Happy Friday! ☀️
Hello from Vienna where I am starting a three-month sabbatical today. Every five years I take three months off to disconnect, recharge, and to take a fresh perspective on life and work. I’m curious what will emerge from this empty space that so far is filled with the idea to roam through Europe.
What I’m reading 📖
Earlier this year I committed to a vegetarian (and vegan, whenever possible) diet for a year and so far it’s been a great experience and much easier than I had anticipated. Meat alternatives are so vast nowadays compared to when I was vegetarian 20 years ago and it certainly looks like it can become permanent. To sustain the commitment, I am starting Jonathan Safran Foer’s book ‘Eating Animals’. The author known for the outstanding novels ‘Everything Is Illuminated’ and ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ shares background and historic information on many eating traditions and blends in his own experience of becoming a vegetarian. More about the book.
What I’m listening to 🎧
A brand-new serial podcast from Spotify Studios came out this week: The Read Bierkönig of Mallorca. Two journalists turn to an unresolved murder that happened 25 years ago on the Spanish island of Mallorca where the German owner of the legendary Bierkönig on Ballermann was murdered. The first two episodes of this six-episode series came out this week and I’m hooked.
What I’m watching 📺
Hollywood has turned to dramatizing the finance and media industries by way of popular tv series ‘Succession’ and ‘Billions’. This year, Hollywood is taking a closer look at the tech industry with two new series: ‘WeCrashed’ tells the story of WeWork’s rise and fall and ‘Super Pumped’ depicts the questionable business ethics of early Uber. At the heart of the two series are eccentric and grandiose founders who will stop at nothing to “make the world a better place.” Granted, the series are meant to be dramatic and entertaining (which they are), and yet, the truth sits somewhere between the lines. Both series strike a similar tone but it is Jared Leto’s performance of WeWork’s founder Adam Neumann that stands out for me. Watch WeCrashed trailer here and Super Pumped’s trailer there.
What I’m thinking about 🧠
One-third, one-third, one-third. One-third taking care of business. One-third taking care of the subtle and gross bodies — the inner you and the physical you. And one third for family, friends, community, the world at large.
– Jerry Colonna in his essay on why work-life balance is bullsh*t.
What else?! 💯
Last week in Cologne I picked up a few new records at the Underdog Recordstore and enjoyed listening to new music on my record player as opposed to Spotify. There is something solemn and ceremonial about sliding a record out of its sleeve, placing it on the platter, and slowly lowering the needle to just the right place for the music to begin.
Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!
David
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