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: 

• Watch the winners of this year’s ‘Dance Your Ph.D.’ contest – Science Magazine. “Heard about this on NPR, but it’s been running since 2008. It’s like the Nobel Prize meets TikTok. Ph.D graduates dance and sing their work. I also accidentally learned some things.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• The problem of CryptoArt – Studio Joanie Lemercier. “A non-fungible token is a digitally unique artifact. And NFTs are being traded at outrageous prices. But there are a few problems: First, the NFT isn’t the art. It’s more like an autograph. There’s no guarantee the artist won’t sign more autographs in future, or that they won’t sign other things. Second, as with cryptocurrency, they use ‘proof of work’ to guarantee authenticity, and that work comes from energy. Artist Joanie Lemercier stopped making NFTs when she realized that her ‘release of six CryptoArt works consumed in 10 seconds more electricity than [her] entire studio over the past 2 years.’ File under ‘Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.'” (Alistair for Mitch).
• The Value of Truth – Boston Review. “More on our epistemological crisis, our loss in the agreement in how we know what we know, brought on by a cocktail of the the web, social platforms, AI algorithms, and humans being humans.” (Hugh for Alistair). 
• Relax and Learn to Love the Stocks Bubble – Bloomberg Opinion. “An interesting take on the usefulness of stock bubbles: they flood funding into promising technologies, and hence accelerate development. Even if many of the companies that bubbles fund fail — and lots of people lose their shirts — there is still a societal benefit of a big bump to development and deployment of new tech. An example: in the mid 1840s there was a US stock bubble around the new tech of the telegraph. More than 23,280 miles of telegraph network cables were deployed during the frenzy; then the stock market crashed, investors lost a pile of money. But in the end, there was a vast telegraph network in the US, compared with France where a state-run/regulated monopoly put down a mere 750 miles of cables.” (Hugh for MItch). 
• 20+ Clubhouse Tools for Marketers – Social Media Examiner. “I am still deep in the weeds on Clubhouse (I’m mitchjoel over there) – the new drop-in audio/social audio platform that seems to be all the rage. As with all social networks, people start figuring out fun and interesting ways to promote themselves, their rooms, and even their own clubs. How to design your avatar, how to spruce up you bio, how to promote an event, where better analytics may be, and much more. Well, the good people at Social Media Examiner compiled a great list of amazing resources (some are apps and some are web-based) that will really help you amp up your Clubhouse experience (especially in you’re into marketing).” (Mitch for Alistair).
• The Creator Economy Needs a Middle Class – Harvard Business Review. “There is much buzz around the idea of the ‘creator economy.’ There’s a push to ensure that creators get paid. One could ask: Do all creators deserve to be paid? I do not think they should. People pay when they experience value, and there are a lot (too many) creators who probably should not be compensated for their work (apologies… the world of selling creative work is not a fair one). This is a fascinating piece that every creator should read. In fact, anybody who thinks about all of the free content that’s out there might benefit from taking a deeper dive into the economics of those who create. Currently, it feels like there’s only an upper class in this economy… should there be more?” (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 ;):