Newsletter for creative professionals

One of my favorite newsletters for creatives is Jane Friedman’s Electric Speed. Jane is a publishing industry expert who generously shares her wisdom and recommendations. Every two weeks, she sends out Electric Speed, offering digital tools, resources, and advice for creative professionals, especially writers. Each issue feels hand-curated, personal, and encouraging, and I always find something useful. Here’s a link to her archive. — CD

Other minds

Neanderthals were more closely related to us than we had been taught by modern culture. They had language, fire, buried their dead, made ornaments and simple tools. I really enjoyed the book Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death, and Art, which lays out all the evidence we have about our country cousins, and what may have happened to them. It is well written and deep. I am reading about the other sentient beings our ancestors met, because AIs are not the first time we’ve had to deal with other intelligences. – KK

Buying back your time while traveling

Japan or Die, one of my favorite newsletters, is all about traveling in Japan. The advice applies to travel anywhere in the world, not just Japan. The recent issue has an article about “buying back your time while traveling,” with tips to help you avoid wasting time on negative experiences (not flying direct, not waiting two hours for “ramen that is only marginally better than another ramen joint a half a block away”) so you can “waste” time on “lingering at a cafe, watching the sun set, chatting with locals, and purposely getting lost just to see what you’ll discover.” — MF

Political thriller

The Netflix movie A House of Dynamite is well worth watching despite its annoying lack of a climax or resolution. It is a fast 2 hours. You are present in the believable reality of a nuclear missile crisis to see how actual humans behave amid the fog of chaos and lack of information. The authentic details and open ending are meant to get you questioning the whole system, and you do. It is a thrilling ride until the end. – KK

Damage-free poster hanging

This video shows the best way to hang posters without damaging the walls or the posters. Use painter’s tape to secure four paper clips to your wall, positioned at the corners where your poster will hang. Then sandwich your poster between small magnets and the paper clips. Unlike poster putty or command strips, this leaves no residue, doesn’t tear the poster, and is completely reversible. It’s also easy to adjust the poster if it is slightly tilted. — MF

102 Lessons from the 102 Books

I love when others synthesize what they’ve learned and share lists like these—102 Lessons from 102 Books, organized by theme. Here are a few of the insights:

• On Focus: Even having a phone nearby reduces our mental bandwidth and makes us seem less attentive in conversations.

• On Reflection: Asking yourself “what went well?” at the end of the day can give you a big boost to your happiness.

• On Outreach: Friendliness is irrationally undersupplied. In one study, subjects were asked to either stay quiet or talk to a stranger during their commute. People predicted they’d prefer solitude, but they enjoyed the conversation more.

Discovered through Johnny Webber’s blog. — CD

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Recomendo is published by Cool Tools Lab, a small company of three people. We also run the Cool Tools website, a YouTube channel and podcast, and other newsletters, including Gar’s Tips & Tools, Nomadico, What’s in my NOW?, Tools for Possibilities, Books That Belong On Paper, and Book Freak.