Best of 2021
2021 was far from an ideal year. However, looking back, I read a number of memorable books, articles, and essays. I also found time to watch some classic movies, see some thought-provoking documentaries, listen to some great conversations, and enjoy a smattering of other things I was delighted to happen upon.
Below is a collection of the best things I came across in 2021. Hope you find some things to enjoy!
Matthew
Books
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
How To Decide by Annie Duke
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
River God by Wilbur Smith
Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charlie Munger
Fooled by Randomness (Incerto Series #1) by Nassim Taleb
The Black Swan (Incerto Series #2) by Nassim Taleb
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Talking To Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Chop Wood Carry Water by Joshua Medcalf
Long Things That Aren’t Books
What's Wrong with Social Science and How to Fix It by Alvaro de Menard
A Sense of Where You Are by John McPhee
Articles
Michelin restaurants and fabulous wines: Inside the secret team dinners that have built the Spurs' dynasty by Baxter Holmes
How to Think for Yourself by Paul Graham
Probabilistic thinking by Farnam Street
Falsification: How to Destroy Incorrect Ideas by Farnam Street
On Shame by Ava
How People Get Rich Now by Paul Graham
Too Much, Too Soon, Too Fast by Morgan Housel
Why Has Nuclear Power Been a Flop? by Jason Crawford
How Philosophers Think by David Perell
The Optimal Amount of Hassle by Morgan Housel
How America Fractured Into Four Parts by George Packer
History’s Seductive Beliefs by Morgan Housel
Sc3nius by Packy McCormick
Nature Shows How All This Works by Morgan Housel
The Nature of Desire by Andrew Wilkinson
Podcasts & Videos
Kings of Kings (Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3) by Hardcore History
Dolly Parton on Sontelling, Empathy, and Shining Our Lights by Brene Brown
The Knowledge Project with Josh Kaufman
Supernova in the East Part VI by Hardcore History
Adam Robinson & Bill Brewster - Disproving Your Thesis on Infinite Loops
Why Bob Dylan Won The Nobel Prize by Nerd Writer
Mark Zuckerberg Talks to Patrick Collison and Tyler Cowen About Accelerating Progress
Documentaries & TV Shows
Antarctica: A Year on Ice by Anthony Powell
Miles Davis The Birth of Cool by Stanley Nelson
American Experience - FDR by PBS
American Experience - JFK by PBS
Movies and TV Shows
Ted Lasso (Season 1 & Season 2)
Things That Made Me Think
"The most important conversation is the conversation you have with yourself each day."
- James Clear
“Everything feels unprecedented when you haven’t engaged with history.”
- Morgan Housel
“The more the Internet exposes people to new points of view, the angrier people get that different views exist.”
- Benedict Evans
"In an age of infinite leverage, judgment is the most important skill."
- Naval Ravikant
“Take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly, and try another. But by all means, try something.”
- FDR
“Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”
- Miles Davis
“The correct lesson to learn from surprises is that the world is surprising.”
- Morgan Housel
“The cost of making decisions to please others instead of yourself is misery.”
- Shane Parrish
“The best index to a person's character is (a) how he treats people who can't do him any good, and (b) how he treats people who can't fight back.”
- Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby)
“We think we can easily see into the hearts of others based on the flimsiest of clues. We jump at the chance to judge strangers. We would never do that to ourselves, of course. We are nuanced and complex and enigmatic. But the stranger is easy. If I can convince you of one thing in this book, let be this: Strangers are not easy.”
- Malcolm Gladwell, from Talking to Strangers
“Most of us shell our days like peanuts.”
- Amor Towles, The Rules of Civility
“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”
- William James
“I belong everywhere I go, no matter where it is, or who I am with, as long as I never betray myself. The minute I become who you want me to be, in order to fit in and make sure people like me, is the moment I no longer belong anywhere.”
- Brené Brown
“You have to learn all the big ideas in the key disciplines in a way that they’re in a mental latticework in your head and you automatically use them for the rest of your life.”
- Charlie Munger
“Not every problem needs to be overcome, just the ones stopping you from getting where you want to be.”
- Ann Hill