Hard Lessons, Charisma, Dad Saves America
Recommendations and links + live event in NYC
You can now catch my conversation with John Papola on the Dad Saves America podcast.
Links for Spotify and Apple Podcast.
NYC Event:
You are invited to attend my live event with author and professional boxer Ed Latimore in New York City. September 18 at 6pm. Details and registration here.
From the archives:
Friendship and Social Fitness. It is nearly impossible to be happy without friends
The Only Reading App I Use:
I’ve been using Readwise since April of 2021.
If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter/X, you’ll know I regularly share screenshots like this from books or articles I’ve read:
These screenshots come from my Readwise app.
Readwise aggregates your reading highlights from various sources like Kindle, Apple Books, Substack, Twitter, and so on. It stores your highlights in one place, making it easier to stay on top of your reading.
Each morning, it emails me 8 random excerpts from different books I’ve read. Since 2021, that daily message has been a quiet ritual for me: fragments from books I half‑forgot are resurfaced, like my own past self giving me a tap on the shoulder.
Moreover, when I’m thinking about a particular topic, a quick search pulls up not just my notes but every highlighted Kindle passage I’ve ever saved on the topic.
Exclusive Offer for My Readers
Use this link → https://readwise.io/robkhenderson/ to try Readwise free for 60 days (double the length of the standard free trial).
I suspect, like me, you’ll wonder how you ever read without it.
Links and recommendations:
My friend Ed Latimore’s book Hard Lessons From The Hurt Business is out today. Easily the best new memoir I’ve read this year. Again, I’ll be doing a live event with him in September so come check it out
Is Universal Basic Income Effective? Not Really by Robert VerBruggen
Drugs Should Be Illegal Because Buying Them In Stores Is Lame
The cultural attitudes around marijuana have changed so rapidly in the last 20 years. If you go to a dispensary, you’ll see that weed now comes in the same packaging as Sour Patch Kids. But if you buy a pack of cigarettes you're confronted with images of a dying fetus, 2 black lungs, 3 skull and crossbones, and a doctor giving you the middle finger.
How to Read a Journal Article in Social Psychology by Christian H. Jordan and Mark P. Zanna
How Wikipedia Whitewashes Mao by Tracingwoodgrains
How Social Media Shortens Your Life by Gurwinder
Outliers Are Mostly Men by Holly Mathnerd
Follow me on Instagram here. The platform is less volatile and more chill than Twitter/X, so I post some spicier excerpts from my readings on my IG stories
You can follow me on TikTok here
Three interesting findings:
1. Across most sports, superior athletes tend to have lower levels of the personality trait of neuroticism. The best athletes—the champions—are likely the most emotionally stable, hardest working, and the most driven and energized. Agreeableness and openness don’t seem to be as central to athletic success. (source).
2. Charisma is a blend of two key traits: Influence, meaning the ability to lead others with confidence and competence. And affability, meaning the ability to make people feel comfortable and at ease. Research shows that charisma is strongly linked to professional success. (source).
3. People who have a strong tendency to take offense are often narcissists. Their outrage is typically driven by an exaggerated sense of entitlement and an inability to tolerate even minor slights. In some cases, they may even pretend to be offended as a way to gain social or strategic advantage. (source).
The paperback version of Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class is now available.
If you have gained any value from this newsletter want to support my work, please buy a copy today. For yourself. For a friend or a loved one. If you can’t afford it, please support your local library.
Order your copy now:
Audible (I narrated the audiobook myself)
Genuine question Rob, that title on the pod save America podcast (in the thumbnail) is interesting and I’d like to ask, at this point would you consider yourself to be among the ‘Elite’ considering where you are now and do you think other people would consider you to be?
Or at least would you fit into Richard Hanania’s ‘Elite Human Capital’ framework?
Wish I could attend that live event with you and Mr. Lattimore. I enjoy his Substack (believe I learned about it here). You remind me I need to start his new book - thank you.