5-Bullet Friday — February 12, 2021

 [5-Bullet Friday](=) Hi All!Here is your weekly dose of “5-Bullet Friday,” a list of what I’m pondering and exploring. What I’m watching —“[Philip Roth: Unmasked](” ([Amazon](, [iTunes](, [PBS](=)). I greatly enjoyed this deep dive into the life, craft, and humor of Philip Roth. My quest to learn more about Philip was sparked by [Joyce Carol Oates](), one of the most decorated and prodigious American writers of the last century, who spoke about him during [our podcast together](). Here’s the official description of this interview-rich documentary: “American Masters explores the life and career of Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning novelist [Philip Roth](), often referred to as the greatest living American writer. Reclusive and diffident, Roth grants very few interviews, but for the first time, allowed a journalist to spend 10 days interviewing him on camera.” What I’m reading (short) —[Ketamine for Depression: What the Treatment Reveals About the Brain]( by [Lauren Tanabe]( ([@lauren_tanabe](). This is one of the best pieces on ketamine therapy that I have read. It covered some familiar ground for me, but it also surfaced several possibilities and combinations that I’d never considered. One such combination is ketamine plus rapamycin, an immunosuppressive drug widely used for organ transplants, which also happens to have profound life-extension implications in many species:“He [Chadi Abdallah, MD] and his colleagues recently published a study that found that giving rapamycin, an anti-inflammatory drug, to people prior to intravenous ketamine, prolonged the antidepressant effects; at two weeks, remission rates were higher in the pre-treatment group. Rapamycin may have protected new connections by reducing inflammation, but it does other things too that could potentially explain the findings. For example, it can increase autophagy, ‘the process through which cells remove toxic materials and dead elements in tissues,’ says Abdallah. In other words, it helps to clear the neurons of any junk, which may also help to preserve new synapses.” What I’m reading (long) — [About This Life: Journeys on the Threshold of Memory]( by [Barry Lopez](). I have fallen in love with Barry Lopez’s writing. If you’re new to his work, I would suggest reading [Of Wolves and Men]() or [Arctic Dreams](=) first, as they are nonfiction at its best. [About This Life]( is a mostly autobiographical collection of essays. In descending order, my favorites thus far are: “Learning to See,” “Orchids on the Volcanoes,” and “Apologia.” What I’m listening to — “[Soldier of Love](=)” ([YouTube](=), [Spotify]()) by [Sade]( ([@sade](=)). Poem I’m pondering… which is more inspiring than the title implies — When Death Comes When death comes like the hungry bear in autumn; when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse to buy me, and snaps the purse shut; when death comes like the measle-pox; when death comes like an iceberg between the shoulder blades, I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering: what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness? And therefore I look upon everything as a brotherhood and a sisterhood, and I look upon time as no more than an idea, and I consider eternity as another possibility, and I think of each life as a flower, as common as a field daisy, and as singular, and each name a comfortable music in the mouth, tending, as all music does, toward silence, and each body a lion of courage, and something precious to the earth. When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real.I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument. I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world. — [Mary Oliver]()And, as always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just [send a tweet to @tferriss](=) and put #5BulletFriday at the end so I can find it. Have a wonderful weekend, all. Much love to you and yours, Tim P.S. Deal of the Week — [Helix Sleep Mattresses](). I started sleeping on a [Helix]() in 2017, and I’m still sleeping on one today. They were named best overall mattress of 2020 by GQ, Wired, and Apartment Therapy. My sleep has really improved, and I know that because I track my sleep health each night (HRV, heart rate, temperature, etc). If you’d like to improve your own sleep IQ, consider taking [Helix’s two-minute sleep quiz](). Based on your body type and how you sleep, their algorithm will identify your ideal mattress. They offer a 100-night trial and free shipping, plus completely free returns if you don’t love your mattress. Helix mattresses are manufactured in the USA and cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars less than comparable mattress-store options because they ship directly to you and cut out high-margin middlemen. As a subscriber to “5-Bullet Friday,” [you can receive an exclusive and limited-time offer]() of $175 off of any Standard model or $225 off of any Luxe model (I sleep on the Midnight Luxe), plus two free pillows, which is a better offer than their public Presidents’ Day sale. Just use codes TIM175PD21 for Standard models or TIM225PD21 for Luxe models at checkout. Offer ends on February 28, 2021. Cannot be combined with other offers. Enjoy! FORWARDED THIS MESSAGE? [SIGN UP](=). [Tim Ferriss Photo] Join millions of monthly readers. 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