Happy Friday! ☀️
Welcome new subscribers, I’m glad you found your way to Friday’s Five. And thanks to all existing subscribers for the encouraging feedback and for recommending Friday’s Five to your friends! Most new subscribers come from recommendations, I appreciate you!
What I’m reading 📖
Another book that has been on my Goodreads list for years is ‘Barbarians at the Gate’, a legendary investigative account of the fall of one of the most powerful American companies in the 80es and 90es, RJR Nabisco. My friend Eric reminded me of it this week so I finally started reading it. It’s a business book that reads like a thriller and I find it quite engaging, plot-wise, even though it portrays an era in business that I can’t connect with, values-wise. Think Wolf of Wall Street meets Too Big to Fail. More about the book.
What I’m listening to 🎧
Next to ‘The Line’, ‘9/12’ is one of my favorite podcasts of last year. No coincidence that these two podcasts are hosted by the same host Dan Tarberski. Dan who has one of the best narration voices in the biz. ‘9/12’ looks at the aftermath of 9/11, 20 years after the events and each episode takes a different perspective. Each perspective also explores how the events following 9/11 have shaped American society. I loved this podcast and can really recommend it.
What I’m watching 📺
Sticking to the theme of the 80es, I watched the first season of ‘Physical’ this week. Critics in the US rejected the series for the most part while German and other European critics embraced it. I must say that I enjoyed it. It’s original, exciting, and visually appealing. The plot revolves around Sheila Rubin (played by Rose Byrne), set in the 80es San Diego and how Rubin re-discovers herself via aerobics. To me it, it hit all the nerves of what the US were like in the 80es, culturally, socially, and politically. Find it on Apple TV + and here is the trailer.
What I’m thinking about 🧠
Take it as axiomatic that all clients, whoever they are and however grand, successful and important, fear two things: vulnerability and loss of control. They are right in these fears because coaching is about change, and to change you do make yourself vulnerable and you may indeed not appear to have the degree of control you want over your life while the changes are happening.
– Jenny Rogers in ‘Coaching Skills’
What else?! 💯
Cape Town has an amazing food scene (Eric and I are still trying to understand why) and is known also for it’s fantastic (and affordable) wines. At a recent dinner we went for the wine pairing and discovered a fantastic wine made by Callan Williams, garagiste style. She’s into 90es rock music and names her wines after her favorite musicians. The one we tasted is called Jim (after Jim Morrison) and is a super-dry 100% Semillon. If you’re interested to learn more, Callan speaks about her approach to wine making in this podcast. More about Callan, The Garajeest.
Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!
David