Rory Sutherland, Rebekah Neumann, Covid-19 Origins, TM Krishna, Bunker Man
A daily mix of interesting things to read, listen, watch.
📺 Rory Sutherland - Life Lessons From An Ad Man - YouTube
TED Talks have lost much of their appeal in recent years but this one from 2009 is a reminder of why we liked them in the first place. A fantastic 15-min presentation chockfull of insights, wit and wisdom. The talk is ostensibly on advertising/branding but it actually applies to all aspects of life: Changing our perception of something is more valuable and effective than trying to change the thing itself. His book last year - Alchemy - had something interesting in every page. A gem.
💯 How It All Started: China’s Early Coronavirus Missteps - WSJ
There’s no doubt many books will be written about it in the next decade but this methodical WSJ reconstruction of the timeline of the early days of the coronavirus is worth reading. The Communist Party and Chinese media have already begun the process of trying to pin the blame for the origins of COVID-19 elsewhere but its fairly certain that it emerged from the animal market in Hua’nan and most likely transferred from bats to humans in Oct or Nov last year.
☕️The Invisible City: How a Homeless Man Built a Life Underground - The Guardian
The lives of the homeless are more unpredictable and sad than we can imagine. An engrossing narrative of a perennially homeless guy who built himself a tiny bunker in Hampstead Heath, right opposite a 5-story London building that listed for 9 million pounds. “Just an ideal spot. You had the train station, you had a cafe, you had a Starbucks, you had the hospital, you had the 168 bus. It was bloody brilliant.”
👩💼 Rebekah Neumann's Search For Enlightenment Fuelled WeWork's Collapse - The Bustle
There are two ways to look at this. On the one hand, all the bullshit yogababble she injected into the company’s discourse (“WeWork’s mission is to elevate the world’s consciousness”) was part of the problem. It papered over a terrible business model that lost money on every new desk added. On the other hand, without this vague-but-expansive mission statement and tangential initiatives like WeGrow and kombucha-on-tap, Adam Neumann would have been running just another boring real estate company. And a tempered valuation for WeWork commensurate with the limited ambition. Masayoshi Son would have never invested a dime.
🎧 Caste, Gender and Carnatic Music - TM Krishna on Amit Verma’s Podcast
Yet another exceptional episode of The Seen and The Unseen. I’m not fully on board with TM Krishna’s hyper-critical take on the structural and hierarchical issues inherent in the institutions that promote classical music. But he makes a strong case for his radical stance and is well worth listening. The light he shines on the hitherto peripheral players in the business (like instrument makers) is much needed. And fascinating. Already bought his new book after listening to this show.
Bonus Links:
💡 Cognitive Covid - David Gross
👏 The Miracle of Moving a Piano In New York City - NYT