Mini-Cinq 1. / The 20-Part Smorgasbord Edition.
On, well, a smattering of topics.
Hey, everybody.
Throughout the Notes section, I created a mix of one-topic posts called Mini-Cinqs. Now that Substack allows people to create sections and tags on their publications, I’m going to move them here to full-time posts, allowing me to share 1 or 2 topics (excluding this one) alongside the traditional Le Cinq Editions and Contributor Editions.
They’ll all be cataloged in the Mini-Cinqs section, and you can find the catalog of Le Cinq Editions here and Contributor Editions here.
Today’s list is OBVIOUSLY more than 1-2, but it’s a good starter for everyone!
- : A library is many things. A celebrated children's author on the value of libraries
- : The Post-Platform Internet. “The most important thing to keep in mind as we decide which new platforms to invest our time and energy into is that we should be seeking out control and stability in these spaces. We should be able to influence how they function and how we are treated as users. Otherwise we’re doomed to repeat the mistakes of the last decade and end up adrift once more.”
Monocle’s Andrew Tuck: "Meeting new people shouldn’t be a chore, a task to tick off (if you prefer being an antisocial sod, so be it), but if we want to have better conversations, we have to be open to closing our phones, stepping out of our comfort zones and making an effort to talk to those at the edges of our usual set."
The FT’s Helen Warrell: The secret lives of MI6’s top female spies.
- : The economics of the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
- : The Four Disciplines of Execution. Great advice for founders. Focus, Leading Indicators, Scorecard, and Accountability.
Blake Thorne: Understanding Your Brain’s Negativity Bias. It is better - and healthier - to embrace Proactive Positivity instead of Reactive Negativity.
- : “My advice for travel is the same as it is for most things in life: question accepted wisdom and authority. Be open to disaster and strangers. Occasionally let your aloneness devour you. Shred the itinerary. You have to do interesting things to have interesting thoughts. Stop being so fucking safe.”
- : On Finding Joy in Coffee. Exploring sadness, anticipation, and how we find joy in coffee—and the world around us.
- : On Brand Loyalty. “Brand loyalty has to be inspired and earned, not traded like baseball cards for points or free shipping. I believe it is the brands that place an emphasis on people that go the furthest. Because (I’ve said this so many times) helping people is cool. It’s what I try to do with this newsletter, too: provide a service that helps shoppers parse out quality things — not just in material and construction, but in the people behind them. Understanding the “why” and “because” of things is important.”
- ’s 5-part series on Bama Rush. Just, all of it.
- : A Good Ritual. “What makes a good ritual? Do it twice and make it nice.”
- : Big and Small Things Learned at 46. “The answer is always, ‘Go say hi and be the welcoming, big-hearted, kinder-than-necessary person in the room for crying out loud!’”
- : Is Food Political? “I have always believed that food is political. And that when we ask, “What is American food?” we are not asking what’s for dinner. We’re asking who we are. So yes, Mrs. Phillips. Octopus soup does have a place at the table. But today we’d probably also be asking about the provenance of the octopus. Who fished it? What were they paid? And should we even be eating these smart, graceful creatures in the first place? When I consider that long-ago letter, it underscores, for me, that food —and all the issues surrounding it — contain the entire world.”
- & : How to Take Better Vacation Photos. Did I just get up off my living room couch to perfect my photography pose? (Yes, yes I did.)
- : Fedora Shopping with Sean Stellato. A great read into the man behind Tommy Cutlets.
- : The Case for Nike. “Whenever I read another online jab or thinkpiece about Nike’s decline, I imagine that, like Jordan, the higher-ups in Beaverton are muttering, “and I took that personally.” I also envision them opening the next era of Nike with a Jordan/Kobe attitude of Self over Community rather than Community over Self. I don’t think that means Nike will become callous (Remember, it will be fundamental to tell emotional stories). But I do think Nike will aim to win at all costs, employing ingenuity, sweat, and grit. The asterisk on that statement, however, is in asking, “Win against who?””
- : To Give or Not to Give? Read this, start to finish.
The NYT’s Madison Malone Kircher: Steve from “Blue’s Clues” Is Still Here For You. “I just kind of wondered, Is it possible to use the internet backward? Instead of creating micro-harm in aggregate, that is actually corrosive, can we just use it in positive ways?”
and finally…- : On Obama’s DNC Speech. “As I said above, Obama isn’t the perfect messenger to carry this reminder of our common humanity. Neither am I.
Neither is, if we are being honest, any of us.
But, together, we might be able to do something. Slowly but surely.
So all that I ask of you is to take a pause before you write that snarky or nasty comment. Before you call a name. Before you assume you (and your party) have ALL the right ideas maybe consider the possibility that, well, you don’t. And that disagreeing without being disagreeable isn’t just a cliche but a good policy to adopt in life.
We aren’t going to solve this problem today. Or tomorrow. But if we want to have a different kind of politics, it needs to start with us acting differently toward politics."Reputation is what people think of you. Character is what you are."
- Oxford, The King’s Man
~ C O L O P H O N ~
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Thanks for the shout-out, Sumeet!
Great reading list! Thanks for sharing 🙏