August 26th, 2022

Hello, and welcome back to the?Dispatch.

A couple of days ago I shared some thoughts on what many are calling the "great purge” and “great resignation”. Specifically, the experience of those living through it in real time. Having heard from some of you, including a number recent subscribers, I thought I would again remind those affected that it will be ok on the outside. Too often we get caught up in our work, thinking that we work at the centre of the universe, and getting addicted to the rush and daily dopamine hit.?I have been guilty of all of these. If you’ve recently been let go (been there) or if you decide to walk away (just done that), it will be ok. It will be more than ok. Talk to friends, talk to strangers (my DMs are open) find a mentor, and remain curious. Don’t hesitate to ask for advice, or to ask stupid questions, or to ask for help. Think about what makes you happy. Take a deep breath. Go for it.

(Including Coach Pop with the above intro because Go Spurs Go in 2022/23).

Enough from me. This edition is late enough.

On to this week's Dispatch.

What I've Been Reading

Shazam is a brilliant system and one of those apps that, once you’ve used it, you can’t quite imagine managing without - I used it only an hour ago to discover Girlfriend by Nieve Ella, which was playing on BBC1 at the time. The ubiquitous music recognition app, at my fingertips on my iPhone and Apple Watch after it was purchased by Apple four years ago, turns twenty today. Congratulations (and thanks) to Chris Barton, Philip Inghelbrecht, Avery Wang, and Dhiraj Mukherjee, for inventing the indispensable. Via David Phelan.

Tony Burke, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Minister for the Arts, Leader of the House, and Gang of Youths fan (and chaperone of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Monday night's show at the Enmore Theatre), has my respect. Not only is he a Minister for the Arts that loves the Arts (more important than you think after the last ten years of government in this country), he is now setting up a clash with tech giants including Uber and DoorDash, declaring gig economy labour contracts a “cancer” on the economy.? “Gig work must not become the equivalent of a get-out-of-jail free card in Monopoly where business is able to avoid the minimum standards that Australians hold dear – 21st century technology must not mean 19th century working conditions". Game on.

This is a great read and more than just thoughts on filmmaking from award-winning writer and director. Robert Rodriguez. A lot of this should resonate around bringing creativity to life and business - “If you never call action, you never call cut, you’re always in rehearsal mode, which is just a really free time to be. And you get really great performances"...“You’re not going to start figuring it out until you’re given a call to action. […] So what you want to do is constantly create projects where you’re forced to come up with answers to fill in the blanks"...“Live a creative life…If you apply creativity to everything in your life, everything is available to you.” Now, where’s my DVD of ‘From Dusk Til Dawn’? Thanks for pulling these together Ciara Wardlow.

One of the Big Ideas of the past decade in technology and shopping was that far more products would skip stores and instead sell their stuff directly to us online. New generation brands wanted to be able to control their own destiny and not share revenue with a retailer. That was the dream. But faced with a variety of challenges, Shira Ovide notes that the reality is looking a little different.

“Really big companies can still do the right thing,” Brendon Barbenzien, founder of clothing brand?Noah?told Elizabeth Segran.?“They just have to choose to do so.”

Instacart is on a?mission?to broaden its appeal beyond being a transactional platform. The?company?announced the addition of shoppable carts: essentially, bundles of products recommended by retailers, celebrities, and creators. “To me, it was obvious that our experience needed to evolve from transactional and utilitarian to inspirational,” Instacart CEO Fidji Simo told Jessica Bursztynsky?in an exclusive interview.

Now This has become the most-viewed US-based news and politics brand on Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. Athan Stephanopoulos tells Andrew Kersley that social media-first news reporting can not only offer content of the same quality as television, but has allowed the company to build a brand big enough to itself move into TV production.

When business becomes one big stunt. “He creates a sound, a song, a whistle from his pipe that will cause people to gravitate preferentially to whatever business in the sector that he is running”. This is a wild read via Felix Gillette. Pass the popcorn.

What I've Been Listening To

For those unfamiliar, the annual MacTaggart?Lecture?is the Edinburgh International Televisions Festival's keynote address, and has featured lecturers including Jack Thorne, Jon Snow, Shane Smith, Armando Ianucci, Eric Schmidt, Mark Thompson, James Murdoch, Ted Turner, Norman Lear, and Elisabeth Murdoch, for whom I was lucky enough to be in the audience ten years ago to hear declare that "profit without purpose is a recipe for disaster". This year's lecture was delivered by the award-winning journalist, Emily Maitlis, who spoke about the complex world of modern journalism and the challenges of holding power to account. It is a must-listen, and coincides with the launch of The News Agents, the daily podcast which Maitlis hosts with journalists Jon Sopel & Lewis Goodall.?Another new subscription to add to the feed.

Uncomfortable Conversations makes another appearance on the Dispatch, with this week's episode featuring host Josh Szeps debating Islamophobia, blasphemy and cancel culture with the Pakistani-Australian writer and comic Sami Shah. The pair explore what's changed since the fatwa, asking whether we get more or less offended now, and discussing whether The Satanic Verses be published today. It is these type of conversations, at times controversial (to some), always thoughtful and considered, and frequently uncomfortable, that make Josh's podcast a must-subscribe.

Another summer episode from Here's The Thing, this time featuring acclaimed filmmaker, and seemingly all-round nice guy, Christopher Columbus, writer, director, and producer, of films including Gremlins, The Goonies, Home Alone, Mrs Doubtfire, and the first two films in the Harry Potter series. Despite the success, Columbus admits that he “always, to this day, [feels] like [he’s] gonna walk on a movie and get fired.” It is a great conversation, that touches on creativity, improvisation (working alongside the likes of John Candy and Robin Williams), and earning the respect of your team. Nice guys finish first.

Andrew Garfield's conversation with Stephen Colbert a few years ago remains one of the most moving interviews in recent memory. This week's with Marc Maron is no different, looking at love, life, and loss, creativity and inspiration. Just listen.

That's it for another week.

Keep me posted on what you're reading, watching, and listening to, and enjoy your weekend wherever in the world this dispatch finds you.

Ben