Category: Book recommendation
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David Gergen quote
Reading David Gergen’s new book. The longtime political commentator writes about leadership and the need to empower young people. I like Gergen’s reference to the Bill Moyer observation from an African village. Not enough of us throw logs into the fire to keep the community warm. We risk burning up our planet while sustaining a […]
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Tim Ferriss podcast with Russ Roberts
Podcasts were much less known in 2006 when Business economist Russ Roberts began his series. Over eight hundred podcasts later Russ Roberts meets Tim Ferriss on Tim’s podcast. Russ Roberts was a popular college professor at WashU where I attended his lectures. I’m happy to re-discover Russ after all these years. The latest book from […]
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Rebels against the British Raj
Indian historian Ramachandra Guha chronicled the lives of five Brits and two Americans as they migrated to India during British rule and joined sides with Mahatma Gandhi in the freedom movement. These seven extraordinary souls helped transform India’s narrative so it could complete its victory lap: Annie Besant, Samuel Stokes, Mira Behn, B.G. Horniman, Catherine […]
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Tim Ferriss podcast
Tim Ferriss interviews entrepreneur Balaji Srinivasan. The ex-Bay Area luminaries moved away in recent years. Tim resides in Austin, while Balaji lives in Singapore. These are fascinating insights from Balaji (new book) about a dystopian future controlled by stateless actors who gain influence virtually and manage their own societies without being usurped by current nation-states […]
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Podcast with Neil deGrasse Tyson
Guy Kawasaki’s interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson is fascinating and perhaps the least technical discussion I’ve heard with him. A few takeaways: 1. Discovering and unleashing talent is about maximizing opportunities based on challenging circumstances. Endurance and grit, when faced with scarcity, can signal greater potential than sheer intellectual firepower. Tyson improvised often to accomplish […]
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Autopilot without Faith?
Elon Musk threw an epic party in Austin and announced the upcoming full rollout of FSD (Full Self Driving) software. The dual factory launches in Austin and Berlin are astonishing achievements. Elon Musk is doing to cars what Steve Jobs did for phones. It’s an exciting time, but also disconcerting. My iPhone has kept me […]
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The Power and the Glory
I rarely suggest fiction here. Fiction deserves my greater attention in a world becoming stranger than fiction. Moreover, fiction from nearly 100 years ago portended a world that was already encapsulated by authors like Graham Greene journaling about the human experience when it was much harder to — without modern technology. Greene’s novel about a […]
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Change and Patience
Robin Sharma’s book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari sits on an older bookshelf. It’s still intact, if not worn from travel during a lifetime that endures change. Change is hard. It gets messy. Eventually, things work out. Just when the light from the end of the tunnel becomes an answer to prayers, the view […]
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Privacy is Power
A good book about Privacy by Carissa Veliz. She had an insightful interview on The Open Mind show. This is a bipartisan issue that deserves prioritization this year given the global political challenges. Technology overtook our lives only in the last 15 years or so. The average member of Congress is much closer to retirement […]
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Mountains beyond Mountains
The sudden loss of Dr. Paul Farmer is being felt around the world. Tracy Kidder’s biography tells the riveting story of Farmer’s ascension from difficult family circumstances in Florida without basic health insurance to becoming the preeminent voice of the poor in global public health. He survived an unfair system and made his mission to […]
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The New World of Work (Podcast)
Here’s some info you can use. Great podcast hosted by Guy Kawasaki interviewing consultant Keith Ferrazzi. Just picked up Keith’s book. podcast Link I found this incredibly helpful. Keith shares many pointers to help re-organize work as we know it.
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Number One
Here’s a good stocking stuffer for the tennis fanatic in your life. NYT writer Christopher Clarey writes a masterpiece of the master himself: link Roger Federer was the number one tennis player globally for 237 consecutive weeks from early 2004 to late 2008. It’s a record that Novak Djokovic can surpass in another 2+ years, […]
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Metrics Obsession
Sridhar Vembu unveils unique wisdom and argues against the trends of modern society. His latest hypothesis into why Indians have mastered “the art of becoming CEO” could be countervailing: link Per Sridhar, Indians who leave India are well-positioned to master the “measure and manage” culture of American corporations because they passed the world’s hardest entrance […]
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Greenlights
Greenlights is a surprisingly good book, and Matthew McConaughey is as quotable as the Dalai Lama. I’ve read way too much, especially long-form journalism during the pandemic. This book stood out. In a recent NYT interview, McConaughey concisely unveils a common-sense approach to living curated over a lifetime of diversified experiences: Link “Responsibility, I would […]
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The Things that Count
The Fountainhead is one of my favorite books from childhood. Self-awareness means many things, including cultivating those things you already have so that you count when it matters the most — when the rest of the world pays attention. There is a lot of noise that can hinder personal development.
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Forward
Looking forward to Andrew Yang’s new book. As an Independent, I couldn’t get excited about any of the Democrats running for President. I liked Yang but couldn’t see him running the country. An amalgamation of Democratic candidates might have produced a force like Bill Clinton, who I think truly galvanized the Democratic Party in the […]
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Little Red Book
Famed Austin golf instructor Harvey Penick shared life-long lessons about playing a game I’ve recently discovered. I didn’t have this kind of access to a golf course until now. Little Red Book is the best golf book I’ve read and mirrors what I learned about improving my tennis game from Brad Gilbert’s Winning Ugly. Step-by-step […]
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Better to Have Gone
I’ve been to Auroville, the famous hippie outpost in South India. It was hard enough deciphering the whos and whats of this unique destination. Pondicherry and Auroville offer a respite for travelers making the tiresome trek away from India’s urban metros. We checked this place off our travel wishlist. What I never really understood was […]
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Become America
Become America, an inspiring ode by community activist Eric Liu, reflects on doing the kinds of things we don’t do much anymore, like talking to our neighbors, getting to know those who don’t look like us, or being vulnerable when it’s much easier to achieve our personal goals by putting up a front. It’s possible […]
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5 C’s
According to marketer Martin Lindstrom, it’s possible to embrace a brave new world of work based on common sense and a “90-day intervention”: link Who doesn’t need a 90-day intervention as we get over the pandemic? The book is good, too.
Connecting Good People 