Friday Finds (France, The Louvre, Paris Review, Kendrick Lamar)

Hi friends,

Greetings from Paris!

I spent the day at the Louvre, which felt like a real-life Friday Finds. Every room had a luscious new rabbit hole to explore. For me, the highlights were the apartment of Napoleon III and the Winged Victory of Samothrace statue. Paris' core strength is taste. The food, the art, the gardens, the fashion, the architecture. All of it. As one friend to said to me, it's one of the only cities where people routinely decide on something simply because it's the most beautiful option.

Speaking of France, the first lecture in the series I've been working on about the French intellectual René Girard will be released at the end of May. Here's a summary of what you'll learn. Click here if you'd like to receive the first lecture by email.

Here's what I want to share this week:

1. ​After Minimalism: Traveling through Europe and engaging in my own Write of Passage brand redesign has me doubling down on the thesis of this essay. Minimalism has become an aesthetic of fear and laziness. Rarely does it communicate the elegance its designers intend. Instead, it gets watered down by the desire to appeal to everybody. By refusing to take a stand for anything, minimalism reflects a culture of spinelessness. It's time for it to go. In this essay, I explore what should come next.
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2. ​How to Take Notes Like Kendrick Lamar: Kendrick is one of the best writers in American history. When asked about the genius of his lyrics, he credits his note-taking system. In this YouTube video, I break down his system for capturing and developing his music.

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Today's Finds

​Paris Review Interviews: When I think about epic series from classic media publications, the Paris Review interviews come to mind. They’ve interviewed some of the greatest minds of the past century: Kurt Vonnegut, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Ernest Hemingway, and Robert Caro come to mind. And they are consistently the best interviews I’ve seen of each subject. You need a subscription to read them, but damn, it’s worth it. This week, I read interviews with the documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman and novelist Milan Kundera.

​The Enlightenment and Human Rights: Lots of people wrote to me with recommended links after I published the Why You’re Christian essay. This was the best one. It shows the relationship between human rights and the Enlightenment, with a focus on the French Revolution. While writing the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen in 1789, French intellectuals wanted to uphold their ideas with reason instead of tradition. As a result, the words “France” or “French” never appear in the actual declaration.

The Origins of Time: The clock is one of the defining technologies of the Industrial Age, but most people are blind to the strength of its stranglehold on modern life. It’s a coordination mechanism today, but it began as a measure of sacrifice that inspired the time-rate wage. Until then, there was no fair and fungible way to measure how hard people worked instead of the results of their work.

​Lee Kuan Yew Speech: Lee Kuan Yew served as the Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 – 1990. This is my favorite of his speeches. It conveys a seriousness the American government should learn from. This is my favorite quote: “I ignore polling as a method of government. I think that shows a certain weakness of mind, an inability to chart a course. Whichever way the wind blows. Whichever way the media encourages the people to go, you follow. You’re not a leader.”

​Solitude and Leadership: This speech is fantastic. It’s about why leaders need to spend time alone, even though most people think of solitude as the antithesis of leadership. It was delivered by William Deresiewicz at West Point. It’s as spiritual as it is insightful.