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Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #528

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:

Yugoslavia’s Homebrew Computing – Cory Doctorow – Twitter. “Yugoslavia wasn’t as compliant as other countries behind the Iron Curtain, so it was cut off from those countries’ efforts in the early age of personal computing. They built their own—with fascinating consequences such as broadcasting programs as audio that could be loaded from a cassette, and turned into content. This thread by the always-fascinating Cory Doctorow sheds some light on an incredible history.” (Alistair for Hugh).
Papyrus – Saturday Night Live – YouTube. “I’m saying as little as I can to avoid spoiling the surprise. But this video from a while back came up in a recent discussion about branding, and it’s too good not to share.” (Alistair for Mitch).
The Hidden Life of Viruses – Nautilus. “The viruses among us.” (Hugh for Alistair).
10 Theses About Cancel Culture – Ross Douthat – The New York Times. “Cancel culture explained… almost.” (Hugh for Mitch).
Helvetica – Gary Hustwit. “One good turn deserves another. If you’re going to post about fonts, I have to add the amazing (and serious!) documentary about everyone’s favorite font (fight me on this), Helvetica. From this documentary, Gary Hustwit and his team went on to create a myriad of amazing documentaries that traipse between art, design and culture. If you have not seen this movie, you really should. Bonus Covid Points: If you’re a member of your local library (and, if you aren’t, what are you waiting for?), many of our public libraries offer Kanopy as a free movie streaming service, and Helvetica is available there. If you don’t have access to Kanopy, Helvetica is still worth paying for. Especially, if you’re a typography nerd like me.” (Mitch for Alistair).
The Embarrassing 1,000-Year History of the Male Power Ballad – Mel Magazine. “I’ve always had this fear/paranoia that I would be hit by a car, rendered unconscious, and people would grab my iPhone to figure out who I was… and then see my embarrassing playlist of cheesy music that I love. What can I say? I’m a sucker a power ballad. Especially those from the hair metal days. Judge me. Go ahead. I don’t judge my earholes (as I once heard Sarah Silverman say). Still… it’s admittedly embarrassing. Here’s a great essay on this, exact, issue. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m in the mood for either Whitesnake’s ‘Is This Love’ or Asia’s ‘Only Time Will Tell’.” (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.