Illustration by Mia Zimonjic
Hello there! Here are your freshly caught gems for the week:
I’ve been reading Make Something Wonderful, a free eBook of Steve Jobs’ writing, speeches, emails, and mementos. Designed by Jony Ive, Apple’s former chief design officer, the physical book is handed out to Apple and Disney employees for inspiration and to remind them of the mission Jobs believed in. In an early chapter, Jobs describes the Heathkit, an instructional kit that lets users build an electrical appliance from scratch:
“…it gave one the sense that one could build the things that one saw around oneself in the universe. These things were not mysteries anymore. I mean, you looked at a television set, and you would think, “I haven’t built one of those—but I could. There’s one of those in the Heathkit catalog, and I’ve built two other Heathkits, so I could build a television set.”
- Steve Jobs, Make Something Wonderful
I think we all know where that kid’s sense of empowerment led him.
Music: More excellent covers: Peter, Bjorn & John’s Young Folks by Dom Valentino, The Cranberries’ Linger by Royel Otis, and Cleo Sol’s Sunshine by Dua Lipa. Another song that sounds old but isn’t: Oct 33 by Black Pumas. Where’s My Brain??? by The Lazy Eyes, He Loves Me Yeah! by Faye Webster, and Abstract (psychopomp) - only Hozier could make roadkill sound poetic. Honest Mistake by breakout singer-songwriter Hohnen Ford (disclaimer: she’s my family friend’s boyfriend’s sister, and I can’t wait to see her career blow up. She’s already been featured on KCRW’s Eclectic 24!)
Ryan Holiday, best-selling writer and self-described “professional reader”, gives excellent advice on how to read more, and how to remember what you read. I’ve been using his index card system, and enjoy the tactile experience of writing out quotes and flipping through the cards long after I’ve written them.
Speaking of - I should buy this as a visual reminder to read more books!
Top tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee brings us along as he tries out a secret Disney project, the Holotile infinite floor. It’s basically a 360 degree treadmill that lets the user walk in place. Marques thinks it’ll be used for virutal reality - maybe one day we’ll be able to walk, run and jump inside of our favorite video games. It was invented by Lanny Smoot, who also created the BB-8 robot that rolls around Star Wars land.
A fully restored version of the 1970 Beatles documentary Let It Be is out on Disney+ now! It features a new conversation with its director Michael Lindsay-Hogg and Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson.
Guy Raz, host of the NPR podcast How I Built This, relaunched his newsletter this week. It’s full of compelling stories and advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, along with personal tidbits from Guy. You can read the first issue here!
Music trivia show Track Star shares a TikTok playlist of songs everyone should know. They also have their own newsletter!
Thanks for reading!
I hope you have a great weekend, and if you like this newsletter, consider sharing with a friend :)
