Who is Denting the Universe?
Amanda Palmer vs Melinda Gates. Alright, less of a prize fight but opposite end of the spectrum on how famous women use their platforms to effect change.
Hi Love,
In reply to last week's note, one of you wisely said, "the world is very judgmental. [And For most of us] it is a delicate balance in sharing our depth and safeguarding our vulnerability."
Later that night, after issue 14 went out, I saw Amanda Palmer on tour for her new album, "There will be No Intermission." My love for Amanda resides in my head rather than in my gut, such as my love for Pearl Jam, but the difference between one versus the other is another note for another day.
"There will be no Intermission" is a Bruce Springsteen style show where the talent does a lot of storytelling throughout and play a little music along the way; the songs are the fruit of the stories that precede it. The narrative is personal, Springsteen talked about his alcoholic father and depressed mother, Amanda Palmer spent four hours talking about death and abortion. It was intense. It was depressing. It was deeply personal.
It is not unusual for artists to mine their personal lives for raw materials for their art. Both male and female artists have done it, Bukowski and Plath are just two of such artists staring back at me from the bookshelves. What is striking about Amanda's latest work is how naked and vulnerable she allows herself to be, even more so that the deepest confessional poets. The artifice was that there is no artifice. Just Amanda.
What Amanda did on stage was the antithesis of Witches in the C-Suite. Some say that she is preaching to the choir, her fans, and does little to move the needle beyond her reach, i.e., Texas state legislature, but I disagree. She put something out in the Universe and it will have a ripple effect. The frustration is the inability to accurately measure the impact.
A few nights later, I saw Melinda Gates in conversation with Brene Brown. Melinda Gates is currently on tour promoting her new book, "The Moment of Lift."
"The Moment of Lift" talks about a variety of challenges women all over the world face: unpaid work, access to capital, education, healthcare and etc. Big gnarly topics, each impacting women's lives intimately.
During the conversation with Brene, Melinda opened up (a little) about reconciling her Catholicism and Gate's global initiative to increase access to birth control (Depo-Provera not condoms) but the conversation is as you would expect from someone of Melinda's stature, composed, measured. Suitable for the C-Suite. Thesis to Amanda's antithesis.
Melinda's work in gender equality through both the Gates Foundation and her personal channels are guided by quantitative data, a 30,000 view from high, and the impact of the work is carefully measured. Amanda's work is driven by qualitative data and often limited to her own experience. Yet a fundamental core of their work shares an acknowledgment, "I see you, I hear you." You need someone to express all the pain and fear and loneliness that is part of life. You need someone to hear your need and struggle."
They each come at the work from a different vantage point, and vastly different style and flare. There is no right way. Feminists and Patriarchy both want us to believe that there is an only way, a more effective way, a more impactful method. Yet that is not life. A single input, a tweak in the variables, and there is an observable change in outcome. We will never know with certainty which approach will move the needle more, or if the existence of the antithesis is essential for the thesis to succeed.
With Love,
Charlie
PS. Promise next week it will not be about women, gender and etc....
IDEAS YOU CAN STEAL
I'm short on amazing tricks and hacks this week. The best advice we gave to clients all week is:you need to consult a lawyer on this.
I know, if you are anything like me, the idea of a lawyer is scary!!! It's grown up stuff. Am I in trouble? It sounds really expensive. Here is the thing, there are many situations in life where you will be better off to engage the advice of counsel then to muddle it out on your own. Our client might very well be in a pickle because their first call was not to a lawyer.
On the note of lawyers, Facebook's new general counsel is Jennifer Newstead, a key player in the creation of the Patriot Act and making it palatable for the American public. Which means....might be time to seriously consider divorcing FB and Instagram.
WORTH A READ
(How) Patriarchy is Spoiling America’s Next Election One of America’s Next Great Tests is Whether it Can Transcend Patriarchy — and It’s Already Flunking - by Umair Haque
There are so many insightful (and no duh moments in this essay, it's astounding when its all laid out with such clarity." One of them is "the deep, hidden double standard that men can prove their character by what they’ve done, but women can only prove their character by what they haven’t." On point with thesis and antithesis,
WANDERLUST
Norway is ON! Thailand just got added to the list as well. I've been honored with the Kravis Leadership Moonshot House Fellowship which will take place this year in Thailand in June. The immediately after I will leave for Kurdistan Iraq for round two of Hello Future. The summer schedule is getting packed and I must admit, I'm tired and it's not yet May.
