Categories: Articles

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #395

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, Pandemonio, and ResolveTO, Author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto) 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:

Boxwars – YouTube. “I’m new to this, but it’s been around for a while. It combines the best parts of renaissance fairs, burning man and cosplay. Make elaborate costumes (and aircraft carriers, and more) out of cardboard. Work for weeks on them. Then smash it all and have some beers. This made me inordinately happy.” (Alistair for Hugh).
Raising a Social-Media Star – The Atlantic. “My daughter came home from school last week saying one of her classmates had hundreds of followers. ‘I want followers,’ she opined, not really knowing what they were. We’re raising kids in a weird world. Here’s a good piece on being the parent of an online celebrity.” (Alistair for Mitch).
Babe, What Are You Doing? – Jezebel. “I’ve read more than I should have about Grace and Aziz Ansari. This is the first article that I think got to the nub of the uncomfortable issue, which is, regardless of what ‘ ide’ you’ve landed on: we need to start to have sensible conversations about this uncomfortable stuff.” (Hugh for Alistair).
Globalization is stuck in a trap. What will it be when it breaks free? – The Globe And Mail. “Whether or not you agree with its conclusions, this is the best article I have read that explains the economic history, and present, of globalization, and where the Trump/Brexit movement comes from.” (Hugh for Mitch).
TV, retail, advertising and cascading collapses – Benedict Evans. “I live a strange existence. The marketing, communications and media industry has given me so much joy (and such an amazing career). At the same time, it often feels like a house of cards that can collapse at any minute. Not because of the business, but because of how fast technology is being adopted by consumers, and how it (fundamentally) changes how they buy things… and what they engage with. It’s easy to look at a specific channel or media outlet (as we often do), but what if it is all cascading in a very dangerous way?… which I hope that it is not!” (Mitch for Alistair).
Why is the cover of Fire and Fury so ugly? – The Guardian. “Can you read this article and take it all in without pandering to a political side? It’s very hard these days. Still, this was one of the more interesting reads on book design, why it matters, the effort that is put into this art form (and, make no mistake about it, it is a serious art form) and whether or not that even matters. If a book publisher knows that they have rocket ship on their hands, do they care about the cover? Put your politics aside and enjoy the ride…” (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.