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:

• The Largest Sphere In The World – Dami Lee – YouTube. “It was impossible to avoid clips of U2 opening the Sphere – the massive spherical venue that just took over the Las Vegas skyline. With 168,000 speakers, beamformed at each person; a new camera invented just to record spherical content; and an insane number of pixels inside and out, it’s a feat of engineering. But it also cost $2.3 billion, draws over $17 million in electricity a year, and isn’t easy to design for. So is it a good idea? I really liked Dami Lee‘s explanation of it.” (Alistair for Hugh and video is below).
• Bob Boilen’s Farewell Show: Songs That Say ‘Goodbye’ – All Songs Considered – NPR. “For 23 years, Bob Boilen hosted All Songs Considered. He’s retiring and this episode is his swan-song, filled with songs that say goodbye, chosen from his encyclopedic knowledge of music. Seemed apropos for you, Mitch, given your musical history and OG podcaster status.” (Alistair for Mitch and audio is below).
• How To Build A Heat-Resilient City – Grist. “I’ve been feeling guilty about my link last week, arguing we shouldn’t do anything about the climate crisis. It’s not a position I hold, but I do wish we would get more analytical about evaluating options. Anyway: I love the emergence of better urban planning around for hot cities. The ideas — from ivy covered skyscrapers to painting surfaces white to more investment in trees — all make for better cities to live in.” (Hugh for Alistair).
• The Failure Of Kevin McCarthy Is Another Step Away From Democracy And Toward Civil War – Ray Dalio – LinkedIn. “Hedge fund guy, and recently public thinker, Ray Dalio is worried about a lot of things, and one of them is civil war in the US. He believes the latest sign is the failure of ex-US House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy‘s to get a single vote from Democrats, resulting in his ouster. Dalio is a man of the middle, and the most interesting thing about this article is a list of issues that a minimum of 60% of Americans agree on (based on polling). Dalio thinks – and I agree – that this would be a good place to start to build a new centrist political movement. The current political approach however is: Screw the other guy as much as you can (I’d be interested to see similar data for hot button issues in Canada).” (Hugh for Mitch).
• Another Step Toward International War – Ray Dalio – LinkedIn. “I can’t tell you how many times I went back and forth on posting anything – anywhere – online about the current war in the Middle East (and, yes, the same goes for the war in Ukraine). I know enough about social media to know that my opinion will not change any minds. I know that posting my despair does little beyond my small social media circle (which is, mostly, people who will know where I stand). I know that whatever words are posted are overshadowed by who I am (and not what I am writing). I’m also sad, angry and scared (which is not a good combination that equates to well-reasoned thoughts). With that (like Hugh above), people like Ray Dalio can remove ’the side you’re on’ and add a much-needed meta-perspective. With any conflict, we need to know the end result and (only from there) can we truly takes steps towards peace and prosperity. It’s amazing that we live in the world that we do, where neighbors can’t get beyond tribal history or belief systems to the realizations that we’re more like one another than different. After all of these years, it boggles my mind that peace and stability is so often tossed to the side to highlight both our differences and the mentality that changing others to be more ‘like us’ is the path forward, rather than accepting and celebrating what makes us different. I’m sure that even these words will spark eye-rolls and anger.” (Mitch for Alistair).
• The Blogging Boom Is Back—And It’s Happening On Substack – Christina Loff – Substack Reads. “The other week, I posted on Six Pixels of Separation that it has been twenty years since I first started blogging (and I have not stopped). The same dedication and persistance can be attached to my podcast, Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast, where I published episode #900 last week. I don’t write this to brag. In fact, when I think about why I keep blogging… the only ‘real’ responses that I can muster up are: 1. I am a mule. 2. I can’t not post to the blog. Perhaps these are bad reasons, but I’m just happy to write and share. Same for the the podcast, I publish an episode every Sunday because… it’s Sunday. With that, I can tell that this article reads more like an advertisement for Substack than a deep article about why blogging matters and/or how it has changed. For some, chasing and building the audience is paramount. For others, it’s just about finding a little digital corner of the Internet to express some thoughts. Regardless of what you’re looking for and how things have changed, this article did make me reflect on how much love, thanks and appreciation I have for those who show up (regularly), write, create, share and engage. I appreciate it… and it remains one of my most beloved forms of media (to create and consume).” (Mitch for Hugh).

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

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement  and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.