DON'T MISS
Our Plant on Netflix narrated by David Attenborough.
First of all, it's amazing! Incredible footage as you've come to expect from Blue Planet and Planet Earth (BBC). It's even better (in my opinion) because Attenborough uses this opportunity to highlight the perils of climate change. A missing narrative and missed opportunity in those previous series.
Amazon Eats the World
What makes NYC so appealing to all who live here and those who dream of being here is the character, energy, diversity, and permissiveness. Except the forces of gentrification have been flattening out our lady's character bit by bit since 1980s. "Gentrification is about class—and the places where class intersects with race and other factors, like education and sexual orientation—but it is always about an imbalance of power. And in every scenario, the gentrifiers have more power.” Amazon is raw power with their $1T market cap.
Hi Love,
How was your week? Thanksgiving, are you for real? How did you get here so fast! J and I don't have much in the way of family commitments. We get to just be us, maybe have some friends over for dinner one night, but otherwise, we get to write and be with each other. A tiny and complete universe.
A friend shared this with me after last week's note:
"When the water in Flint, Michigan was orange from lead contamination the kids from our afterschool program were asked to donate a case of bottled water for the people suffering in Flint. Two kids blurted out 'why should we, they wouldn't do it for us.' That seemed to be the consensus of the class. These were public school kids in another economically impoverished district. The boss told the students he had never heard of anything like their reaction before. "
Such stark contrast with the reaction of the wealthy kids from the private school where I gave a presentation. HOLY SHIT!
It's too easy to say that this is an economic issue, especially when middle and lower income families donate a larger percentage of their income to charity than the wealthiest Americans.*
What drives giving, compassion and the desire to help? I'd love to know your take on this.
Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving, with or without family,
Charlie
PS. I am so grateful for you, your friendship and you being here with me every week.
IDEAS YOU CAN STEAL
How about an edible idea this week instead?
KALE AND ROASTED SQUASH/SWEET POTATO SALAD WITH HAZELNUT, SAGE AND BROWN BUTTER VINAIGRETTE.
Roast the squash or sweet potato, both work equally well.
A giant bunch of your favorite kale, de-stem, massage and get them ready to be part of a salad.
Fresh sage leaves, 8-10. Gently fry them in a little olive oil, once they are cool enough to handle, crumble them into the salad.
Hazelnut. Chop them a little and add to the mix.
Now for the best part of this salad, brown butter vinaigrette! Brown the butter in a small saucepan, then add either balsamic vinegar or a combo of balsamic and apple cider vinegar to the fat. Whisk and salt to taste. If you use 4tbs of butter, then you will add 2 tbs of vinegar and etc.
This is so yummy, brown butter makes everything more delicious, so easy, your guest will swoon!
I borrowed this from Salt, Fat, Acid and Heat. A pretty awesome cookbook for cooks of all levels.
WORTH A READ
Amazon is coming to town...NY and DC that is. Like many, I fear this will not end well for average New Yorkers and DC-ians (what is the collective noun for those who live in DC?). We already have a weak infrastructure system, our housing is laughably unaffordable, failing public schools, a Grand Canyon size income divide, and a tough dating scene. None of this will be improved by the arrival of Amazon and more computer engineers.
What makes NYC so appealing to all who live here and those who dream of being here is the character, energy, diversity, and permissiveness. Except the forces of gentrification have been flattening out our lady's character bit by bit since 1980s. "Gentrification is about class—and the places where class intersects with race and other factors, like education and sexual orientation—but it is always about an imbalance of power. And in every scenario, the gentrifiers have more power.” Amazon is raw power with their $1T market cap.
Jeremiah Moss's “Vanishing New York" is a love letter to the city, this city, a city that is so potent, we will give up job and love to be here. Matthew Desmond, "Evicted" is one of the best books I read last year (!). He masterfully gives you a look at the housing crisis in the US. "The Life and Death of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacob will make you think deeply about how to build community and what makes for a great neighborhood (hint: it's not Starbucks or cafes with Edison bulbs).
WANDERLUST
Patagonia is happening! I am so excited.
Need advice on 4 season tents, please.
