Good morning,
Happy New Year! To get back into the writing habit, I’m starting off with something easy. Below is a list of my favourite things of 2021. Last year was one of the best years of my life and will probably turn out to be the most important. I can’t wait for what 2022 brings.
wgmi
Books
🏙 Big Business - Tyler Cowen. Tyler Cowen’s love letter to big business. At a time when discourse is all about the evils of large corporations and the wealthy elite, it’s refreshing to be reminded of the positives of capitalism.
“In reality, we’ve had a tech revolution and such significant growth in American business because our companies very often solved problems first and sorted out many of the complications later.”
🤖 Invention - James Dyson. The founder of Dyson talks about his life as an inventor and the struggles along the way. While there is a lot of Dyson propaganda in this, there are golden nuggets in Dyson’s perspective on the state of engineering in Britain.
“Where the 2012 London Olympics pictured manufacturing as the lowest circle of Hell, BMW likened it to godliness.”
💋 Models - Mark Manson. I reread this book after reading it last year for the first time. Although it’s marketed as a dating book, it’s much more than that. Models is a book about how to live life in a way that makes you care less about what others think.
“Non-neediness means you respect yourself AND others. Narcissism means you only respect yourself. Neediness means you only respect others.”
👾 Ready Player One - Ernest Cline. The book that everyone refers to when talking about the metaverse. I finished this book faster than every other this year. A wonderful escape into a meticulously crafted world.
“People who live in glass houses should shut the fuck up.”
Places
🇵🇹 Lisbon. Hot in October, cheap and vibrant. I went to Lisbon for EthLisbon and fell in love (the free booze at parties may have helped with that). There are loads of ways to get around the city with e-scooters the most fun of all. From the UK it’s cheap to get to, RyanAir (*shudder*) return flights are ~£40.
🇲🇹 Malta. A cheap getaway with a good friend in December. Good food and weather (apart from when it gets windy). And if you prefer countries where they speak English well, this former colony is ideal.
Podcasts
🃏 All In Podcast. A funny and informative weekly podcast about news, politics and business by some of the top investors in Silicon Valley. One of the very few podcasts I listen to as soon as I can.
🧠 Modern Wisdom. Chris Williamson is the UK’s Rogan. On his podcast, he interviews a wide variety of guests many of who I hadn’t heard of before. But they’ve all got interesting takes on fields that I end up doing deep dives into.
Film
🕸 Spider-Man: No Way Home. This may be the recency effect, but Spider-Man: NWH is my favourite Marvel film. Everyone brings their A-game, especially Willem Dafoe.1
Television
👩🦲 Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry David returns as the social assassin who disregards all social cues. A rare improvised comedy, I dream of having the wit of the actors on this show.
👔 Succession. The best show on television. A corporate Game of Thrones that follows a Murdoch-like family where the siblings are vying to take over their dad’s position as CEO. The whole ensemble is excellent, it’s well worth a watch.
Or should I say, Willem DaDrip