Last weekend we blew up this little inflatable pool in the backyard for the kids because it was almost 80 and beautiful outside. This morning I went running and there were flurries, a wind advisory and a wind chill of 19 degrees. Make it make sense!
One of the more fun things about a windy and cold weekend is that it incentivizes you to stay inside with a hot beverage and read. If you’re looking for some interesting stuff, here’s a few things I came across this last week. Topics range from patience in our professional lives, inflation, Ukraine, social media and theological tribes. Good (and heavy) stuff!
What is the Sixth Day Six? Click here to learn what it’s about.
Lack of Patience is Your Biggest Mistake | Gary Vaynerchuck
I never thought I’d be putting something from GaryVee in one of these roundups. I’m typically lukewarm on his posts - it tends to glorify hustle culture a bit too much for my personal taste. All that said, this recent post in LinkedIn Publisher was something I personally really needed to hear this week. Maybe you’ll get something from it too.
In my opinion, patience isn’t a hindrance to success — it’s a key component. Ambition and tenacity are amazing things to have, but if they go unchecked, they can lead to some negative effects like anxiety, lack of self-confidence, and burnout. The best way to keep your ambition under control is by having an equal amount of patience to balance it out.
Click here to read the full article.
BBC resurrects WWII-era shortwave broadcasts as Russia blocks news of Ukraine invasion | The Verge
What’s old is new again. For the first very online war in my lifetime, the BBC is reversing back to WWII technology to communicate in places where there their websites are being blocked and/or journalists are being censored. A lot of the information war is playing out on social media - but short form radio still may be a saving grace for some.
“In a conflict where disinformation and propaganda is rife, there is a clear need for factual and independent news people can trust,” said BBC director-general Tim Davie. “We will continue giving the Russian people access to the truth, however we can.”
Click here to read the full article.
The antidote to social media is being more social | David Heinemeier Hansson
I’m pretty introverted. For my birthday last year, one of my gifts was going to Imaginarium by myself and reading a book…and I loved it. The pandemic and just a potential maturation in life makes me value in-person connection more than I used to. It’s why I try and participate in Setup’s marketing mixers and am making a point to try and meet with people in-person a lot more often than I have the past few years. This post from one of the Basecamp co-founders reiterates that idea.
There's a reason subjecting prisoners to total isolation for even a few days is considered torture. Even the most introverted among us need human connection. We're hardwired for it. And we'll find it in whatever dysfunctional forms we can, because anything is better than nothing.
I think we may well look back upon these social dark ages of the pandemic as a grand social experiment of microdosing a huge swath of the population with this unique form of isolation torture. No wonder so many self-medicated with social media, overdosed on its partisanship, and now have a really difficult time letting go.
Click here to read the full article.
Inflation, explained by eggs | Vox
Inflation is a big topic and not one I am very much not an expert in. All I really know for sure is that 1) it’s going up and 2) that’s not good. Sure, wages are going up but if costs are still going up quicker…it’s not helping anyone out all that much. What I appreciate about this article is that it doesn’t try to explain inflation at a macro level. It focuses on how it impacts one consumer good: eggs.
There’s a lot of chatter around exactly why inflation is relatively high, not only in the United States but globally. Some people blame the pandemic, others the supply chain, others government spending, others corporate greed. The truth of the matter is that there is a mix of factors in play, and there’s no one simple answer to how we got here — or solution to how to get out of this. To the average person, the whole thing can feel confusing. So we figured we’d take a crack at it by deciphering the case of the egg.
Click here to read the full article.
Stay Calm, America | The Atlantic
Tom Nichols has been a voice I’ve found a lot of value in when it comes to geopolitical issues of the day. He’s a Russian expert and so his input is worth regarding here. What I appreciate about his article here in The Atlantic is how he shares that same outrage most of us have when seeing the violence in Ukraine - but also preaches patience and pragmatism. Nichols advocates against emotionally-driven action. I really hope he’s right here.
Indeed, one more reason not to let our emotions get the better of us is that the only way Putin can save himself from his own fiasco is to bait the West into an attack. Nothing would help him more, at home or abroad, than if the United States or any other NATO country were to enter direct hostilities with Russian forces. Putin would then use the conflict to rally his people and threaten conventional and nuclear attacks against NATO. He would become a hero at home, and Ukraine would be forgotten.
Click here to read the full article.
Theology Cannot Save Us | Christianity Today
In the United States, especially over the last decade, there have been quite a few divisions in the church. Several people, including the author of this article Russell Moore, felt that a solid foundation in theology could help in that department. While Moore does not dimish the importance of sound theology (after all, he is a theologian by trade), he says it can’t do all the heavy lifting. He also admits a lot of assumptions he had early in his career proved to be wrong.
To imagine telling my younger self, 15 years ago, which people would now be considered allies and which ones would no longer be speaking to one another is jarring—especially when some who once emphasized the sufficiency of Scripture now align with activist atheists to critique the theology of evangelicals who should belong to the same tribe…
Turns out, a lot of what we thought was evidence of a Christian worldview for some evangelicals turned out to be the same tribal loyalties and political rhetoric they would have employed if Jesus were still dead.
Click here to read the full article.
What Am I Reading Now?
I picked up A World Without Email by Cal Newport when it first came out and am finally digging into it now. I’m just a bit into it but he uses anthropological studies of tribes layered onto modern workplace studies to prove just how much email makes us miserable. And how we could probably use it less and still be effective in our work.
Find any of the above interesting? Any of the above spark a conversation? Feel free to reach out to me here. If you think someone may want to check this out, feel free to share.
I have exciting news to share: You can now read Brain Wads in the new Substack app for iPhone.
With the app, you’ll have a dedicated Inbox for my Substack and any others you subscribe to. New posts will never get lost in your email filters, or stuck in spam. Longer posts will never cut-off by your email app. Comments and rich media will all work seamlessly. Overall, it’s a big upgrade to the reading experience.
The Substack app is currently available for iOS. If you don’t have an Apple device, you can join the Android waitlist here.