Jokes aside
+ Muscle, Miracle, Moscow. And I could use your help with books (#440)
📚 I'm currently preparing our annual book club, where you get book recommendations from some of the most interesting people I know — the readers of this newsletter. I'm still undecided about this year's theme. Last year, I asked you What book makes you feel hopeful?, the year before more generically What’s a book more people should know?
Have an idea for this year's edition? Let me know.
1. Trevor Noah on the Future of Entertainment
I really enjoyed this witty conversation that is in fact very little about entertainment, and rather about the future from a broad perspective. I like the general approach of the Possible podcast — «sketching out the brightest version of the future—and what it will take to get there». And Noah turns out to be a perfect guest, with contagious optimism and nuanced views on how technology is shaping our future. Highly recommended.
Pocket Casts
2. The Heart Wing
Portrait of the heart as a muscle and a miracle. Full of beautiful details and astonishing facts. (And a perfect gateway to reading Brian Doyle's «The Wet Engine», one of the most touching books I've read in recent years)
Heather Lanier
3. ​​Next Year in Moscow
Excellent new podcast by The Economist. When Russia invaded Ukraine last February, free-thinking Russians faced a fateful choice: lie low, resist or flee. Arkady Ostrovsky tells their stories, in a personal way that, at the same time, reveals a lot about Russia's trajectory. One overarching question: Can they get their country back?
