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:
- Filter Failure at the Outrage Factory – Chris Swan’s Blog. “I hadn’t heard this expression before, but it accurately sums up a whole range of sins. When historians look back at the widespread adoption of tech, they will wonder how we didn’t make the obvious connection between political splintering (and the emboldening of extremism on both sides), and the fact that we built a system to amplify and steer us towards the fringes. This is an older post, but it is full of interesting links for the next time that you want to get, umm, outraged about algorithmic content.” (Alistair for Hugh).
- The Library of Babel. “There is a book that accurately predicts the way Mitch will die. Don’t feel bad; it also predicts the means of my death, and Hugh’s. This thought experiment has a fascinating backstory (that includes the estate of a dead author). But it makes you think.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- Marvel At The First Batch Of Full-Color Images From NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope – The Verge. “Pretty awesome pics from the newly launched James Webb Telescope.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- The Lost Art of Looking at Nature – Dissent. “Is there anything better than a good David Attenborough nature documentary?” (Hugh for Mitch).
- Leaders: Get ready for the ‘Great Reengagement’ – Fast Company. “When it comes to ‘experts’ about work, I am starting to have my suspicions. It doesn’t seem like many of the experts about work called ’The Great Resignation’, and it now seems like many of them have an idea about how this unfolds. I still think this is a very painful and lumpy recovery. We don’t even know what this recession will do. We don’t even know what the actual workforce wants (or needs). We don’t even know what consumers will be looking for as everything from inflation, supply chain, customer service, etc. continues to feel a level of pressure that we’ve never seen before. With that, I do believe that if companies are not neck-deep in trying to engage their team members (and their customers), it’s going to get a lot uglier much quicker. So, as you struggle to figure out what your employees and customers need, you may want to spend a multiple of that energy on engaging your employees. Otherwise, it’s going to get a lot worse…” (Mitch for Alistair).
- Joe Rogan: Comedy, Controversy, Aliens, UFOs, Putin, CIA, and Freedom – The Lex Fridman Podcast. “No matter how you feel about Joe Rogan, politics, cancel culture and everything else about our societal discourse (which, to me, always seems to be both right and wrong at the same time), this conversation really gave me pause. Not too long ago, I remember saying to a media friend, ‘what happened to cancelling Joe Rogan? The war in Ukraine seems more concerning to the media?’ Can’t we focus on more than one issue at a time? Well, it turns out that Joe Rogan gained two million listeners during his controversy (something I wasn’t aware of). I’ve stopped following his content long before the myriad of controversies that made the headlines. With that, I was reflecting on a time (not that long ago), where his work was truly inspiring. It seemed like everything Joe Rogan did, he did with a level of success that most people could never attain. From standup comedy to acting to color commentary for the UFC to podcasting and beyond. He was more than a ’triple threat.’ Suddenly, he became a threat to society. Then it went away, when he wasn’t cancelled, but had a huge growth in audience. Have his apologies been accepted by society? Are we moving on? Or have we found others to target? Our world is a strange and scary place. What we accept. What we shut down. What we’re silent about. What enrages us. No matter how you might feel, I do believe that this is a fascinating conversation about culture, humanity, the media machine, controversy, apologies, and much more. It says a lot about us. And, I’m not one hundred percent certain, that it’s a good thing.” (Mitch for Hugh).
Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.