Great Reads for March
Apologies if you got this twice.
It’s almost 8pm in Kyiv.
My friend Viktor can hear shelling on the outskirts of the city.
Viktor 1:22 PM
I am in Kyiv right now. We have a shelling today, quite thrilling :-D (edited) johnbiggs
1:26 PM
Fuck.1:27Do what our grandfathers did1:27Drink and singViktor
1:27 PM
LOL1:27
No, I need to have a cold headHe and I have worked together for years. He’s a coder. He and I started a company, VisibleMagic. If you need anything built, talk to him.
johnbiggs
1:27 PMGrandpa didn't have sedativesViktor
1:28 PMyeah1:28Grandpa was straight and grounded ))johnbiggs
1:28 PMWhen my grandpa Herman came home from wwii he drank a like a fish.1:28Then my grandma would give him one whiskey a night and he'd go to bedViktor
1:28 PMThey prohibited selling all drinks during marshal lawjohnbiggs
1:29 PMOh shitViktor
1:29 PMtotallyjohnbiggs
1:29 PMWhere are the shelling? The ours like it's?1:29Ourskirts?1:29They wouldn't hit the core would they?Viktor
1:30 PMnope1:30Airstrikes1:30and anti-airstrikes1:30a little bit of artillery on city fringeOther folks I know, at FFFACE.ME, an AR studio, are still trapped in Ukraine. Another friend is leading 70 of his developers and their families through the country. I’m sitting on my ass in front of Substack.
“There were times I didn’t think we’d make it,” he told me a few weeks ago. I haven’t heard from him since.
If you can hire any of these people you won’t regret it.
johnbiggs 1:30 PMWe are seeing that the Russians are a weak army1:30Is that accurate?Viktor
1:31 PMThey like Zergs, if you know what I mean1:31shit load of dumb stuffjohnbiggs
1:31 PMYeah. Keep coming but you can batter them offViktor
1:31 PMbut with artillery and a lot of missiles1:31that's a correct perception1:31but they have a shitload of missiles1:32like hoarded them )))1:33But the WORST thing, is that they are purely barbarian, and anti-humanic1:33Conciously bombing and killing civilans, destroying critical infrastructure - like in Syria, Aleppo (edited) 1:33Distilled evil.johnbiggs
1:34 PMAmericans will flatten your shit and then give you McDonald'sViktor 1:34 PMloljohnbiggs 1:34 PMThey don't have McDonald's to giveViktor 1:34 PMyesIt’s 8pm in Kyiv.
My friend Viktor can hear shelling on the outskirts of the city.
Give what you can. Help as much as you can. The world is too small to ignore the shelling. I know the impetus: if it’s not outside our city, who cares. I’ve felt it. And I understand the inherent hypocrisy. Iraq. Afghanistan. Syria. Palestine. I’ve tried, when I can, to include those places in the startup ecosystems I had control of. It was important to me. As important as supporting POC founders, women founders. Founders who can hear shelling on the outskirts of the city.
Every time I think we’re getting smarter, more global, kinder, the world pushes back.
It’s 8:08pm in Kyiv.
My friend Viktor can hear shelling on the outskirts of the city.
Help.
Special Characters: My Adventures with Tech's
by Laurie Segall
My friend Laurie wrote one of the best memoirs of Web 2.0 I’ve ever read. It’s heartbreaking, lovely, and funny. I’m jealous she pulled it off.
The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin
by Masha Gessen
I’ve been reading a lot on Russia this week. This is a fascinating look at a man who rose to power through terrorism and stayed in power thanks to a “Make Russia Great Again” platform. It shows how simple it is for those with a lust for power to mask their intentions in the flag of patriotism.
The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine
by Serhii Plokhy
I read to understand the world around me and this all-encompassing history of Ukraine is lovely and well-written. If you want a sample of Plokhy’s work, listen to this episode of Throughline.