Resources

Here are my favorite books, articles, and podcasts, by topic. Let me know if you’re reading/listening to them too, and what you think!

Startup Life

The 4-Hour Workweek, by Tim Ferriss. A classic! He covers how to approach building a business that allows for automation, flexibility, and ultimate impact.

The Goal Digger Podcast, by Jenna Kutcher. She covers a broad range of startup and business-building topics from building a team to outsourcing. It’s great because you can search episodes by specific topic you want to learn about.

Tribe of Mentors, by Tim Ferriss. Absolutely loving this so far! It’s a gigantic book containing little nuggets of life advice from entrepreneurs, athletes, designers, artists, actors…you name it. I keep this one on my desk at all times and read a little bit every morning.

Social Innovation

“Nonprofit, For-profit, or Something in Between?” by Jim Fruchterman. Jim founded Benetech, a non-profit technology company, and this article was really helpful for me in thinking through business structure.

“For Love or Lucre,” by Jim Fruchterman. Another great article from Jim on social impact innovation.

The $100 MBA Show, by Omar Zenhom. This podcast offers bite-sized episodes on every business topic you can think of.

History & Culture

Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Powerful. “To acknowledge these horrors means turning away from the brightly rendered version of your country as it has always declared itself and turning toward something murkier and unknown.” Stop what you’re doing and read this book.

So You Want To Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo. Wonderful start for people who want their feminism to be intersectional, who want to begin discussions about race within their own family or friend circles. Very accessible and a great place to start.

Ethics of Tech

“Now Is The Time To Act To End Bias In AI,” by Will Byrne - Fast Company. I love his approach here to talking about bias in tech, and how we can’t expect tech to solve all our ethical problems…it starts with us.

Brotopia, by Emily Chang. She covers everything from the history of computer science (it was originally a woman's job), to the dangers of Peter Thiel’s meritocracy, to diversity and why it matters in an insightful and evidence-driven read.

“The Trauma Floor: The secret lives of Facebook moderators in America,” by Casey Newton - The Verge. Extremely disturbing, but important look at what happens with all the data we create that still has to be sifted by human hands, and what happens to those humans who are subjected to brutality and misinformation day in and out.

Creativity & Writing

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott. You’ll laugh, a lot. She has my same twisted sense of humor and uses it effectively to break down her process for writing, but it could really apply to anything creative in life that you’re scared to do.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, by Elizabeth Gilbert. Super enjoyable read about how every single person has the capacity for creativity; it’s all about figuring out and exercising that muscle.

The Elements of Style, by Strunk & White. You know how Mark Twain said you have to know the rules of writing in order to break them? Well these are the rules. It’s a tiny book, so easy to brush up on every couple years.

Thriller & SciFi

Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch. STUN-NING. I read it in 24 hours, 5 Stars. If you like The Bourne Identity meets The Elegant Universe, this one’s for you.

Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer. Read this before you see the movie (also terrifying). This one slowly wraps you in its slimy vines and doesn’t let go. The first of the Southern Reach Trilogy. Don’t bother with the other two, unless you want to read something verrrrry slow.

Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn. Dark. Super dark. But very good. If you read Gone Girl and needed more, this one is for you.