Hobbyist Academia #19
Recent weeks have seen the growth and evolution of several people and organizations I follow closely: new offerings, new collaborations, new projects. Look for this theme threaded throughout the newsletter today. I love sharing and supporting their work.
Engage and Interact
Priya Parker has launched a digital course about planning and hosting intentional gatherings. It’s essentially a workshop application of her work as curriculum. The course just opened and you can learn more here.
Scott Galloway is a business school professor and podcast host who writes a newsletter called No Mercy / No Malice and runs an edtech startup called Section4. He’s always good for thought-provoking, accessible, research-backed work about digital culture and economics.
So Textual is a new literary community helping people “read more and read better”. Their membership offering includes content, book recommendations, and virtual gatherings.
Sari Azout’s Startupy has become part of the Collective Media collective. Dive down the rabbit hole of their principles and approach to co-creating the digital, social spaces of the future.
Ingrid Fetell Lee, my go-to source for inspiration on seeking and cultivating joy, has launched the School of Joy 2.0. Her research, work, and philosophy centers on the practice of building joy into your life by design.
The Center for Humane Technology writes an excellent newsletter called The Catalyst; in a recent issue they announced the launch of the Council on Technology and Social Cohesion. The newly formed council is a collaboration between the Center for Humane Technology and a number of other organizations and institutions. I am encouraged by the way they are approaching the future of technology’s impact on society with hope and solutions.
Read
The Offbeat by Allison Stadd is a newsletter that is a beautiful exploration of how we can thrive in life and in work at the same time, allowing both areas of our lives to reach symbiosis. I love how her perspective as a jazz musician drives her philosophy.
Adam Grant, initially introduced in Hobbyist Academia #14, released his list of non-fiction book recommendations for 2023. Adam is someone whose book lists I look forward to consulting.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this Oliver Burkeman post on mentally framing our endless to-read lists as a river that we pluck things out of as it flows by as opposed to a bucket that must be emptied. Once you get over the initial barrier of accepting that your to-read list is not something you could realistically ever finish, it makes a lot of sense.
The Experience Explorer newsletter by Christina Herbach offers diverse insights about experience design. Be sure to read Tim Leberecht of the House of Beautiful Business in conversation with Christina in “Can business be beautiful?”
Read Max is a newsletter about the future through lenses of culture, media, tech, and politics- a clear overlap with my intersection of interests here at Hobbyist Academia. It’s written by Max Read, a journalist, and he recently introduced Roundup Roundups as an archival function of his paid subscriber content recommending movies, books, and other media objects.
Rahaf Hafoush recently published her thoughts on burnout as a collective issue rather than an individual one, and the related idea of a country measuring its own prosperity by metrics other than the financial.
Finally, I will share an essay written for the House of Beautiful Business by Shannon Mullen O’Keefe, “We Are Never Alone”. She explores how we might collectively dream up our future as a society.
Listen
The House of Beautiful Business has released a podcast called The Art of Business, featuring a series of recorded conversations from their time at Davos hosting collaborative sessions and events.
Save This for Later
Before we dive into books and the To Read list, I’d like to offer two new Substack newsletters that I have recently discovered and added to my overall media list:
Embedded is a highly recommended newsletter about Internet culture
The Honest Broker is musician and writer Ted Gioia’s endeavor to be your noble and truthful broker for music and culture
On the books side, I’m thrilled to report additions from both digital and in-person browsing. There is a particular joy to discovering books on a display in a physical store curated by humans.
The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing
Microjoys: Finding Hope (Especially) When Life Is Not Okay by Cyndie Spiegel
All That We Are: Uncovering the Hidden Truths Behind Our Behaviour at Work by Gabriella Braun
Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard by Joan E. Strassmann
Work Mate Marry Love: How Machines Shape Our Human Destiny by Debora L. Spar
If you want to continue exploring topics of digital sociology, design, business, and personal development, you can do so at The Collection on my website.