Friday's Five ✋ #441
One always has exaggerated ideas about what one doesn't know.
Happy Friday! ☀️
It was my first time visiting Freiburg this week. And when I say visiting, I mean that I arrived late, stayed in a new neighbourhood called Güterbahnhof in the north of the city. In the morning, a short walk over to spend a full coaching day with the founder and CEO of one of the most promising AI companies in image generation. A humble 33-year-old, born in Freiburg, who decided to build his company from his home city. That detail stayed with me.
What I’m reading 📖
This week I listened to Camus’ The Stranger. Meursault is one of the more fascinating protagonists I’ve come across: emotionally flat, detached, almost impossible to read. What struck me most is that when he eventually stands trial, the prosecution builds its case less around the murder he committed and more around the fact that he didn’t cry at his mother’s funeral. Society judges him for the wrong crime. Camus makes you sit with that discomfort. If you, like me, also recently listened to Flesh by David Szalay, the two make for an interesting pairing. Same bone-dry emotional register, very different destinations. More about the book.
What I’m listening to 🎧
Amy Poehler has been around with her Good Hang podcast for a while but I didn’t feel like listening to celeb podcasts since some time. But seeing her sit down with Brandi Carlile, a singer-songwriter I’ve enjoyed listening to, I tuned in. I don’t yet get the long intro with another guest before she goes into the interview, but if you’re curious about Brandi, skip ahead to minute 10:53 for the conversation to start.
What I’m watching 📺
Michael Behrens is not an ordinary man. As a rising star in the field of abstract mathematics, Michael discovered that he could see beauty and pattern where others could not. But his path was not to be inside academia, or even inside society. He went on a grand adventure to unify his Buddhism with his ability to see an expanded view of reality. He created beauty in a place where nobody else would, and made his friends amongst dolphins.
What I’m thinking about 🧠
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” — Marcel Proust
What else?! 💯
In this monthly playlist you will discover a band from Berlin you may mistaken for The National. You’ll hear a new song from the upcoming album by Icelandic singer-songwriter Ásgeir. And you’ll find a mesmerising seven-minute song by Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards, who along with Jim Bryson, are artists introduced to me by The Weakerthans while tour managing them in Europe in 2003.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!
David
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