I only spent first and second grade in Bulgaria. By second grade, I was failing math.
I loved reading the word problems but stopped short of solving them. My mom tried. My dad tried. My teacher tried. The neighbor tried. A nerves-of-steel tutor tried. Nothing worked.
They’d be like, “OK, Polina, so Train A travels 70 miles per hour heading east, and Train B travels 60 miles per hour heading west. At what point will the trains meet, and how long will it take them to get to Mars and then Pluto and then back to Earth again?”
Needless to say, math has never been my strong suit. But give me a pen and a notepad, and I’d happily write you a 15-page essay on why the trains were trying to meet in the first place.
The problem is schools aren’t structured in a way that helps kids develop and sharpen their curiosities. It’s impossible to measure creativity with a standardized test.
If my parents hadn’t consistently encouraged my love for writing, I would’ve ended up as the fish in this quote: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Overall, school did a poor job of challenging and stimulating my curiosities, but once my family got a computer, I turned to the best teacher of them all: the internet. I still remember the joy that washed over me when I discovered that I didn’t have to get my parents to buy me the magazines I wanted to read. They were all online — for free.
When I was 12, I submitted an article to an online teen publication, and it got published. Not only did it give me confidence, it gave me a small glimpse into what I might enjoy doing for work one day. As David Perell writes, “The internet is the best school ever created. The best peers are on the Internet. The best books are on the Internet. The best teachers are on the Internet.”
And this digital renaissance is happening all over again. The coronavirus pandemic has the power to completely restructure the education system as we know it. And I think this is a huge opportunity.
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As you’ll find in today’s highly recommended profile, the shift in education is already happening — and it’s starting at Harvard of all places.
David Malan, a young computer science professor, has become an international sensation with his captivating introductory computer science course, CS50. His class even has merchandise that students proudly wear, including CS50-branded stress balls and T-shirts that read, “I TOOK CS50.”
For many of Harvard’s professors, the sudden transition to online learning has been a struggle. But for Malan, it’s a natural extension of a decade’s worth of experimentation. Because he has embraced distant learning, he’s been able to reach more than 2 million students so far. (Just take a look at what his office hour looks like.)
Teachers should inspire, teach, and entertain. The best ones should be celebrities who earn millions of dollars. Like Malan, they should also be able to share their learnings with millions of students around the world.
“Online education inverts the learning process,” Perell writes. “In school, we start with the basics, and expand towards curiosity. Online, we start with curiosity and expand towards the basics.”
No matter how old you are, where you live, or how much money you make, all of us should be able to access world-class teachers and the highest-quality instruction through virtual means.
Then, and only then, can education truly be considered the great equalizer.
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THE PROFILE DOSSIER: On Wednesday, you received The Profile Dossier, a comprehensive deep-dive on a prominent individual. It featured Hamdi Ulukaya, the shepherd-turned-billionaire CEO. Read it here.
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PROFILES.
— The professor disrupting education [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The king of Mars
— The high-finance mogul in charge of the economic recovery
— The Hollywood icon speaking truth to power
— America’s beloved quiz show host
— Atlanta’s rapper sounding the alarm
— The dog-fluencers of Instagram
— The startup that blew through $100 million
— The billion-dollar jewelry empire that imploded
PEOPLE TO KNOW.
The professor disrupting education: Professor David Malan transformed Harvard’s CS50 from an introductory computer science course into a cult and lifestyle brand. He promoted remote teaching in a time where many of his peers balked at the notion. But the course’s success provides a glimpse of where higher education and the future of learning might be headed in the time of COVID-19. (The New Yorker; Reply to this email if you can’t access this story)
“I think giving David freedom to innovate is really in everybody’s best interest. You never know what’s going to come out of it.”
The king of Mars: Maureen Dowd spent an hour on the phone with Elon Musk and it covers a lot of ground. Musk comments on meeting Grimes, becoming a dad once again, handling the Twitter hack, and whether he’d rather be a meme lord or a billionaire. You’re in for a wild ride with this one. (The New York Times)
“I mean, basically, there was a period from end of 2017 to about, I guess, the middle of last year, that was excruciating.”
The high-finance mogul in charge of the economic recovery: Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is tasked with the COVID-19 rescue mission. To some degree, he has the power to determine what companies survive the crisis, which groups of Americans will get through with relatively little economic damage, and just how equitable the recovery will be. Meet the man who is one of the most consequential policy makers in the world. (The New Yorker)
“If you don’t want revolution, you’ve just got to get money into people’s pockets.”
The Hollywood icon speaking truth to power: In 2015, Viola Davis became the first Black woman ever to win an Emmy for lead actress in a drama for How to Get Away With Murder. In 2017, she won an Oscar for her supporting role as Rose Maxson in Fences. Now, she will portray Michelle Obama in Showtime’s upcoming series First Ladies. This profile documents Davis’s journey out of poverty into the deeply troubling system of Hollywood. (Vanity Fair)
“I feel like my entire life has been a protest.”
America’s beloved quiz show host: Alex Trebek hosted quiz show “Jeopardy!” for more than three decades. Although he plans to keep making the show for as long as he can, Trebek worries that his performance is declining — that he’s slurring his words and messing up clues. Over the course of his career, Trebek has survived a car crash, two heart attacks, and brain surgery for blood clots. Now, he’s battling advanced pancreatic cancer. Here’s how the show continues to give him purpose and life. (The New York Times)
“Oddly enough, when we started taping I suddenly started to regain my strength. It’s the strangest thing. It is some kind of an elixir.”
