January Reads, Streams, and Listens
My monthly recap of book recommendations, good shows and movies, and podcast episodes I found informative.
Books
Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux – I’m an unabashed crypto critic, which I’ve explained here and here, so it’s possible I enjoyed this due to confirmation bias. However, it’s a well-reviewed book by a Bloomberg writer about crypto’s darker and fraudulent side.
Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes by Morgan Housel – Housel’s second book focuses on understanding things that never change so you can be better prepared for the future.
Breaking Twitter: Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History by Ben Mezrich – This picks up where Walter Isaacson’s Elon Musk biography ends, with Musk’s Twitter foray. If you aren’t familiar with Mezrich’s books, you should be as he hits timely topics and is an excellent writer.
The Fund: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend by Rob Copeland – The book comes across as a bit of a hit piece, or maybe Dalio is just that weird and overrated. That’s for the reader to decide, but Copeland presents an unvarnished look at the world’s largest hedge fund’s founder.
I also enjoyed two books about Kobe Bryant – The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality and Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant
Streams
Killers of the Flower Moon – It’s based on a true story and book by the same title, both of which are fascinating. I’m not sure why the movie needed to be 3 1/2 hours, so depending on how fast you read the book might take about the same time.
They Call Me Magic – 4 part Magic Johnson documentary on AppleTV+ that’s a must watch for basketball fans.
Listens
The Moment That Boeing’s Culture Started To Rot (Odd Lots podcast) – Excellent 38 minute recap of what’s going wrong at Boeing and when it started.
Bethany McLean on the Pandemic’s Big Fail (Masters in Business podcast) – Maybe I’m nuts, or optimistic to think such a thing could exist, but I thought this was a very balanced look back on what went right and wrong in our response to COVID-19.