Good morning, friends!

For me, 2024 was unfortunately a year punctuated by loss. I lost two family members who were very, very dear to me in the first half of the year, and the grief extended far beyond.

In my article, “Why All Love Stories Are Destined to End In Tragedy,” I noted that life is equal part love story and equal part tragedy. Each is a different side of the same coin.

As author Nicholas Sparks said, “To me, love and tragedy are linked. You can’t have one without the other. And the greater the love, the greater the tragedy.”

But, of course, my year had some bright moments too. My book was translated to Bulgarian, I managed to achieve a personal goal of running a half-marathon under two hours, and I got to spend some sweet time with my kids, who are now 3 and 1.

In 2025, I plan to create more bright moments. I will start by taking more professional risks, going on more adventures with my family, and just living life. I’m someone who’s very prone to getting lost in the details so much so that I forget to look up and see the big picture. That big picture ends up being … your life.

So how will you spend the last two days of 2024? Make them count.

Cheers to an extraordinary 2025! 🥂

— Polina

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Below, I’ve compiled some of the best profiles, interviews, podcasts, and videos that I’ve shared throughout the year. I hope you enjoy.

Here is 2024 through the eyes of The Profile. (If you want more year-end-reviews, check out the 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017 editions as well.)

✨ BEST PROFILES.

• The billionaire who took on Harvard: Billionaire Bill Ackman seemed to be at war with nearly every institution in 2024: Harvard, MIT, Business Insider, and Joe Biden. While Ackman’s campaign had suddenly made him a bogeyman of the left, he has long been a Democrat. “I’m not some archconservative,” Ackman says. “But now I’ve been accused of being racist, a white supremacist, and right-wing as a result of all this.” He said that “what left means today is not a party I want to be associated with,” and if that means he has suddenly found common cause with the worst sort of right-wing culture warriors, so be it. What a fascinating profile. (New York Magazine; alternate link)

• The woman who will decide which babies are born: Noor Siddiqui founded fertility startup Orchid so people could “have healthy babies.” Now she’s using the company’s gene technology on herself—and talking about it for the first time. “You can mitigate risks for thousands of diseases that previously you weren’t able to detect,” she says. “It’s kind of like a vaccine for everything that we know, genetic-wise, at once.” (WIRED; alternate link)

• The haunted juror: On July 6, 1987, Luana Mango Dunn was seated in the jury box for the opening of the trial, the People of the State of New York v. Eric Smokes and David Warren. The murder at the center of this trial had occurred when a group of young men killed a French tourist. After investigating for seven days, the police arrested Eric Smokes, who was 19, and David Warren, who was 16. Dunn and the fellow jurors found them both guilty of murder, despite their insistence that they didn’t do it. Last month, Dunn got a call that both Smokes and Warren were exonerated. “I had to sit down,” she says. “I’ve been hyperventilating ever since.” (The New Yorker; alternate link)

• The parenting guru offering practical solutions: Becky Kennedy, a child psychologist known as Dr. Becky to her 2.4 million Instagram followers — making her one of the most influential figures in contemporary parenting — believes that parents should approach their roles with the same degree of seriousness as medical students training to be doctors. “To me, being a parent is that level of importance of a job,” she says in this profile. Here’s how anxious parents have turned Dr. Becky into a full-blown celebrity. (New York Magazine; if you can’t access the article, try this link.) (For more, read my Profile Dossier on Dr. Becky here.)

• The tech billionaire riding the new AI wave: This profile starts with the reporter asking Michael Dell a question: “How big of a growth opportunity could the AI wave be for your namesake company, Dell Technologies?” His answer? “I don’t know for sure. Nobody knows.” Unlike some other tech CEOs, Dell doesn’t do bombastic declarations or colorful antics; he doesn’t have a side hustle that involves blasting himself into outer space. Despite having spent his entire adult life in the public eye, he is measured, analytical, and almost intentionally unexciting. So his reluctance to put a ceiling, or even a floor, on what generative AI could mean for his company is not surprising. (FORTUNE; if you can’t access the story, try this link.)

✨ BEST PROFILE ORIGINAL INTERVIEWS

• New Balance CEO Joe Preston discusses his journey to CEO, how he has helped to evolve the “dad shoe,” and why the $10 billion revenue goal is so significant.

• Jason Halbert, a behavioral scientist who has interviewed serial killers, terrorists, spies, and startup founders, discusses the complexities of the human mind and the fine line between ambition and delusion.

• Author Rob Henderson recounts growing up in foster care, attending elite universities, and pioneering the concept of “luxury beliefs.”

• Relationship therapist Vienna Pharaon goes deep on the power of conflict, repair, and connection.

✨ BEST PROFILE LEARNING GUIDES

• How to Become More Likable Using 9 Techniques From the World’s Most Charismatic People: Learn how to command attention by becoming the most charismatic person in the room.