DON'T MISS
Bryan Cranston on Broadway in Network. It's....amazing.
Ever wonder if we can replenish the wild with pandas raised in captivity? The Chinese are trying and it's tough. To start, it involves humans in panda suits that are sprayed with panda urine and feces.
All the tiny things we overlook is listed beautifully in Carrie Newcomer's Three Gratitudes.
How do we change the world?
During a presentation at an elite private school here in Manhattan, the students raised their hand and ask, “how can we help.” We are barely 5 mins into the presentation and they are already picking up what we are putting down. Did I mention that the students are in the 6th grade? Why does it take adult so much longer to raise their hand and say, “count me in?!”
Hi Love,
Are you tired? I am. I'm exhausted by the speed we are moving at. We won the House but not the Senate. We flipped many districts and retook the Governor's mansion in 7 previously Republican-held states, fingers crossed for two more with GA and FL. Our victory only puts Trump in a rage and the fight continues. I keep on reminding myself that incremental progress will lead to an avalanche and remake the world. While we keep at it with small changes the drip drip at times can feel like Chinese water torture.
I did a presentation on Hello Future to a class full of 10-year-olds at Trinity, a super-elite private school in NYC. Five minutes into the presentation, a girl raised her hand and asked how they could help. I turned the question back to them and asked them why they care? Why do they want to help refugee kids that are half-a-world away?
They instinctively knew. One girl said, "We are privileged to go to this school and we should use our privilege to help others." Another girl said that it is part of our Dharma, our social responsibility. Each and every one of them understood that we live in a world that is deeply connected
I was speechless. There might be hope for us all yet.
How do we make sure we keep these kids fire going and continue to foster their innate sense of social justice?! Do you guys think about this with your kids? What is your approach? Let me know. I'd love to get inside of your head.
Keep on keeping on,
Charlie
IDEAS YOU CAN STEAL
As part of any business strategy, target audience identification is a must. How do you know what to say to them if you don't know what they are interested in? However, we frequently assume the audience; a lot of guesswork goes into who we believe would care about what we do, what we sell, what we have to say. Rather than assume the target audience for Hello Future (liberal white women), we are testing our way into clarity. You can do this too. Our approach is a modest budget, lots of research and well calibrated Google Display Ads.
If you are interested in doing this for your business, and I can help, raise a flag and let me know.
WORTH A READ
How do we change the world is a question I've been asking myself for the last twenty years. This issue of Columbia's Journalism Review has some deep reflections on how the under-representation of people of color in newsrooms across the country hinders our progress, much like the under-representation in various branches of government. I'm convinced that Obama's Netflix deal is about less about the gobs of money they threw at him and more about culture change. Nothing moves the needle quite like pop-culture and we don't have to talk about politics to change perception, advocacy and voter turn out. Grant McCracken's book, Culturematic is a great read on this topic as well as Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark.
WANDERLUST
Raise your hand if you've been to Patagonia. It's late in the season but we would love to head down to El Chalten and do a long distance trek. Love to know if you've been and your experience.
#HUMBLEBRAG
Side Hustle. Yeah that's a thing. I've never only had just one job. Forbes ran a story on side hustle this week and I was featured. What's your side hustle? Do you guard it like it's a deep dark secret? Or do you proudly share it with your network?
DON'T MISS
Bohemian Rhapsody. Go see it. Bryan Singer was a little light on the story but Rami Malek's performance is top notch. This is the closest you will get to a Queen's concert. And what a joy it is. Freddy Mercury changed the world. NO DOUBT. Can you think of another song that rallies and unit the way "We are the Champion" or "We will Rock You?" NOPE. I present you, Freddy Mercury, exhibit A of social change.
GOOD IDEA OR NOT SO MUCH?
WeCroak is an app that will randomly text you 5 times a day and remind you that you will die. It is inspired by a Bhutanese folk saying that to be a happy person one must contemplate death 5 times a day. Anyone wants to try it with me?
THE DR. IS IN
Week one of THE DR IS IN has been interesting. More ponderings than questions but that's alright. Tell me what you've been thinking, should I/shouldn't I, be it in business, art, the art business, travel, communications or even love, and I will do my best.
Thanks for reading. Don't forget to vote! And if you like this newsletter and want to support it, forward it to a friend, tweet me some love or follow me on Instagram.
If you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here.