Great Reads for September
Ahoy,
Like most of you, I’m upset. We’ve been polarized. We’re constantly shown the horrors of a broken world. We’re given outliers and told they are commonplace, told that what is deadly is for our own good, led into conflicts that could have been averted by seeing the truth. We’re forced to trade commerce for art.
We’re being fooled.
There are swathes of the global population that are absolutely sure we are going to hell. Even as cities are underwater, some claim that global warming is a hoax. Even as aging populations die and economies falter, others insist that outsiders must go home. We’re being told that books are dangerous, that the streets are full of crime and violence, and that the world is against us — and that only these vapid Cassandras can help.
None of that is true. Most streets are safe. Most crime is falling. Most danger is mild. This is not to say we live in paradise, but look around: if you’re reading this, you’re probably safely ensconced somewhere with a few comforts nearby. Absolutely, there are outliers, and many are in pain. Absolutely, there are unimaginable horrors in the world. Absolutely, someone is taking advantage of someone else right now. But on the whole, we’re doing OK.
And what should we, the comfortable, do from this position of great power? Help others. We should welcome the immigrant, embrace the sick and the sad, and help the indigent. We should give the homeless a home, the addict a way out, the forlorn a hand.
Instead, we’re told that the Other is out to get us, that faceless hordes are streaming across our borders, and that we’ve got it worse than any generation before us. We’re living in a wasteland, scrounging for scraps while They take from us, steal from us, and plunder our taxes with Their insatiable demands.
That’s nonsense.
We are too smart to be fooled that way. Things are better than they ever have been, and they’re getting better. I’m upset because an entire group of Americans, an entire group of Hungarians, Poles, Brits, Italians, Israelis, Iranians, Russians — and so on and so on — have been able to convince the world that we are five minutes to midnight and counting.
Instead, we must realize we are five minutes to the dawn. Spread positivity. Avoid cynicism. Create art and joy, and share it with others. Cook for a neighbor. Volunteer.
Help those in the dark come out of it — or at least help them realize the switch is right on the wall next to them. All they have to do is reach out.
I’ll be in Malta, Poland, and Barcelona at the end of the month if anyone would like to chat. I’m also doing loads of startup interviews for the Startup Show and Keep Going. I’d love to feature you. Drop me a line.
I’m also doing some innovation consulting with my friend Dermot. If you’d like to talk about how to survive the next decade in business, drop us a line.
Now, on to the books.
The Future Was Now: Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982
Chris Nashawaty
This was an interesting read. It’s about the movies that came out in the Summer of 1982 - E.T., Tron, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, The Thing, and Mad Max: The Road Warrior. These movies, direct by relative unknowns and starring a new type of Hollywood actor, went on to change the way we produce, release, and watch movies. These movies defined the blockbuster, turned the sleepy movie industry into a series tent pole hits, and replaced the filmmaking with spectacle. In general, it’s a book about how movies changed and what it would take to turn things around. Spoiler alert: It’s almost impossible.
Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter
Kate Conger , Ryan Mac
Another bit of a slog but it’s an important book. Conger and Mac basically took a bunch of reporting that they and others did and produced a readable history of Twitter under Elon Musk. The story is simple: a narcissist CEO thinks his success in one area translates to success in another. The CEO does something wildly stupid - in this case buys Twitter - and then is amazed when he isn’t lauded as a genius. Elon Musk is shown as an absolute moron and his clear inability to grow and change is the most frustrating aspect of this book. It also reminds us that we should all probably just delete our Twitter accounts.
Peter the Great: His Life and World
Robert K. Massie
This is a big book and it takes a while. I think it’s an important book because it tells the story of a country in the middle of a sea change brought about by a tsar influenced by the West. But what’s most important is what this history teaches us about the Russia of today. The descriptions of Russia in this book remind us that not long ago the country was Byzantine and cloistered, controlled by an army run amok, and populated primarily by violent and drunk misogynists. Sadly, not much has changed.