Tag: learning

2020 Reading Audit

I read more this past year than I have in a long time, maybe the most I’ve ever read.

That’s because I changed the way I consume books. I bought a kindle (and I’m a fan), but what really increased my intake was the shift to audiobooks.

I clocked a total of 7 days and 11 hours of listening. I average 1.3x-1.5x listening speed depending on the book.

So here’s my reading list for the year, ranked in order of Favourite:

1. Nonviolent Communication (Marshall B. Rosenberg)

2. Speaking Peace (Marshall B. Rosenberg)

3. Mating in Captivity (Esther Perel)

4. No Rules Rules (Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer)

5. Traction (Gino Wickman)

6. Religion for Atheists (Alain de Botton)

7. How I Built This (Guy Raz)

8. The Deficit Myth (Stephanie Kelton)

9. The Practice (Seth Godin)

10. Enchantment (Guy Kawasaki)

11. Post Corona (Scott Galloway)

12. Vagabonding (Rolf Potts)

13. Essays in Love (Alain de Botton)

14. The Righteous Mind (Jonathan Haidt)

15. Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers Programs 1-6

16. The Expanse: Caliban’s War (James S.A. Corey)

17. The Son (Jo Nesbo)

18. The Expanse: Leviathan Wakes (James S.A. Corey)

19. His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman)

20. His Dark Materials: The Subtle Knife (Philip Pullman)

21. His Dark Materials: The Amber Spyglass (Philip Pullman)

22. Stalling for Time (Gary Noesner)

23. Status Anxiety (Alain de Botton)

24. Predictably Irrational (Dan Ariely)

25. Thinking in Bets (Annie Duke)

26. Debt: The First 5000 Years (David Graeber)

27. Sapiens (Yuval Noah Hurari)

28. Tribe (Sebastian Junger)

Here are 3 lessons I learned from a year of relatively intense reading.

  1. Don’t get caught in the hype of thinking you need to read best-sellers or really long books. Most of the time I wouldn’t finish these books. The ones I did finish ended up near the bottom of my list. (this leads to my next point)
  2. You don’t need to finish the book. Also, feel free to jump around. The book is for your enjoyment, not to suffer through so that you can say “I read THAT book”.
  3. Re-listen to parts of your favourite books when you need inspiration or guidance. This was a huge turning point for me after reading “Religion for Atheists.” I went back to several favourite passages and had soul food for the mind.

Review: Khan Academy: Sal Khan – How I Built This with Guy Raz

Google Podcast Link

Like a lot of people I know, Khan Academy was fundamental in their high school career. What I don’t hear as often anymore are the stories of pure bliss after grinding out several fruitless hours of calculus classes, only to realize that there is an entirely free and incredibly detailed learning resource out there for the “hard subjects”.

This was my high school experience. Sal Khan helped me graduate with incredibly high grades, allowing me to continue on my path to a university of my choosing. In general, I think we as a people owe a great debt to teachers, but that it’s a debt best paid forward, in kind with what they have given us. This post isn’t supposed to be a thank you piece to Sal Khan, but what I’m trying to get at is it could have been.

I’m not the biggest fan of Guy Raz, which is pretty ridiculous given the topics I’m interested in and the fields I work in. However, I really liked this podcast episode. I am going to keep trying with Guy.

Guy allows Sal to brings us through his own upbringing, giving a colour and depth that builds the profile of the man who would build Khan Academy.

It’s a fascinating journey that I don’t want to get into the specifics of because I don’t want to give any major spoilers, but it’s suffice to say that eventually Sal Khan becomes incredibly successful.

Most importantly, though, is recognizing that Sal Khan has always been successful in what he does, especially when held in the mirror of a social contract. He has provided so much of his knowledge to others, free of charge, out of a principled belief in learning and access to education. He has always received deeply heartfelt messages from fans, and this is what has fueled his passion.

Monetary compensation comes to Sal at a true “A-ha!” moment, but it takes pushing the boulder up the hill a few thousand times. I felt genuine relief as Sal approached the more recent parts of his story.

We see the formation of the morals of the main character, exposition throughout childhood and into adulthood, questioning and realignment after becoming conventionally successful, and the testing of new and old principles while starting out on a journey.

It’s a classic hero’s journey in literal definition, which is why it makes for such a compelling podcast episode.

Clearly it’s a practiced story that Sal Khan tells, but there are elements of it that Guy makes more personal by pushing a little further. It helps that it reflects on the current Pandemic, including the implications this has on the usership and relevance of Khan Academy in 2020 (and into the future).

Podcast Rating: 5/5

Notes: If you want to feel good, listen to this podcast episode, it’s just an incredible story and it’s uplifting through and through. I’m definitely biased because I feel personally connected to the narrative, but I think anyone could find a bit of their best self in this.

Google Podcast Link