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:
- Dystopian Future Securities Fraud – Bloomberg. “Matt Levine writes a fascinating newsletter on finance. He’s been on hiatus for a while, and his return installment looks at insider trading. As it points out, we don’t really have ‘insiders’ any more in a digital world. We have indexes, and knowing what’ll be on those indexes is lucrative. Often, it’s an outsider making money from shared knowledge—and new opportunities for fraud abound.” (Alistair for Hugh).
- Welcome to Restaurantland – The Strong Paw of Reason. “I had no idea the staggering level of restaurant use in the US compared to the rest of the world. The stats are astonishing, but as this piece points out, restaurants serve a social function in the States: ‘eating in restaurants constitutes the common core of American culture.’ That’s an interesting lens through which to see everything from capitalism, to consumer culture, to the decline of public spaces, to even resentment of COVID restrictions.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- An Oral History of ‘Steamed Hams,’ The Funniest Simpsons Scene Ever Recorded – Mel Magazine. “My university years revolved, partially, around the Thursday evening showing of The Simpsons, 8pm I believe. The Steamed Ham segment was a favourite at the time, and surprisingly (or unsurprisingly?) there is a whole article dedicated to it, in which the writer claims this is ‘one of the most famous comedy shorts of all time.'” (Hugh for Alistair).
- Scientists Propose Permanent Human Habitat Built Orbiting Ceres – Futurism. “Ceres, take me away.” (Hugh for Mitch).
- 50 Years Ago: 1971 in Rock Music – Best Classic Bands. “I don’t often discuss my age or my Birthday, but this year’s will be a tough one to ignore. I’ll be fifty years old. It feels strange writing that out. Even thinking about it seems strange. I still feel (and act) like a child (in my mind). This article came across my feed… it’s my birth year. And, it stopped me in my tracks. Just go through this list/article and allow it to boggle your mind as it boggled mine. How is it even possible that so many classic albums all came out in the same year? Wow. The diversity. The majesty. The glory. The beauty. It’s no wonder why music plays such a huge role in what makes me who I am. I, seriously, had no idea that all of these albums came out in the year that I was born. It’s simply astounding…” (Mitch for Alistair).
- The Spirit of Neil Peart – Rolling Stone. “It has been a year. So much sickness and death. The global pandemic? Sure. Still, we’ve lost so many great artists beyond what this pandemic caused. Just this past week, it was the first anniversary of losing Rush’s Neil Peart. His musicianship, lyrics, poetry, writing, and live performances just can’t be ignored. You don’t have to be a fan of progressive rock, the drums, or Rush to be able to appreciate not only his contributions to our culture, but what a huge loss his death was. When Eddie Van Halen died… when David Bowie died… when Prince died… that level of royalty. This is a powerful prose about Peart’s life and his legacy. Again, you don’t have to be a Rush to appreciate this piece… and like my good friend (and famed radio DJ), Terry DiMonte, wrote when he posted about this same article on social media, it will bring you to tears.” (Mitch for Hugh).
Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.
Are you interested in what’s next? How to decode the future? I publish between 2-3 times per week and then the Six Pixels of Separation Podcast comes out every Sunday. Feel free to subscribe (and tell your friends ;):