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Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #473

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, 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:

On the Outside: The Harsh Reality of Life After ‘Love Island’ – The Ringer. “What’s the impact of reality TV? From Survivor on, these ephemeral stars—often celebrated not for their greatness but for their petty vindications and personal foibles—have flown close to the light of celebrity. What happens afterwards isn’t very nice. Do we have a moral obligation to change what we consume, as shock-television looks more and more like The Running Man (the book, not the campy goofball Schwarzenegger flick).” (Alistair for Hugh).
QAnon and the Emergence of the Unreal – JoDS. “Ethan Zuckerberg‘s first op-ed for the MIT Journal of Design and Science is an amazing look at QAnon. As he points out, this is the first real participatory conspiracy—by posting breadcrumbs and encouraging followers to investigate them, Q has created a kind of choose-your-own-adventure alternate reality that builds on mistrust in government, and a world that grows more confusing by the minute. Fascinating not only for the background on Q, but also for what it tells us about how society is changing in an Internet era.” (Alistair for Mitch).
Scientists are searching for a mirror universe. It could be sitting right in front of you – NBC News – Mach. “Is there another universe, a mirror to our own, right in front of us?” (Hugh for Alistair).
Chaos Makes the Multiverse Unnecessary – Nautilus. “Maybe there isn’t another universe anywhere, just this one, and chaos explains it all.” (Hugh for Mitch).
How much money can you make on Amazon Mechanical Turk? – The Hustle. “There is a whole lot to consider when reading this article… and it is a must-read. What are we – as a society – willing to accept when it comes to work and wages? What is fair? Does this help get rid of poverty in other countries, or is this making our world much worse? What work can computers do (that human’s can’t)? Where is artificial intelligence when you need it? Our world is not fair and equal. Here’s why… and I’m not sure that Amazon is doing much to make it that much better. What do you think?” (Mitch for Alistair).
Listen up: why we can’t get enough of audiobooks – The Guardian. “Those who love podcasts may also be loving audiobooks. Maybe it’s the other way around? It’s hard to know. What does seem clear is that content that we normally consumer between the covers is now happening between our ears. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, but I don’t fool myself into thinking that it’s the same as reading the actual book. Humans are funny in their content consumption and creation. So, audiobooks are huge… but are people reading books anymore?” (Mitch for Hugh).

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

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.