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:
- Moscow’s Spies Were Stealing US Tech — Until The FBI Started A Sabotage Campaign – Politco. “Some of the most damaging security hacks involve a compromised supply chain. Why infect a single company when you can attack the tool on which thousands of firms rely? You may be familiar with SolarWinds, and the more recent, narrowly avoided, Xz hack. But governments have been messing with supply chains for a long time. This is a great example of Cold War skullduggery.” (Alistair for Hugh).
- Cartoon Network’s Website Was Deleted. That Should Scare You All – Slate. “Cartoon Network‘s parent company made around $10 billion, but declared a loss as it wrote off nearly $10 billion in value from its cable channels. And if you need any stronger sign of the death of traditional TV, look at Cartoon Network. It was a cable channel that embraced the Web, putting a ton of content online. Now that’s reversed, with online being the moneymaker, all of that’s behind a paywall. The Internet was supposed to free us from the tyranny of set-top boxes, but a decade later, we’re all subscribing to multiple streaming networks. And unlike the old days of ownership, now we pay a license. I have a rant somewhere about how capitalism was supposed to be about paying for productivity, but feudalism is rent-taking. And online content is increasingly feudalistic. Goodbye to a 26-year old website that pioneered online content, and in many ways, heralds a darker era where human creativity can be erased from our collective consciousness.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- When Hitchens Was Good – Commonweal. “The most amazing thing about this article (nominally about Christopher Hitchens) is the list of things that are different today compared to 2011, when writer Christopher Hitchens died.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- Pete Holmes Returns: Working It Weird – Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out. “I’ve been on a huge stand-up comedy kick lately, with tons of stuff on Netflix and Apple Music and YouTube. One of my favourite comedians is Mike Birbiglia, and I just discovered his podcast, which has a particular premise: Working through unfinished comedy bits. It’s also about craft and art and storytelling. Listening to practitioners talk about building compelling stories, what works and what doesn’t and why, is a joy. You could listen to any of the episodes, but this happened to be the first one that I listened to.” (Hugh for Mitch).
- Eric Weinstein – Are We On The Brink Of A Revolution? – Chris Williamson. “Stop me if you’re tired of my fan-boy love for Eric Weinstein. I heard the term ‘brain crush’ long before I ever fell into the content of Eric Weinstein, but I can’t find a better way to define my affection for how Eric thinks and how he so eloquently communicates it publicly. Like anything, he’s not for everyone and it will take a certain kind of human to wade through this 3.5 hour conversation that traipses through big questions about the self, how we think, how we act, and why we do the things that we do (there’s also a ton of concepts that my simple brain can’t comprehend when it comes to physics, math and fourth dimensions). If you dig into Eric’s life there are detractors and controversy… but don’t let your opinion or any of that get in way of helping you to grow. When Eric talks, I find myself filling notebook pages with concepts, books, songs, and even turn of phrases that will make me better… smarter… sharper. Kudos to Chris Williamson for having Eric on his show so frequently and for the back and forth that sparks these thoughts. It’s awe-inspiring to get this glimpse into such a beautiful mind…” (Mitch for Alistair).
- Bret Weinstein – Joe Rogan Experience #2198 – YouTube. “Eric Weinstein’s brother is Bret (smart smart family). He pulls his own weight too. Perhaps a touch more controversial (Google him and find out). So, in a week that saw me excited about Eric’s appearance on Chris Williamson’s podcast (see my last week), I was thrilled to see that his brother was on Joe Rogan’s show. This one is also 3-plus hours of conversation… and Bret (an evolutionary biologist, podcaster and academic) takes on some super controversial topics in this conversation. If you know nothing about The Intellectual Dark Web, you should rabbithole there… and then try this on… as uncomfortable as it might be. Let me also be clear: Joe Rogan is a very well-read, hyper curious and super intellectual human… don’t let the online trolls fool you into thinking otherwise.” (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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Mitch Joel Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.