It’s been a few months, so it’s time for another post about some of my favorite things I’ve watched, listened to, and read recently.
If you’re not interested in checking out my fantastic content recommendations but are yearning for something strictly finance-related, here’s a link to the main blog page where you can read past articles.
NOTE: The content is linked in the green titles.
Lucky in Life by Michael Batnick
Michael Batnick is the co-host of one of my favorite finance podcasts, Animal Spirits. He also writes occasionally on the side and this is a transparent blog post about his career and the role that luck plays in all our lives.
Aside from being an interesting read about how Michael got to where he is now, the post serves as a good reminder of how our lives are shaped by seemingly unremarkable moments. The following image is a great example of this:
Meaningless Careers by Jack Raines
This article may be a bit controversial. Jack examines how many of the jobs we’ve created in our modern society may not have much meaning tied to them. I’ve spoken with a few friends about Jack’s proposition here and some agreed while others had some pushback. If nothing else, it’s a good read to get you thinking. Here’s an excerpt:
“For hundreds of years, there was a direct cause-and-effect relationship between your labor inputs and the resulting outputs. A farmer toiled in the field, and land would produce crops. A mechanic would fix machinery, a carpenter would build furniture, and a captain would navigate his ship.
But today? Today we have millions of high-paying jobs that rely on our abilities to manipulate numbers, send emails, and report to seven levels of superiors.
An idea that I increasingly believe is that half of all white-collar jobs could disappear tomorrow, and there would be no decline in productivity. In fact, productivity might increase.”
‘Everything Is Terrible, but I’m Fine’ by Derek Thompson
I think this is a fascinating article about a mentality that many people share which is we tend to be individually optimistic and socially pessimistic. Or in other words, we think the world is going to crap, yet we’re still hopeful about our own future.
“In early 2022, Gallup found that Americans’ satisfaction with “the way things are going in personal life” neared a 40-year high, even as their satisfaction with “the way things are going in the U.S.” neared a 40-year low. On top of the old and global tendency to assume most people are doing worse than they say they are is a growing American tendency to be catastrophically gloomy about the direction of this country, even as we’re resiliently sunny about our own household’s future.
With greater access to news on social media and the internet, Americans are more deluged than they used to be by depressing stories. (And the news cycle really can be pretty depressing!) This is leading to a kind of perma-gloom about the state of the world, even as we maintain a certain resilience about the things that we have the most control over.
Beyond the diverse array of daily challenges that Americans face, many of us seem to be suffering from something related to the German concept of weltschmerz, or world-sadness. It’s mediaschmerz—a sadness about the news cycle and news media, which is distinct from the experience of our everyday life. I’m not entirely sure if I think this is good or bad. It simply is. Individual hope and national despair are not contradictions.”
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
This is the best movie I’ve seen that’s come out this year, and I’m not sure it’s particularly close. It’s the sequel to the 2018 movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Even if you hate comic book movies, I would encourage anyone to give both of these movies a try. I feel like they’re the kind of movies that are impossible to dislike.
The animation in this movie is stunning and is what sets it apart. Every frame explodes with color and style. Add in a great score with a relatable story and you get a pretty dang good movie.
I’ve been going through all of Denis Villeneuve’s movies over the past few months—so far I’ve watched Dune, Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and Sicario. And while I think they’re all really good movies, Sicario is my favorite.
The premise is straightforward, FBI agents try to bring down some powerful figures in the Mexican drug cartel. It just pulls you into this brutal and unforgiving world of the war on drugs. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Emily Blunt is the main character and she’s great.
This is an Apple TV+ show about a ruined future where the last 10,000 people on Earth live in a giant silo deep underground. No one knows where the silo came from, they just believe it’s supposed to protect them from whatever dangers are outside.
My wife and I have been watching it every week and we’ve enjoyed it. It’s an intriguing story that comes with a bunch of questions that I want answers to. Full disclosure, the first season isn’t finished yet so I reserve the right to take back my positive review if the last few episodes aren’t good.
Looking back, I haven’t mentioned Succession once in any of these “What I’m Into” posts. I’m not sure how I’ve let it slip by given that in the three years I’ve been writing this newsletter, this has been my favorite TV show. And by a wide margin.
The fourth and final season just ended in June.
Succession is one of the best TV shows ever made and is in the running for my favorite show of all time. I’m going to miss it.
If you have any other content recommendations, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email. I’d love to hear them!
Thanks for reading!