• 11 Public Speaking Techniques from the World’s Greatest Speakers: This is a deeply-reported, practical guide on public speaking techniques from the world's greatest speakers.

• 10 Interview Techniques From the World’s Best Interviewers: This is the most comprehensive and practical guide on interviewing techniques from the world's very best conversationalists.

• 9 Techniques to Help You Become a ‘Master of Disaster’ in Any Crisis: This is a deeply-reported, practical guide to conquer any crisis — in career and in life.

• How to Become a Master Negotiator Using These 7 Practical Negotiation Techniques: This is the most practical guide to everyday negotiation.

✨ BEST PROFILE DOSSIERS

(These are normally only accessible to premium members but I've unlocked them for a limited time. If you want the full archive, become a premium member here.)

• Amaryllis Fox, the ex-CIA agent performing the most clandestine operations

• Hans Zimmer, the film composer using music to manipulate your emotions

• Josh Waitzkin, the man who can master any craft

• Oprah Winfrey, the self-made billionaire who revolutionized media

• David Sedaris, the writer fusing humor with pain

• Anna Wintour, the power broker of the fashion world

✨ BEST PROFILE COLUMNS

• I've Sent My Newsletter Every Single Week for the Last Seven Years. Here's the Biggest Thing I Learned: One of the biggest things I've learned is that nothing in this life is guaranteed. Not trust. Not respect. Not luck. But the one thing you can control is staying the course with a level head over a long period of time.

• How to Generate Better Ideas, Master the Art of Suffering, and Design a Beautiful Life: I shared the key lessons I’ve learned from my favorite interviews, along with my reflections on how the person’s wisdom has shaped my own life.

• Why All Love Stories Are Destined to End in Tragedy: Life is equal part love story and equal part tragedy. Each is a different side of the same coin.

• An Immigrant's Love Letter to America: Only 18% of Americans aged 18-34 are "extremely proud" to be American. I am part of that 18%. Here’s why.

• What Is the Defining Moment of Your Life?: What has been the most defining moment in your life? I bet I could tell a lot about you based on your answer to this question.

• The honest truth about how I feel one year after publishing a book: Reflecting on the one-year anniversary of publishing my book, HIDDEN GENIUS.

• Why the Bulgarian Edition of My Book 'Hidden Genius' Is So Meaningful: My book was translated to Bulgarian. Here’s why this was an immensely cool moment for me.

✨ BEST PODCASTS

• Abigail Shrier on the dark side of therapy: American kids are the freest, most privileged kids in all of history. They are also the saddest, most anxious, depressed, and medicated generation on record. Nearly a third of teen girls say they have seriously considered suicide. For boys, that number is an alarming 14%. What’s even stranger is that all of these worsening mental health outcomes for kids have coincided with a generation of parents hyper-fixated on the mental health and well-being of their children. In her new book, Bad Therapy, Abigail Shrier argues that these changes are directly contributing to kids’ mental health decline. Is the shiny new stuff actually making our kids worse?

• Becky Kennedy on stress-free parenting: In this episode, parenting psychologist Dr. Becky Kennedy shares insights on your relationship with your partner, regulating your emotions, setting screen time boundaries, and how parents get in the way. Almost everything she shares applies not just to parenting but to every relationship in your life—with your partner, your kids, your colleagues, and your customers. (Read the Profile’s Becky Kennedy Dossier here.)

• Charles Duhigg on how to connect with anyone: What if you could communicate effortlessly with anyone, instantly establishing trust and connection? According to Charles Duhigg, author of the book Supercommunicators, the most compelling communicators don't possess any magical talents. They've simply mastered the hidden rules that govern how we connect through conversation.

✨ BEST VIDEOS

• Howard Marks on simplifying complicated ideas: Want to build influence with great ideas and simple writing? Look no further than Howard Marks. Most smart people use big words and pointless jargon to reinforce the barrier between themselves and “the common folk.” Howard, on the other hand, breaks down this barrier, and that’s why his ideas are so influential (and why he’s Warren Buffett’s favorite author).

• Charles Schwab on building a $7 trillion empire: This is the story of Charles Schwab. He was a boy faced with dyslexia and a humble upbringing, who persevered through adversity to build one of the largest financial empires in history, showing the world that limitations are merely stepping stones to greatness.

• Kay Tye on the biology of social interactions: In this interview, Dr. Kay Tye discusses the neural circuit basis of social interactions and loneliness. She explains how animals and people establish themselves in a group hierarchy by rank and how the brain responds to dominance and subordination. “If you get animals into a small space,” she says, “you will see, many species, forming a linear hierarchy.”

• The artist who draws entire cityscapes from memory: After three years behind the camera and following the artist's every step, this feature-length documentary takes you on a journey with Stephen Wiltshire. Stephen Wiltshire is an artist who draws detailed cityscapes from memory. He has a particular talent for drawing lifelike, accurate impressions of cities, skylines and street scenes after having only observed them briefly. Fascinating story of a fascinating person.

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