Three newsletters I read - May 2022
Three E-mail newsletters I find valuable (and you might, too)
Somedays it feels like there are more E-mail newsletters than people in the world, just as it once seemed to be the case for Facebook pages, blogs, and their now venerable predecessors. As you know, you’re reading an E-mail newsletter right now and I need to make it worth your while, so I am compelled to share good stuff with you according to the Good Global Digital Publisher Code. *
From time to time I will share some of these newsletters with you. They provide me with information, new ideas, inspiration and just enough dread to keep me on my toes (in some cases). You might find them useful, too.
A newsletter from the desk of Austin Kleon (Austin Kleon) - weekly, Fridays
10 things worth sharing: and other random bursts of sunshine from a scout of the world:
Kleon is the author of several books including Steal Like An Artist. He writes about being an artist (applies across multiple media), the creative process, what other interesting creators are doing, neat stuff, what his family is doing, and so on. Kleon’s generally an upbeat, interesting guy and seems like a cool dude who is usually trying something new and fun. His newsletter is a nice Friday treat.
He also has a great blog which provides a lot of the content for his newsletter.
Letters from an American (Heather Cox Richardson) - daily (normally)
This newsletter provides sobering US political and social commentary from an American historian and professor of history at Boston College in the US. Richardson transitioned from regular Facebook updates on the current state of US presidential politics (she started during the last two years of the Trump administration) to a newsletter, published most days.
Richardson writes in a sober, clear style that gives a voice to the unease many of us feel with the polarization and partisanship of US politics. She provides both current facts and parallels with similar events and time periods in US history. She also gives context to what’s happening behind the headlines and hyperbole. She is very critical of the current Republican party in the US without being venal or toxic. She generally shows support for the current Democratic administration but backs up her writing with facts, context, etc.
If there was a similar, thoughtful newsletter presenting the right wing side of things I’d be happy to read that, too.
Why am I reading this if I am a Canadian? I read it because US and Canada’s fates have always been intertwined and because you can see more of the right-wing US influences (read: hyperbole, fundamentalism, extremism) making greater footholds into Canada, which isn’t a good thing, IMHO! Knowledge is power.
Sunday Brain Food - from Farnam Street and other sources (Shane Parrish) - Weekly, Sundays
Here’s how Parrish describes Sunday Brain Food: a weekly newsletter full of ideas and insights that never expire. And each week he delivers, providing insights about things like mental models and decision making, with a focus on timeless, enduring knowledge that we can continue to use smartly. I admire the newsletter’s focus on materials about thinking better and making better decisions. I think the material is generally very good.
Farnam Street is Parrish’s blog/website and the title references one of his major inspirations: the thinking, writing and investment work of Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger (Parrish seems to be a fan of Munger in particular). You may or may not be a fan of Buffet/Munger and the work they do with Berkshire Hathaway but you can learn something from what they write and say about their work and Parrish tries to feature the best of it in his blog and newsletter.
That’s it for now, I’ll continue to share more good newsletters and other publications in future newsletter editions.
Let me know if you have any good blogs or newsletters to recommend! My first set of newsletters does not come from a particularly diverse set of publishers so I’m interested in other perspectives.
Notes:
*I just invented the Good Global Digital Publisher Code (GGDPC). Remember, you saw the acronym here first. Now I need to go write it!
I have been slowly subscribing to more newsletters but at this moment most of the ones I read have been by comics ppl like Chip Zdarsky and Ed Brisson. I do like the Evonomics newsletter a lot.