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: 

• Monju Hunters of Sofugan Island. “A few years back, I read The Windup Girl. It stuck with me, a bleak bamboo-and-dystopia reckoning of a world split apart by plague, falling back on old, analog mechanisms. This beautiful animated film had a similar impression, making my mind fill in the backstory as all good narratives can. Steampunk, post-apocalyptic acceptance, and a slow, deliberate history from a team of German animators.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• Michael Lewis: ‘Don’t bet against the US. It has an incredible capacity for self-reinvention’ – The Guardian. “Michael Lewis is an amazing writer. In December 2019, he gave an interview to The Guardian on The Fifth Risk, which he describes as, ‘a loss of faith in the mission of effective governance.’ Localized problems like forest fires, he points out, don’t prop up support for good governance because they’re localized—so one part of a country can watch dispassionately, losing the sense that we’re all in this together. And pre-Covid, he points out, ‘I think a pandemic might do it, something that could affect millions of people indiscriminately and from which you could not insulate yourself even if you were rich.’ Context is everything.” (Alistair for Mitch).
• Facing The Wind – The Daily – The New York Times. “Audio version of an article by Carvell Wallace about raising (black) kids in a moment of pandemic, racial strife and protest.” (Hugh for Alistair).
• Barcelona Opera House Open With Concert Exclusively For Plants – EuroNews. “The one question I have is: why aren’t those plants wearing facemaks?!? And they are all crowded in too close together.” (Hugh for Mitch).
• How Substack has spawned a new class of newsletter entrepreneurs – Digiday. “It was Alistair who first introduced me to Substack. Think newsletters meets Medium meets a newer/more interesting way to publish content. Our mutual friend, Lenny Rachitsky, is already monetizing his newsletter (in a big way). Lenny has a great (and free) presentation on Substack called, The Secret To (Newsletter) Success – Deliver consistent value to your value, that I still share far and wide. Substack is on the move, and a company that everyone should pay much more attention to. More importantly, if you’re in the brand building business, and thinking of ways to be more present for your customers (or audience), it’s even more critical to check it out and understand it.” (Mitch for Alistair).
• Milton Glaser (RIP) Explains Why We Must Overcome the Fear of Failure, Take Risks & Discover Our True Potential – Open Culture. “One of the great in graphic design passed away this week. Milton Glaser was 91 years old. A live well-lived. Creative. Artistic. Unwavering. Outspoken. Soft spoken. His life lives on in the legacy of his work. Here’s a great (and short) video on what makes work compelling. It’s about dealing with your fear… and dealing with failure. Such a great reminder for these times.” (Mitch for Hugh).

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

Milton Glaser – on the fear of failure. from Carl on Vimeo.