The Art of The Impossible

Welcome to?The?Art?of?The?Impossible, a weekly newsletter where I unearth five pieces?of?content which I hope will both inspire?and?embolden you.

PODCAST

I have wanted to get this guest on the podcast for a long time so it was an honour to have Nir Eyal on this week - founder, investor bestselling author - to talk about being "Indistractable," why The Social Dilemma film was a farce and why hacking back your time will be the most important skill you can teach your children.

This was a wide ranging conversation which I am sure you will enjoy!

Listen here or wherever it is you get your podcasts from.

QUOTE

INTERVIEW

This week, I learned about the incredible Dr Evelyn Granville who sadly passed away last month, aged 99.

Evelyn Boyd Granville, was one of the first Black women to receive a PhD in mathematics from an American university her groundbreaking work in computers at IBM and then NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration included helping calculate orbit trajectories and lunar-landing scenarios for the space program.

Born in Washington, D.C. on May 1, 1924, Dr Grenville saw education as a way to thrive. “As a child growing up in the thirties in Washington, D.C., I was aware that segregation placed many limitations on people of colour.?However, daily one came in contact with those who had made a place for themselves in society; we heard about and read about individuals whose achievements were contributing to the good of all people. These individuals, men and women, served as our role models; we looked up to them and we set out goals to be like them. We accepted education as the means to rise above the limitations that a prejudiced society endeavored to place upon us.” With role models and financial aid from her aunt, Dr. Granville went to university to study maths.?

She was one of the first black women in the United States to earn a PhD in mathematics which she received from 耶鲁大学 And despite facing much adversity, as detailed in the book and film - Hidden Figures, her degree led to positions working on NASA's early human spaceflight missions and a long career in education, including as Professor of Mathematics at California State University, Los Angeles.

Thanks to Computer History Museum for bringing her to my attention and The Washington Post for writing about her.

Whilst researching her, I found this great interview she did back in 1989 - read the full interview here.

BOOK

DOOM Guy: Life in First Person by John Romero

I think I have mentioned this book before but it is now available to buy - the inspiring, long-awaited autobiography of video game designer and DOOM cocreator John Romero.

DOOM Guy: Life in First Person?is the long-awaited autobiography of John Romero, gaming’s legend and the co-creator of?DOOM,?Quake, and?Wolfenstein―some of the most recognizable and important titles in video game history. Credited with the invention of the first-person shooter, a genre that continues to dominate the market today, he is seen as gaming royalty.??

Told in remarkable detail, a by-product of his hyperthymesia, Romero recounts his storied career―from his early days submitting Apple II code to computer magazines and sneaking computers out of the back door of his day job to do programming projects at night in his garage to a high-profile falling out with his id Software cofounder John Carmack, as well as his continued role in the gaming industry today as the managing director of Romero Games Ltd.??

His story is truly one of a self-made man, founding multiple companies after a childhood filled with violence and abuse drove him to video game design, where he could create new worlds and places to escape to. An alcoholic father, a racist grandfather who did not approve of Romero’s parents’ mixed-race coupling, and a grandmother who once ran a brothel in Mexico combine for an illuminating story his youth―a story that has never before been revealed before.. until now.

Buy the book here.

FILM

What's the thing most founders and innovators have in common? A deep-seated need to and resolve to keep going, venturing where most would fear to go. And that is why often draw parallels with elite athletes.

This week's film recommendation is Netflix 's The Deepest Breath documentary which follows the story of a champion freediver - Italian Alessia Zecchini and her Irish expert safety diver - Stephen Keenan. In this moving documentary, it seems their lives are fated to converge at the height of their careers and it examines both the thrilling rewards — and inescapable risks — of chasing dreams through the depths of the ocean.

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Thank you for reading?the?newsletter?and?for listening to?the?podcast, and?if you enjoy them, please do share with your network - my goal is to have these stories reach as many as possible so that others can be inspired too.

Danielle