Atlanta’s rapper sounding the alarm: Lil Baby is, by many metrics, the most popular rapper in the world right now. He has the most-streamed album in the country this year, and he seems to be everywhere. But before he was a rap superstar, Lil Baby was Dominique Jones, who did two years in prison on weapons and drug charges. “I’ve been a victim of police brutality,” he says. “Now that I do got power, I can say something.” Here’s what he’s got to say. (Rolling Stone)
“To me, a racist is someone who treats a different race than theirs a different way than they would treat theirs.”
The dog-fluencers of Instagram: I’m willing to bet you know at least a few people who got a dog during the pandemic — and at least one who is trying to make the dog Instagram-famous. On the heels of the pandemic puppy boom, Instagram has swelled with a new crop of dog-fluencers. 2020 is wild. (Bloomberg)
“There’s a lot going on in the world. Just being able to take a mental break and see this adorable content is a wonderful thing.”
COMPANIES TO WATCH.
The startup that blew through $100 million: ScaleFactor talked a big game. Its AI-powered tools could replace the accountant and, for a fraction of the cost, the company would take care of your small business’s bookkeeping, bills and taxes. If customers had doubts, they were reassured by the $100 million invested by big-name venture capital firms. But in reality, the tool was glitchy and couldn't be relied on to accurately sort transactions. Here’s what led to its demise. (Forbes)
“If you're one of the investors that gave these clowns $100 million...You should know they've flushed it down the toilet with poor product and poor service.”
The billion-dollar jewelry empire that imploded: At one point, the Alex and Ani charm wire bangle bracelets were everywhere. In 2014, the company was valued at more than $1 billion. And by 2018, Alex and Ani had become one of the fastest-growing fashion brands of all time. But then the luster began to fade. This is the story behind the company’s downfall, and it has it all — private equity, Biblical numerology, and an elusive $1.1 billion gender discrimination lawsuit. (Marker)
“Think Wolf of Wall Street but jewelry.”
This installment of The Profile is free for everyone. If you would like to get full access to all of the recommendations, including today’s audio and video sections, sign up below.
AUDIO TO HEAR.
Sarah Tavel’s secret to scaling a marketplace: Sarah Tavel, a general partner at Benchmark, invested in Pinterest in 2011 when the company only had 5 employees. In fact, she had such great conviction around its potential that she joined Pinterest as a product manager to help it scale for more than three years. Tavel eventually returned to venture capital, but she learned many valuable lessons around scaling, network effects, and what it means to be a really great board member. (Link available to premium members.)
Tyler Cowen’s propensity for productivity: Tyler Cowen, an economics professor at George Mason University, relies on his own intuition to organize his day. Rather than planning out every single minute, he leaves big blocks of free time on his calendar to allow for spontaneous creativity. “If I think of writing as the most important thing I do, I do that every single morning,” he says. “Total religion. Do it. No exceptions.” The regularity of the habit pushes you along a learning curve that helps you get even more done that day. This is a really great conversation. (Link available to premium members.)
Derek Sivers on avoiding unnecessary complexity: In this podcast episode, entrepreneur Derek Sivers drops some great wisdom about business, entrepreneurship, and mental models for a meaningful life. “Life doesn’t have to be so complex,” he says. “You can do just what’s best for you. You don’t need to adopt the legacy software that everyone else uses.” (Link available to premium members.)
Sarah Friar on making the neighborhood more inclusive: The Verge recently published a story that posed the question: “Can Nextdoor really be a social network for communities if black people don’t feel safe on it?” Sarah Friar, the CEO of the Nextdoor, appeared on a podcast to explain exactly what the company plans to do to fight racism in the neighborhood and make Black residents feel safe in a time of national upheaval. (Link available to premium members.)
VIDEOS TO SEE.
David Rogier on building MasterClass into a behemoth: Ever wonder how MasterClass CEO David Rogier convinced more than 85 celebrity instructors to teach on his platform? Rogier breaks down the keys behind scaling, producing quality content, and changing the way we think about online education. “We’re trying to make it possible for anyone in the world to learn from the best,” he says. “And for a long time, that wasn’t possible.” (Link available to premium members.)
Ishmael Beah on re-learning to live: Ishmael Beah came to the United States when he was 17 years old. Just a few years prior, at age 12, he had become an orphan after losing his mother, father, and two brothers in a war in Sierra Leone. At age 13, he found himself fighting as a child soldier in that war. Here’s how Beah learned to adapt to life in America. “All I had come to know, since I was eleven, was how to survive. I didn’t know how to live,” he says. This story will give you goosebumps. (Link available to premium members.)
The golden age of the New York Mafia: In the 1970s and early 1980s, five Mafia families ruled New York — the Gambino, Colombo, Bonanno, Lucchese, and Genovese clans. They each controlled a number of different enterprises, including trucking, shipping, garbage collection, and construction. In this documentary, the FBI takes on the biggest organized crime case ever in effort to indict all five families at the same time. (Link available to premium members.)
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