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I’ve got to be careful or Valeria is going to think I’m trying to channel her blog but I’m a big fan of Benjamin Zander and I wanted to direct readers to her post about him, which includes the above video clip of him, as well. I saw him deliver a keynote presentation several years ago that I still consider to be one of the best I have ever seen (and I’m in the conference business, so I have seen plenty of keynotes).
Orchestrating Collaboration is the title of a talk Ben Zander, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, gave at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year [the video is 9 minutes]. I read the Zanders’ book when it came out, in 2000. It is timeless. Long after we will be done pounding the meaning out of the term conversation, this book will continue to inspire generations of students of The Art of Possibility.
Is there a medical link between mind and body? A Harvard professor examines the history behind the idea in The Cure Within. I have not read the book, but based on the ideas put forth in the NYT review, “Faith and Healing,” it might be worth looking at.
In “The Cure Within,” her splendid history of mind-body medicine, Anne Harrington tries to explain why we draw connections between emotions and illness, and helps trace how today’s myriad alternative and complementary treatments came to be. A professor and chairman of the history of science department at Harvard, Harrington has produced a book that desperately needed to be written. Some 60 million Americans use these therapies in the effort to combat serious diseases like cancer and AIDS, as well as the normal physiology of aging. In the United States, office visits to providers of complementary and alternative medicine now outnumber visits to primary care physicians. The costs of such care approach $40 billion dollars a year. Books, talk shows and Web sites present riveting testimonials of clinical benefits from Eastern breathing techniques, dietary supplements, positive thinking and prayer.
I haven’t read this book, but the NYT review of it, “Log On. Tune Out,” makes for good reading, itself. In Lee Siegel’s book, Against the Machine, he looks at the way the Internet is reshaping American culture he and doesn’t like what he sees. Some valid points, and also some good criticism offered by the reviewer.
Fast Company has an in-depth story, “Is the Tipping Point Toast?” about the work of Duncan Watts, a network-theory scientist who tests the actual influence of “Influencers” popularized by Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point and finds anyone is about as influential in starting trends as anyone else.
… Influentials have no such effect. Indeed, they have no special role in trends at all….”It just doesn’t work,” Watts says…. “A rare bunch of cool people just don’t have that power. And when you test the way marketers say the world works, it falls apart. There’s no there there.”
And this is not, he argues, mere academic whimsy. He has developed a new technique for propagating ads virally, which can double or even quadruple the reach of an ordinary online campaign by harnessing the pass-around power of everyday people–and ignoring Influentials altogether.
The marketing establishment doesn’t want to hear it, since “going viral” by reaching influencers is the latest big thing.
But as The Tipping Point climbed the charts, marketers fixated on Gladwell’s Law of the Few, his suggestion that rare, highly connected people shape the world.
I’ve read every one of Sara Paretsky’sV.I. Warshawski mysteries and always enjoyed them. Warshawski is a spirited, tough-yet-vulnerable, flawed and successful private investigator in Chicago. She’s fighting it out in a male-dominated profession, actually has a credible and liberated social life, and over the series of books she really grows on you. Plus, I’ve gotten a great understanding of Chicago through Paretsky’s rich descriptions.
But the latest Paretsky book I’ve read is not a mystery and does not feature V.I. It’s called Ghost Country, and it allows the author to indulge magic and mysticism as well as timeless themes of betrayal and redemption. I’d say it’s pretty ambitious, and a bit heavy on the symbolism, but I enjoyed reading it and never got bored, that’s for sure. It’s definitely out on the edge, though, so if you really want to read a good Paretsky mystery, pick up one of her other books, instead.
I was first intrigued by the “map” aspect of the book, since I misunderstood how important the mapping of cholera cases in London was to stopping the epidemic. In folklore, the map has been played up more than it merits. What’s really behind the successful intervention are remarkable and determined individuals with different perspectives who get drawn together unexpectedly. It’s a story of heroism as much as it is of science, and Stevens offers a forward-looking perspective on urban living in the future, as well.
Janet Evanovich’s books are one of my guilty pleasures. Far from good literature, rather formulaic but not quite predictable, these are mysteries that make me laugh out loud. I recently finished Lean Mean Thirteen (every one of the Stephanie Plum novels has a number in the title).
Stephanie Plum is an accidental bounty hunter in Trenton, NJ. She’s not really well suited for the job, but she kept getting fired from other jobs, and in her own bumbling way she makes the rent as a bounty hunter. The attempts to bring in the FTA’s (Failure To Appear) provide endless comedic opportunities, and in every book her car somehow gets destroyed — it’s a running joke. Each of the characters is a caricature, drawn broadly and amusingly, too. I’ve become fond of them, even though they are predictable, because they are predictably funny to read about.
If you like silly mysteries that are more fun than serious, pick up one of Evanovich’s books.
According to Mark Stevens, author of Your Marketing Sucks, it probably does. Stevens is not a shy guy, and he’s absolutely certain he knows what you should and should not do with your marketing.
I just finished the book, and I see it has highly mixed reviews on Amazon. I think he’s dead on when he says much of the marketing companies do is “Lazy Marketing.” Whether he has all the answers, I can’t say, but the book gave me some concepts that I want to try out.
“An Omnivore Defends Real Food” is a NYT interview with Michael Pollan, author of a truly enlightening book that completely changed my understanding not only of nutrition, but of the entire food industry and economy, especially regarding organic food: The Omnivore’s Dilemma. This interview concerns his latest book, In Defense of Food.
As a health writer, I’ve read hundreds of nutrition studies and countless books on diet and eating. And none of these has contained such useful advice as the cover of Michael Pollan’s latest book, “In Defense of Food.’’Wrapped around a head of lettuce are seven words that tell you pretty much everything you need to know about healthful eating. “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.’’
but I’m a big fan of Benjamin Zander and I wanted to direct readers to her post about him, which includes the above video clip of him, as well. I saw him deliver a keynote presentation several years ago that I still consider to be one of the best I have ever seen (and I’m in the conference business, so I have seen plenty of keynotes).
Fast Company has an in-depth story, “
Steven Johnson’s 
Janet Evanovich’s books are one of my guilty pleasures. Far from good literature, rather formulaic but not quite predictable, these are mysteries that make me laugh out loud. I recently finished 
According to Mark Stevens, author of 
“