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:
- The man who cut out his own appendix – BBC News. “You think you’re hardcore? You’ve got nothing on Leonid Rogozov, a Russian surgeon stationed in Antarctica who had to perform his own appendectomy. I learned two things from this story: First, that Rogozov became a national hero on par with Yuri Gagarin as part of the Cold War; and second, that many countries now insist their researchers have a pre-emptive appendectomy before traveling to Antarctica.” (Alistair for Hugh).
- A real-life Lord of the Flies: the troubling legacy of the Robbers Cave experiment – The Guardian. “I hadn’t heard of the Robbers Cave experiment (or its predecessor, the Middle Grove experiment). In the spirit of the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment, this is a study from a time before we had consistent ethics for sociological testing. And, clearly, the researchers had an opinion that influenced the outcomes. But, it’s a fascinating story—and frankly, feels like modern reality TV.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- Vincent Racaniello: Viruses and Vaccines – Lex Fridman Podcast #216 – YouTube. “Podcasting has really started to deliver what I always hoped it would: Long in-depth conversations between intelligent people about deeply fascinating topics, digging into and disseminating knowledge in ways that traditional media never could (because the cost was too high). Two of my favorite podcasts over the past year are: Lex Fridman‘s podcast (MIT AI researcher, who has 3 hour conversations with a range of brilliant people – talking about quantum physics, linguistics, consciousness, blockchain, alien life, cosmology, and so many other topics. Always thoughtful and deep. And, This Week In Virology (TWiV), hosted by Vincent Racaniello, was a critical source of real information during Covid, when a group of practicing virologists (experimental and clinical) talk about the studies and news, and helped me understand what was really happening as the science of Covid progressed. This podcast brings the two together, to talk about the fascinating history of viruses, failures of science, policy and communication, vaccine hesitancy, and Covid.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- The Exponential Age will transform economics forever – Wired. “Everything is changing faster and faster. The curve lines are getting steeper and steeper; we ain’t seen nothin’ yet. However will we keep up?” (Hugh for Mitch).
- Economics Needs to Reckon With What It Doesn’t Know – The Ezra Klein Show. “What is going on with the economy? Seriously. If the data is true, and one in five hundred US residents have died from Covid (and that’s not even the beginning of the global impact) and other massive issues in our world (lockdowns, supply chain issues, work from home, productivity, etc…) have come to pass, how is it that the economy is booming (and, yes, I realize that governments have handed out cash like never before)? This is something that has vexed me from day one: Businesses that I thought would tank have done well. Businesses that I would have expected to flourish have died during the pandemic. It makes me wonder if I know anything (at all) about business? Well, it turns out that some of the smartest economists in the world are suddenly faced with many ‘mysteries’ about our economy based on long standing models and theories. So, take a listen. This is one fascinating look at economics… and what may (or may not) be around the corner…” (Mitch for Alistair).
- Is Limitless Choice Killing Us Slowly? – Sway – Kara Swisher. “What would happen is Google and Amazon merged? It seems fictional, and that’s the point. In this podcast, Kara Swisher talks to author Dave Eggers about his latest fiction, The Every… which is fiction… but feels like it could happen (or, is happening?) right now-ish. Eggers is an amazing writer (and, if you have not read his other book, The Circle, you really should). Are these big tech companies ‘apex predators’ already? This is a great conversation about a work of fiction that feels about as real (and possible) as it gets.” (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):