Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

• Who Is Reading Even For Anymore? – The Free Press. “Last century’s moral binary between people who read and people who don’t has morphed into the more specific notion that the bookshelf is a window to the soul. Is reading a performative act now? My feeds are certainly full of bros who are crushing it, dropping their favorite bedside reads. But is the world now split into those who enjoy a book for themselves, and those who wear their books like symbols? Hugh: Next time we catch up, I want to discuss what this means for writers.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• The Real Reason Why Music Is Getting Worse – Rick Beato – YouTube. “First: Is it though? But if you accept Rick Beato‘s premise, he makes a good case. Although a lot of it sounds like ‘back in my day’ stuff – music’s too easy to listen to; we don’t buy albums and listen to every track over and over again since streaming came along. Mitch: Next time we catch up in person, I want to debate this with you.” (Alistair for Mitch).
• The Death Of The Magazine – The Honest Broker. “Just last week, at my in-laws house, I saw an edition of National Geographic magazine on a coffee table, and thought: Why doesn’t my family (two kids under 14) subscribe? National Geographic is a gateway for curiosity about nature, adventure, culture, and the globe. But here is an article about all the recent cuts to editorial, staff, writing and more, and their recent focus on TikTok videos. A sad, familiar decline for a magazine. National Geographic’s print circulation is down from ~12 million in the 1980s to 1.8 million in the US in 2023. 1.8 million is a big number for a magazine, but in 2023, laid off all staff writers and stopped newsstand sales in 2024. Still, they have 280 million Instagram followers?” (Hugh for Alistair).
• The Phenomenal ‘New York Review of Books’ – The Atlantic. “While National Geographic, like many magazines, has morphed into something very different than it used to be, The New York Review of Books – one of my favorite periodicals – continues to publish long thoughtful pieces on all sorts of subjects, as it has since its founding in 1963, and has about as many subscribers as it ever has. It looks just the same. Who knows if it will survive, but I hope so.” (Hugh for Mitch). 
• The Spectacular Failure Of The Star Wars Hotel – Jenny Nicholson – YouTube. “When I first heard that Disney was building out an immersive Star Wars experience (Galactic Starcruiser) where customers would pay to be immersed in their own Star Wars story, the little nerd in me got all the feels. Then, as clips and the pricing emerged my thoughts shifted to ‘let’s see how this plays out first… I’m not sure it’s worth the crazy prices that are being tossed about.” Welp, it flopped. Hard. Why? Well, if you have four hours (not a typo), this is an incredibly amazing piece of video from Jenny Nicholson that is both fascinating to watch and getting a lot of attention. Brands talk about creating an ‘immersive experience’ all of the time, and what Jenny has produced here is both a fascinating business case that should be dissected at the Harvard Business School and she should be hired to work for Disney. No need for a resume… just get the people in leadership positions and HR to take a gander. You would think that this type of journalism shouldn’t require four hours of attention, but wow this is fascinating and the time flies by. As an aside, I feel like there is some kind of unique business model here as well. Imagine companies paying influencers like this to really (and honestly) break down every component of their experience? Check this out…” (Mitch for Alistair). 
• Adult Fiction Titles Are Booming, Thanks To Booktok – Sherwood. “For the past while (let’s call it almost two years), I have been questioning the impact that business books have on the general zeitgeist. On one had, you have many writers publishing many business/non-fiction titles praying to get listed on the New York Times’ bestseller list as a gateway to fame, popularity and higher speaking fees/credibility. On the other hand, I can’t point to many instances where a new concept (think: Atomic Habits, which was published in 2018 and still sits at the top of these bestsellers lists) has really broken through. In fact, it feels like so much has changed in how we work post-Covid and (still) not many new big ideas have permeated the population. My friend, Ion Valaskakis sent me article this as some kind of validation for my thinking. Total non-fiction is down 2% (I wonder if business non-fiction is better or worse?) in a world where Adult and Young Adult Fiction is booming. What’s going on here?” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on X, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

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