Wisereads Vol. 79 — Great Founders Write by Ben Putano, 50 Years of Travel Tips from Kevin Kelly, and more
Last week, we shared an excerpt of Reid Hoffman's latest release with tech writer Greg Beato, Superagency. This week, we've collaborated with Holloway to share a full copy of Ben Putano's Great Founders Write, a guide to persuading, inspiring, and thinking more clearly through writing.
In other news—our team just shipped a new weekly newsletter, WiseUp!, with tips to help you make the most of Readwise and Reader. You can take a peek at our latest issue and subscribe here.
Keep reading to add to your Reader account below 👇
Most highlighted Articles of the week
50 Years of Travel Tips
Kevin Kelly—author, radical optimist, and Wired's Senior Maverick—has visited half the world’s countries. Naturally, we’re all ears for his travel advice. "Organize your travel around passions instead of destinations. An itinerary based on obscure cheeses, or naval history, or dinosaur digs, or jazz joints will lead to far more adventures, and memorable times than a grand tour of famous places," and "Crash a wedding. You are not a nuisance; you are the celebrity guest!"
We Live Like Royalty and Don’t Know It
At a young couple's wedding, science journalist Charles C. Mann realized how easily we take modern comforts for granted, inspiring a new essay series on the systems that underpin our daily lives. "The young people at my table were anxious about money: starter-job salaries, high rents, student loans. But they never worried about freezing in their home. They could go to the sink and get a glass of clean water without fear of getting sick. Most of all, they were alive. In 1800, when Jefferson was elected president... these circumstances would have represented wealth and power beyond the dreams of avarice. The young people at my table had debts, but they were the debts of kings."
Personal Renewal
In 1990, novelist and professor John Gardner addressed McKinsey & Company on lifelong learning and the power of commitment and motivation. "Someone defined horse sense as the good judgment horses have that prevents them from betting on people. But we have to bet on people — and I place my bets more often on high motivation than on any other quality except judgment... The world is moved by highly motivated people, by enthusiasts, by men and women who want something very much or believe very much."
Most highlighted YouTube Video of the week
Bill Gates and Patrick Collison: In Conversation at CHM
Chatting about his newly released memoir, Source Code, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates answers Patrick Collison’s questions on his early life. "So for my 20s, I was monomaniacal. I did not read broadly. I definitely intimidated my competitors. My favorite panel was one about graphics interfaces where I had people like Mitch Kapor and Fred Gibbons; and at the end, everybody was telling me that graphical interfaces are a mistake because the computers aren't fast enough and the memory's not big enough. At the end of the panel, Mitch said, 'Bill's wrong, but he works so much harder than us. He’s going to win, so we should just give in.'"
Most highlighted Twitter Thread of the week
People were curious, so here's how I'm using Deep Research
BuccoCapital Bloke prompts Deep Research to produce 60+-page reports using a carefully structured request from o1. Among his guidelines: "Balance Detail with Flexibility: Offer sufficient detail to guide the response while allowing room for creative elaboration." and "Request Justification and References: Instruct the AI to support its claims with evidence or to reference sources where possible."
Most highlighted PDF of the week
The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking
In a survey of more than 300 knowledge workers, researchers found that using AI may affect critical thinking. "Higher confidence in GenAI is associated with less critical thinking, while higher self-confidence is associated with more critical thinking. Qualitatively, GenAI shifts the nature of critical thinking toward information verification, response integration, and task stewardship."
Hand-picked book of the week
Great Founders Write
From Benjamin Franklin to Oprah Winfrey to Jeff Bezos, history’s most influential founders have relied on one essential tool: the power of writing. In our knowledge-driven economy where clarity is currency, Ben Putano's Great Founders Write reveals how confident writing can accelerate your business, career, and personal growth.
"The thing most often holding us back from entrepreneurial success is ourself. We struggle to share our mission, build support, and empathize with the people we are trying to serve: our customers, shareholders, and teams. Most importantly, we fail to understand the inner workings of our mind...
These challenges seem numerous and disconnected at first glance. But they all have the same surprisingly simple (though not easy) solution: Writing."
We're excited to offer Great Founders Write via our friends at Holloway, a boutique publisher of comprehensive guides for navigating modern work. We invite you to check out their collection and consider purchasing Great Founders Write or another title, all at a special 30% off price for Wisereads readers. 🙏 All guides are available in the Holloway Reader and most also as an EPUB you can add to Reader.
Handpicked RSS feed of the week
Damn Gravity
Defy the status quo with this week’s featured author, Ben Putano, who shares entrepreneurial inspiration and education on his Substack. From Distraction Starts from Within: "Internal triggers are the primary culprit of distraction. When negative feelings well up inside of you, your brain looks for refuge in something that will numb or distract. The thing you choose to distract yourself is the symptom of the internal trigger."