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: 

• We’ve Hit Peak Denial. Here’s Why We Can’t Turn Away From Reality – Marianne Cooper – Maxim Voronov – Scientific America. “The results from COP 24 are pretty bleak. As are the hot war escalations, spreading pandemics, and social media. Hank Green summarized many of these issues really well recently, echoing some of the things I’ve said at FWD50 (and even a thing I published about how Latin words in English often label someone as part of the ‘elite’.) But what really stuck with me was his final question: We know change is coming, but how do we speedrun it? It took 200 years for the printing press to reform the world, and those were pretty bleak years. When radio hit, we got two world wars. Each time human sensemaking changes, there’s an upheaval in how we organize ourselves. It would be great if we could avoid that somehow – and as this piece suggests, the first step is to stop denying it. But nobody likes bad news, and we got way too comfortable.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• Murder Party – reddit. “I listened to The Kill List while driving last week. While entertaining, there were so many cheap production tropes and dangling suspense throughout. It reminded me of Bodkin, Will Forte‘s Netflix comic/crime series about True Crime podcasters. I guess this is in the Zeitgeist now, and this comic I saw on Reddit hit me a bit. Since you like graphic novels, I figured you might find this interesting.” (Alistair for Mitch).
• Brick. “Are you a slave to your phone and those damn apps. First job is to delete social media apps (do it now! You won’t regret it). And next step, maybe, is to order this little device/app called Brick, that lets you set a schedule to turn off various apps, and only get them turned back on if you tap your phone to the device (that you might, say, keep out of your bedroom in the kitchen).” (Hugh for Alistair).
• The 99 Best Movies of 1999, Ranked – Rolling Stone. “Oh, nostalgia. It was quite a nice experience going through this list of the top 99 movies from 1999, which turns out to have been a banger of a year for movies. Lots you’ll remember/expect (The Matrix, Run Lola Run, Office Space, South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut), and a few surprises (Last Night, The Limey, Election). This list is quite incredible. I cannot believe how many amazing films came out in this one year.” (Hugh for Mitch).
• Why Human Brains Were Bigger 3,000 Years Ago – Chris Baraniuk – BBC. “Spoiler alert: Just because your brain is smaller doesn’t make you less smart. Still, when you read this article, what should strike you is the timeline of civilization. Right now, it seems like our world is on fire (for a myriad of reasons)… but reading this article makes you realize that this is all a blink in the main timeline. Science is amazing and we keep learning more and more about our past and how our brains really work. Such a fascinating area of discovery (and, if this is interesting to you, look for some of the many books on the mind like, The Consciousness Instinct – Unraveling the Mystery of How the Brain Makes the Mind by Michael Gazzaniga). Also, it turns out, that size is just one piece of the puzzle… and maybe that’s something to think about beyond just the size of brains.” (Mitch for Alistair).
• How Podcasting Became The New TV – John Herrman – New York Magazine. “I’ve been having some (semi) serious conversations about the state of podcasting with some of my peers. Most of it stems from this one main thought that I can’t seem to shake: Podcasts are now TV shows. This may seems obvious to some, but my show (Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast) is now over 18 years old. Over 950 episodes. 52 new episodes every year. And it’s audio-first/audio-only. Just posting the video of it on YouTube doesn’t seem to do much. And if I look at my podcast habits, I tend to prefer ‘watching’ podcasts on YouTube. The ones that I prefer to watch look more like a TV show than a video recording of a conversation. They have sets, quality gear, proper editing and production. So, do I need to change it up? Has the landscape shifted away from audio… even seeing clips on TikTok and Instagram add huge value to other shows. This article is validating these conversations that I am having. This should also validate the power of new media, if you’re still licking your wounds over the past US election cycle…” (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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