Hi friends,

Hello from Northern Italy. I'm here on a writing retreat and working on an essay called "Why I Travel."

I've long believed that travel is one of the best ways to learn about the world — but not the way most people do it. I try to travel with purpose. I now write down questions during the day that I answer in "conversations with GPT" at night. I hire local tour guides, and whenever I find one I like, I invite them to lunch or ask if they're free for a longer tour.

I'm always trying to Go to the Source. Just as your fifth-grade teacher told you to focus on primary texts, I try to visit the actual places where history was made. When I wanted to learn about the roots of Mexican cuisine, I spent a summer in Oaxaca; when I wanted to learn about Impressionist painting, I traveled to the South of France to trace the footsteps of Paul Signac; and I'm currently in Italy because I want to learn about the roots of the Renaissance.

My goal is to finish a draft of "Why I Travel" by the time I'm back in Austin next week.

Some stuff of mine I want to share:

1. My Podcast with Tim Urban: The creator of Wait But Why and I spoke about the genius of his goofy stick-figure drawings and how we write nonfiction. (Listen here: Apple | Spotify)
2. ​The Boy at the Music Festival: People always laugh at the first person to do something. Then somebody else joins. Then, another one. Then a whole crowd joins in, and the first person goes from looking like a goon to looking like a genius.

(Oh, and here's an update on something I'm working on, but shhhhh... please don't share it.)

Today's Finds

​The Prince: People like to bash Machiavelli's treatise, but it's worth reading because of what it reveals about human nature. His thinking was very secular. He cared nothing for how God wanted powerful people to behave, and sought to write about how people actually acquire and maintain power. Joseph Stalin kept The Prince next to his bed — like a quarterback and his playbook. One of Machiavelli's lessons was to lead with fear rather than love, suggesting that being feared is easier to achieve and just as effective as being loved. Fear is also more predictable, because love can easily turn to hate, and there's nothing worse for a ruler than being hated. After Machiavelli was expelled from Florence by the Medici family, he moved to a small town and devoted the rest of his life to reading great books. The way he described his evenings vividly captures the joys of reading: “I return home and go to my study; at the entrance I pull off my peasant-clothes, covered with dust and dirt, and put on my noble court dress, and thus becomingly re-clothed I pass into the ancient courts of the men of old, where, being lovingly received by them, I am fed with that food which is mine alone; where I do not hesitate to speak with them, and to ask for the reason of their actions, and they in their benignity answer me; and for four hours I feel no weariness, I forget every trouble, poverty does not dismay, death does not terrify me; I am possessed entirely by those great men.” The Prince is less than 100 pages, but if you prefer an audio summary, I recommend this lecture from Michael Sugrue.

​How Lionel Messi Came to Miami: How did the world's biggest soccer star end up in America, especially considering the $1.3 billion he was reportedly offered to play in Saudi Arabia? The answer is a masterclass in negotiation, persuasion, the psychology of legacy, and why people pay for private jets. One fundamental lesson is that there's more to high-stakes negotiations than money. Messi got equity in Inter Miami, upside from the MLS contract with Apple TV, and the chance to grow the game of soccer in the world's biggest market: America.

​Texts.com: Organize all your texts into a central location. Superhuman, for texting.

​Lessons from Reid Hoffman: What do you learn by working for one of the wealthiest and most well-connected people in the world? One thing is that smart people are hard to reach, and offering to help them is the best way to do so. If you want to work for a company, write a memo as if you were working in their Corp Dev department, and publish it online. If it's any good, you could win the attention of the CEO. Another lesson from Hoffman is to respect the "shadow power." Powerful people usually surround themselves with advisors, colleagues, and family members who are sneakily influential. The advisors see things that powerful people miss because they are out of the spotlight. People throw away opportunities by sucking up to a powerful person while talking down to the less powerful people around them. Don't do that. As Ben Casnocha writes, "the more powerful the person, the broader the circle, and the more the shadows loom."

​The Park Bench Scene in Goodwill Hunting: You can see something 10,000 times on your phone, but you won't understand it until you see it in person for the first time. That’s the lesson from the park bench scene in Good Will Hunting. Matt Damon is the arrogant, book-smart intellectual who has seen little but has read everything. Robin Williams is the wise professor who rolls his eyes at Damon’s hubris. The stuff of life can only be fully absorbed through direct experience, he says. Take travel, for example. Something about the Golden Gate Bridge can only be understood when you feel the wind from the Pacific Ocean and shiver under a blanket of fog. Something about the life of Moses can only be understood when you stand atop Mount Nebo (where he died) and look down at the Promised Land of Israel. Something about Italian food can only be understood when you slurp “siero” in a Parmesan cheese factory and meet the fourth-generation shop owner. Pixels on a screen aren’t enough. Get out and Do the Thing because certain kinds of knowledge can only be gained through tactile, first-hand experience.

(Also, if you enjoyed today's issue, please reply with a link you've enjoyed that I can share in the next few weeks.)