The Monday Mix (23/08/2021)
Hi friends,
I’m going to get straight into the contents of the email this week. Not much to report on the homefront other than visiting a football match for the first time since the start of the lockdown in March 2020.
Being back at an event with tens of thousands of people was special and a small reminder that the pandemic is slowly but surely coming to an end.
The Electric Typewriter
This is a fantastic website I came across the other week when I was trying to find more essays by David Graeber. While there were only a few of his essays on the site, there’s a wealth of links to some excellent essays across a breadth of subjects. If you’re looking for intellectual stimulation, The Electric Typewriter is as good a place as any to start.
Interview with a Neuroscientist
A fascinating interview I read in the paper yesterday with neuroscientist Anil Seth. Of all the progress we’ve made in the past 100 years, the inner workings of the brain still confound and confuse. Primarily, consciousness. What is it? How did it happen? How does it work? While this interview won’t provide those answers, it will show you how scientists are working to uncover them.
DW Documentary
I discovered this YouTube channel the other week when I was looking for documentaries to watch and it’s not disappointed. DW stands for Deutsche Welle, a German public broadcaster. The documentaries are in English and cover a range of topics from politics to the recent floods in Germany. A good video to start off is the on journalists exposing the Italian mafia. I was gripped, and watched more documentaries on the mafia afterwards and bought a few books to learn more too!
Can We Do Better Than Elon Musk
To some people, Elon Musk is a demi-god. The man can do no wrong and is an enlightened genius out to save humanity. This searing article takes the opposite view. Maybe he’s just a very good salesman and not as smart or innovative as we think. Whatever your view on Musk, this is a great read and will leave you pondering your view of him once you’re finished.
Book I’m reading - Rollercoaster Europe 1950-2017
I’ve just started this big trawl through the history of Europe following the Second World War and up to the present day. It’s a hefty read and will take me a week or two to get through it, but it’s gripping so far. As a history graduate with a profound interest in Modern European history, this book by the esteemed historian Ian Kershaw is a joy to read.
Quote I’m pondering - “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom