A 2024 holiday season batch of links
Since the most recent batch of links went out, paying subscribers received an essay about what sticks with you, then a meditation on commuting. This coming weekend, they’ll enjoy a column about corporate training.
Below, you’ll find a batch of links that cover the themes of this newsletter, which are career development, community building, and self care.
The tricky art of leaving a group chat. “It's probably fine to lie and say you're too busy to keep up with the chat and leave. It's really nobody's business to dig into what you're too busy with. Maybe it's a medical issue, or maybe you just want to peacefully scroll through Instagram reels uninterrupted by a bunch of pings.” I agree with this approach. Just take care of yourself. No need to deal with unwanted pings.
***My summary of what I am most proud of from this year.***
Lessons from a cultish London bakery. “The Knuckle partners were repeatedly warned not to take out a lease on a second property during the risky months of the pandemic but they went ahead anyway and were soon marching on to greater expansion.” Some businesses, such as bakeries, make sense to bring people together. Also, some businesses are harder to get right than other businesses, bakeries among them.
Can you still be close to someone whose politics you despise? The solution simply cannot be to in a sweeping fashion eliminate people from your life, which won’t serve you well. The better approach is to determine at the close of each calendar year which relationships fueled you and which ones drained you. That’s not about politics per se, more what people will do with their political leanings at times.
They Helped Create DEI—and Even They Say It Needs a Makeover.
Health care AI, intended to save money, turns out to require a lot of expensive humans.
Algorithm glitches are one facet of a dilemma that computer scientists and doctors have long acknowledged but that is starting to puzzle hospital executives and researchers: Artificial intelligence systems require consistent monitoring and staffing to put in place and to keep them working well.
Health Care Costs Are a Nightmare for Small Businesses - and They’re Going Up in 2025.
Year In Review. The discussion here about generations and their different approaches and attitudes toward work is infuriating. I’d advise not to make sweeping assertions about how one set of people think and operate in comparison to others because the arguments fall apart as soon as you spend a minute speaking with anyone in either camp who doesn’t match your preconceived notions of how things must be, based on vibes alone.
Still kicking: Metastatic cancer ‘thrivers’ give patients like me hope.
What's the Right Amount of Tech to Give Our Kids? — With Dr. Rona Novick and JinJa Birkenbeuel. One of the guests on this podcast is very pragmatic, responding to the call, the other is sticking with the same expected talking points from someone who has researched this topic from working in the field. It’s intriguing to hear the difference between the two - and how those two people interact with the other and address one another.
Fighting to Avoid Her Mother’s Fate, for Her Daughters’ Sake.
The Best Advice Our Relationship Columnist Has Heard All Year. Some of the advice listed here is a bit hokey, but the general trajectory is right. We should all recognize how our mindset directly contributes to, if not impacts, the days we have. I enjoy leaving home daily by calling out, “Make good decisions today.”
How AI is transforming the skills needed to be CEO.
Newsweek Says ‘Fairness Meter’ Helps Magazine Tackle Bias Claims. “AI algorithms can be biased as well, and the best way to make a news outlet’s opinion section more politically unbiased is to hire writers with a diversity of viewpoints, he said.”