A professor of literature explains why he loves books; The Unexpected Professor: An Oxford Life in Books

A professor of literature explains why he loves books

Mar 15th 2014 | From the print edition

The Unexpected Professor: An Oxford Life in Books. By John Carey. Faber & Faber; 361 pages; $23.81 and £18.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk

IN HIS blog, which is largely dedicated to the keeping of bees, John Carey, for 30 years a professor of English literature at Oxford, states that he writes to “stimulate and involve the general reader”. This autobiography, written with sympathy, a light touch and a sardonic sense of humour, amply fulfils that aim. It suggests that this well-known book reviewer and author retains strong opinions and a love of controversy—writers who thought his reviews hurtful once formed an anti-Carey club—but also portrays a sensitive man dedicated to academic study and to reading. He admits that “courage matters more than understanding poetry” but, having read almost everything there is to read, he is unapologetic about trying to convey just what an enjoyable activity reading is. Read more of this post

Karl Ove Knausgaard: Northern light; One of Europe’s most remarkable literary talents explains the autobiography that made his name

Karl Ove Knausgaard: Northern light; One of Europe’s most remarkable literary talents explains the autobiography that made his name

Mar 15th 2014 | OSTERLEN, SWEDEN | From the print edition

THE man standing on the platform at Ystad station, in southern Sweden, looks more like a grunge rocker than a literary superstar: long hair, beard, scuffed boots, glowing cigarette, hat pulled down against the bitter cold. His white van is so grimy that it is almost black. The stereo blasts out at full volume. There is a fearsome-looking dog cage in the back. Read more of this post

Entrepreneurship: The art of the struggle; A new book about startups should be required reading for business-builders everywhere

Entrepreneurship: The art of the struggle; A new book about startups should be required reading for business-builders everywhere

Mar 15th 2014 | From the print edition

The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers. By Ben Horowitz. Harper Business; 289 pages; $29.99. Buy from Amazon.com,Amazon.co.uk

THESE are halcyon days in Silicon Valley and other hives of entrepreneurship around the world. Barely a week goes by without some newly minted billionaire hitting the headlines and some bizarrely named young company getting an eye-wateringly high valuation from financiers. But for every starry success there will be a multitude of failures, and it is easy to forget that the job of an entrepreneur is often nasty, brutish and in danger of being cut short by impatient investors, rebellious co-founders and other hazards. Read more of this post

How To Make Stress Your Friend: This Incredible TED Talk Shows How Changing Your Perception Of Stress Could Save Your Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcGyVTAoXEU

This Incredible TED Talk Shows How Changing Your Perception Of Stress Could Save Your Life

RICHARD FELONI STRATEGY  MAR. 14, 2014, 10:38 PM

When Kelly McGonigal first told her audience that a belief in the harmful effects of stress — and not stress itself — was a serious health risk, many people laughed. Read more of this post

The Beautifully Simple Method Archimedes Used To Find The First Digits Of Pi

The Beautifully Simple Method Archimedes Used To Find The First Digits Of Pi

ANDY KIERSZ FINANCE  MAR. 14, 2014, 10:47 PM

Happy Pi Day! It’s March 14, or 3/14, matching the first three digits of π.

π is one of the fundamental constants of mathematics: the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.  Read more of this post

The Imaginary Epidemic of Envy in America

3/12/2014 at 7:30 PM

The Imaginary Epidemic of Envy in America

By Jonathan Chait

Conservatives used to say all the time that envy doesn’t work in American politics, that Americans admire the rich rather than begrudge them their fortune. They rarely say that anymore. Instead they warn that Americans resent the rich too much, that our noxious resentment carries all sorts of dangerous side effects. American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks wrote a column in the Sunday New York Times earlier this month warning, “a national shift toward envy would be toxic for American culture,” and then asserted such a shift is already under way. Another Times column a week later, by Harvard economist Sendhil Mullainathan, who is not even a conservative, likewise frets that rampant envy “has made us less pragmatic and more dogmatic.” Read more of this post

8 pronunciation errors that made the English language what it is today

8 pronunciation errors that made the English language what it is today

Think hyperbole rhymes with Super Bowl? Don’t worry, it could be the start of something beautiful

David Shariatmadari

theguardian.com, Tuesday 11 March 2014 10.00 GMT

Someone I know tells a story about a very senior academic giving a speech. Students shouldn’t worry too much, she says, if their plans “go oar-y” after graduation. Confused glances are exchanged across the hall. Slowly the penny drops: the professor has been pronouncing “awry” wrong all through her long, glittering career. Read more of this post

Here’s Why A Former PayPal Exec Absolutely Hates Meetings

Here’s Why A Former PayPal Exec Absolutely Hates Meetings

JILLIAN D’ONFRO TECH  MAR. 15, 2014, 9:47 PM

In the early days of PayPal, David Sacksmanaged over 700 employees as the company’s COO.

According to an interesting Quora post, Sacks hated meetings while he was leading PayPal. Former senior executive Keith Rabois wrote that Sacks was skeptical of any meeting that included more than three or four people. He would randomly pop in on meetings, and immediately shut them down if he decided that they seemed inefficient. PayPal’s annual review forms in 2002 even rated employees on whether they avoided “imposing on others’ time, e.g. scheduling unnecessary meetings.” Read more of this post

An Investor’s Guide to Better Writing – Seriously

An Investor’s Guide to Better Writing — Seriously

11 MAR 2014 – VITALIY KATSENELSON

I never thought I’d be giving writing advice. I was always the worst student in my literature class in Russia. I never received a grade higher than a C on any Russian essay I ever wrote. I have a theory that my teachers got sick of reading and grading my horrible essays, so they stopped and automatically gave me a passing grade out of pity. I don’t blame them. Read more of this post

Startups Anonymous: A list of fears from the CEO of a startup in NYC

Startups Anonymous: A list of fears from the CEO of a startup in NYC

BY STARTUPS ANONYMOUS 
ON MARCH 12, 2014

[This is a weekly series that brings you raw, first-hand experiences from founders and investors in the trenches. Their story submissions are anonymous, allowing them to share openly without fear of retribution. Every Wednesday, we’ll run one new story chosen by Dana Severson, who operates StartupsAnonymous, a place for startups to share, ask questions, and  answer them in story-length posts, all anonymously.] Read more of this post

How to build a tribe and attract ‘supercustomers’: Vinomofo co-founder Andre Eikmeier

How to build a tribe and attract ‘supercustomers’: Vinomofo co-founder Andre Eikmeier

Published 14 March 2014 13:00, Updated 14 March 2014 21:27

Andre Eikmeier

I’m not a fan of mission statements, but I’m a big fan of missions.

What’s the difference? Authenticity, usually. One’s the creation of the marketing department, and one is the reason someone gets up in the morning and goes in to battle with a smile on their face. Read more of this post

Important Life Lessons: What’s The Most Important Life Lesson Older People Feel You Must Know?

APRIL 12, 2013 by ERIC BARKER

Important Life Lessons: What’s The Most Important Life Lesson Older People Feel You Must Know?

Yes, older people are agreed on the most important life lessons they want to pass on.

Karl Pillemer of Cornell University interviewed nearly 1500 people age 70 to 100+ for his book “30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans.” He asked them what life lessons they’d pass on. Read more of this post