:

• Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter — I’ve been reading his horoscopes since I was a teenager. He’s a spiritual outlaw and a poet and his newsletters are not just horoscopes — they’re always inspirational and artful and joy-filled.

• Rusty’s Electric Dreams — described as, “one of the most inspiring, weird and off-kilter collections of curated kitschy ephemera for the big-brained” and as “the New Yorker for the weirdos.”

• Burning Shore — Author Erik Davis’ newsletter exploring the “cultures of consciousness.” He describes his work as dancing around “the intersection of alternative religion, media, the popular imagination, and the cultural history of California.”

• deepculture — a weekly digest of 10 interesting things every Tuesday. (Sometimes I discover Recomendos here!)

• The Most Creative — This newsletter is about balancing and prioritizing the creative life. Elliott Fienberg’s musings are insightful and encouraging and a beacon of light in my inbox.

For an outstanding example of what generative AI artists can do, check out Joann’s brilliant instagram series on the Inflatable Wonders of the World. Click through all 10. — KK

Probably the most personal recommendation I’ll ever make is La Cuenta, a weekly newsletter that explores the financial and personal costs of undocumented living in the U.S. As the first born child of two immigrant teenagers from Mexico, I experienced the mental and emotional toll firsthand, but this newsletter has been vital in my own cultural understanding and in challenging the stereotypes perpetuated by media and politics. The creators behind it are Antero Garcia, an associate professor at Stanford and Alix Dick, a filmmaker and human rights activist from LA. — CD