PicoBlog

Before we get to today's main topic, some miscellaneous goodies and things worth your attention… R.I.P. Post.News: I was sad to read Noam Bardin's Friday post on Post.News that the platform will soon shut down. Luck and timing are huge components of any startup's success (although retroactive delusions of meritocracy often blur this), and Post.News suffered from bad luck and timing. If, for example, Facebook had axed its News tab a year earlier, Post.

Simple, powerful lessons on bringing more humility, curiosity and courage to our decisions, businesses, families and communities. I 'check in' with outside perspectives, best practices in leadership, branding, relationships and more. Over 3,000 subscribers No thanksncG1vNJzZmijkamwsLjEZ6qumqOprqS3jZympmc%3D

Hi Happy Friday! Does it feel to anyone else that summer is over before it even truly got a chance to start? It feel like it has almost entirely passed by without being able to enjoy the benefits of warm weather and longer days? It has been a decidedly un-summery season but before it ends I wanted to get in one more weekend of summer pleasures before its time to think about fluffy sweaters and comfort food.

We need to find pockets of joy even in gloomy times, especially when those gloomy times encompass the winter holidays. To help me kindle sparks of cheer this holiday season, I turned to the editor of Carrying Capacity (and more), Alyssa Napier. Alyssa has been behind the scenes since I started this newsletter last Valentine’s Day, brainstorming content, offering feedback, suggesting corrections, and adding links. She is decades younger than me, but we have a lot in common as Black women who love learning, devouring books, and falling into the more than occasional escapist narrative.

Happy new year and thanks again for subscribing and/or reading. I seem to think the subject of this week’s newsletter is a massive deal, but all the evidence points to the contrary. What do you think? You had a copy, right? That Perry Farrell song is great, the Devo one even better, and despite everything that Rick James performance really shows why he sold a load of records. I can’t be on my own on this, can I?

Chelsea narrowly lost to Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley this afternoon after a late winning goal from Bernardo Silva in the 84th minute. The goal felt inevitable in the end, because if you do not take your chances against a team like City, you know they have the capabilities and quality to punish you. City were poor, and they looked rather hungover from the Champions League in the week.

We’re coming towards the final month of the season now, so plans for next season will now being firmed up. The semi-final defeat against Manchester City finally clarified things for me in terms of what the club need to do this summer in the market.  A few weeks ago I shared what I’d do this summer, but this has changed a little in the intervening time. I’m even more convinced now than ever that we need to bring some proven quality this summer.

HxSTEM is dedicated to serious issues relevant to STEM. Serious issues generate strong—and often contradictory—opinions, which can be divisive, as a number of excellent essays published on HxSTEM illustrate. So we asked ourselves: Is there anything that is both important and non-divisive?  Something that could serve as a platform to celebrate our common humanity? The answer is yes, of course, there is such a thing. Let’s talk about cats! I [Anna] love chemistry and cats.

I’ve run 15 marathons, 25 half marathons, and too many 5Ks and 10Ks to count, but I think the less traditional distances are underrated. There’s the Falmouth Road Race, which is seven miles; the 10-mile Broad Street Run in Philadelphia; the Bronx 10 Mile; and a slew of smaller four-, seven-, and 10-mile local races. If any race makes a great case for racing a non-traditional distance, it’s the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.