The Friday Focus — Neil Gorsuch, Mike Posner, and Impossible Democracy

Hey friends,

Happy Friday!

Welcome to the first publication of The Friday Focus! Every week, I will be delivering a curated collection of fascinating articles, videos, and more directly to your inbox. You can read more about why in this week’s free post.

Here’s everything else I wanted to share this week:

The Common Denominator of Success (13 minutes): There are some days that I just do not want to write. So why am I committing this week to writing almost twice as frequently as I previously have? Because I want this newsletter to be successful, and as Albert Gray states in this speech, success comes from forming “the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.” That means doing things when I don’t feel like it. It means getting one more hit per week.

Neil Gorsuch Has a Few Thoughts About America Today (29 minutes): A great interview with a man who I think has an opportunity to be one of the most impactful Supreme Court justices in decades. Gorsuch speaks with David French about his new book, the human cost of coercive plea bargaining tactics, and the “rabbit disaster plan”. You can learn quite a bit about Gorsuch’s jurisprudence from this one interview.

Why Mike Posner Had To Give His Biggest Hit Songs Away

You probably know Mike Posner for his songs “Cooler Than Me”, “Please Don’t Go”, or “I Took a Pill in Ibiza”, but did you know he also wrote Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend” and Maroon 5’s “Sugar”? He tells you why that happened in this interview. From getting cut by his label, to his journey with depression and addiction, to his newfound purpose in life, Posner masterfully tells the story of his life thus far. Lots of learnings about patience, gratitude, and acceptance in this one.

Why Democracy Is Mathematically Impossible

If you haven’t seen a Veritasium video before, you’re missing out. He has a way of breaking complex topics down to their simplest components, leaving you feeling much smarter at the end of the video. In this one, he explains why almost every single voting system is mathematically flawed. There are some slightly better systems (Ranked Choice is better than First Past the Post, for example), but all save for one fall far short of accurately representing the will of the people.

Gable Price and Friends, Jungle In The City

It’s no secret to those who know me that I’m a huge Gable Price and Friends fan. I first saw them play here in Boise last year, and they’ve dominated my playlists since then. Their newest EP doesn’t disappoint. From the Police-meets-Harry Styles “Newspaper Boat” to the bass-heavy title track “Jungle in the City”, this album just rules.
Listen Here

WILLOW, Symptom of Life

WILLOW’s empathogen album (released May of this year) is great all around. But “symptom of life” is my favorite song of the year. The piano chords are so unique, and the song’s transition from a 7/4 time signature in the verse to 4/4 in the chorus creates this incredible release of tension. Okay okay, I’m done nerding out about music theory, but really—give the song a close listen and you’ll find countless bits of ear candy sprinkled throughout.
Listen Here

Are you feeling any anxiety about the future? Maybe about the election? About finances? Anything else? Is there a chance that you’re looking for something to be anxious about rather than responding to a crisis? Is that anxiety maybe a good indicator that things are fine?