February 2018 Must-Haves

Every month I publish a list of blogs, podcasts, books, products or anything else I consider to be a must-have or must-do. Hope you enjoy this month’s list.

Read / Reading

Heavy fiction focus this month. Quite rare for me, but I’ve been spending a lot of my non-fiction time listening to some new podcasts. More on that below.

• Ordinary Grace – I had just started this as of last month, finished it this month. Really great story about life and loss in small town Minnesota. This book reminded me a lot of To Kill a Mockingbird, not because of the subject matter but because of the rhythm of the book. You will feel like you can walk around in the town by the end.
• Beartown by Frederik Backman – If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ve seen Backman’s books come up before. Beartown is the story about a hockey-crazed town in northern Sweden which lives and dies with the local boys hockey team. I love Backman’s storytelling style and have an affinity for the Swedes. This was another good one.
• Genome by A.G. Riddle – This is the second (and last) book in the Pandemic series by Riddle. Last month I also recommended something by Riddle. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading both Pandemic and Genome. I have one of his books left at this point.
• America’s Opiod Epidemic – Sobering article on potential underlying human condition that’s driving this epidemic. Agree or disagree, this will provoke you.

Up next for me:

• Still getting to Homo Deus. Hopefully this month
• Conspiracy by Ryan Holiday – Just started this last night, already hooked. I’ll finish this one quickly.
• The Square and the Tower by Niall Ferguson – Comes highly recommended. Looking forward to it

Watching

• Hip Hop Evolution – This is an amazing documentary series. If you love hip hop (and for some reason I always have), this is a must-watch. It’s been a trip back down memory lane for me, seeing people like Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, Public Enemy, NWA, Ice-T and others tell their story about how they got started and why they did what they did. The series also does a great job of talking about how hip hop moguls like Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin of Def Jam saw the future and then helped to create it.
• Juventus: First Team – I’m not a huge soccer fan, but anytime I can watch behind-the-scenes shows on the best of the best, I do. Great docu-series on one of the premier soccer teams on the planet. Warning: You will want to move to Italy immediately.
• Black Mirror – I’m getting a late start on this one, and so far so good. I’ve heard you can jump around on this show, so I have. I watched an episode from season 4 called ArkAngel that was (cough) disturbing.
• My Next Guest with David Letterman – David Letterman at his best, interviewing the likes of Barack Obama and George Clooney. The Barack Obama interview is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

Listening

I’ve had a purposeful emphasis on blockchain, crypto and technology the last month in my listening. The list reflects that concentration.

• Invest Like The Best – Hands down the best new podcast on my list in years. Whether or not you’re into investing as a career or serious hobby, this show is jam-packed with stellar guests and topics. My favorites so far:
  • Hashpower, a MUST-LISTEN series on the fundamentals of blockchain and cryptocurrency. It is THE BEST treatment of the topic I’ve heard. Ever.
  • Pomp – Raleigh’s own Anthony Pompliano (who incidentally also appeared on my show a while back) on venture capital and some other radical, crazy stuff
  • Esoteric Assets with Rishi Ganti – Likely the most interesting approach to investing I’ve ever heard. The thinking laid out by Ganti is applicable to many areas of your life
• Bob Metcalfe on Tim Ferriss – Deep interview with the father of modern networking and the Ethernet standard. Every network you use today (wifi, wired, etc.) is a direct result of Metcalfe’s work. I’ve never heard an interview with him until this one. Rich history of computing in this interview
• OpenMined on Epicenter – If you’re interested in decentralization and blockchain, this episode is for you. Implications of OpenMined technology are vast.