ZD 25.08: Newsletters for a Better You
What to read to self-improve.
AI storylines, deep research tools, tough software job market, who is Larry Ellison, culinary notes and a self-help newsletter guide.
The Distilled Spirit
AI in the World Today
❔ 13 Storylines to watch in AI ()
Jing writes a rising AI Substack. This week she pulls together 13 storylines that encapsulate the big questions in the AI industry today, and 13 questions to ask yourself about your team or your product. Don’t miss the mind map if you are more of a graphical thinker.
🤖 Battle of the Deep Research Tools ()
Deep research — the ability to do deep, expansive research taking minutes or even hours — is the hottest trick for chatbots in 2025. Both ChatGPT and Gemini have the feature. Michael Spencer brings in
🎬 The AI Horde comes to Hollywood ()
Builders of AI media operations face tough choices. Trying to sell into Hollywood could be lucrative, but there are giant entrenched players who dislike AI or are cooking their own toolkits. Another approach would be to create new content — or a new category of content. Some of both elements will likely come true as the AI horde reinvents Hollywood.
💾 Tougher Job Market for Software Engineers ()
Software engineers are facing a tougher job market than in the last five years. There are fewer vacancies than before the pandemic, and 3.5x fewer than there were at the peak of the pandemic hiring boom. It is true all hiring is down — but it seems like software engineering has it worse. LLMs as a big part of the blame, not so much for their current utility but rather because of the uncertainty of how many engineers we will need once they mature.
AI Adjacent Things in the World
🔨 Building Large Technical Projects (Mitchell Hashimoto)
Mitchell Hashimoto might know about building things. He created Vagrant, a pioneering tool that radically simplifies development environment management. His advice on how to break down a larger-scale technical project into subprojects, look for early results and work in sprints and most important building for you rings very true to this developer.
☠ Who is Larry Ellison ()
Larry Ellison is perhaps one of the most widely hated people in technology, and that is saying a lot in this day and age. He is also back in the news. Anton Troynikov’s guest post provides a sharp insight into the man who is still suing everyone over Java.
🏭Economic Nationalism for a Cleaner Planet? ()
We seem to be progressing rapidly towards a world of less international trade. This could provide the trigger for a fourth wave of environmental capitalism. It will take a different form than previous environmental policies. It hinges on AI-enabled transformation of the supply chain, and would require focusing on enabling market forces rather than subsidies. Near shoring is not necessarily less green.
Brain Break
✈ Most Interesting Travel Tips in the World (Kevin Kelly)
Kevin Kelly might actually be the most interesting man in the world. He shares his travel tips. They are amazing and encapsulate a lifetime worth living full of lore. Advice ranges from the practical and modern to the philosophical.
🍾 Le Widow Clicquot (Smithsonian)
Veuve Clicquot is a lovely champagne with an even more amazing back story. It is the story of a woman-led company launching a venture in the back drop of a world war and ongoing economic crisis. She persevered and created an industry in the process. This book is a good read if you want something longer about the subject.
🍳A Few Culinary Notes ()
Cooking was one of the reasons I first got into reading Substack during the pandemic. It is strong enough on the platform to feature a live festival nowadays. I really enjoyed these notes from a very fun publication typically about cookbooks. #5 is important and #6 is my guiding light. Worth checking out for some great approaches.
Newsletters for a Better You
Self-improvement is a booming industry, and for good reason—we all want to be better. But with so much advice out there, how do you know what’s actually worth your time? It’s a guilty habit many of us share. They are both wonderful and terrible at the same time. Looking at readership numbers, it is clear that self-improvement content of all stripes sells across all platforms. “How to become a better . . .” has been clickbait since the dawn of the internet.
Among the most common self-improvement topics, leadership and management stand out—after all, improving how we work and interact with others has broad benefits. Here are some of my favorite newsletters that deliver solid advice. They have been helpful in my ongoing quest to become a better leader and a better person, broken down into a few rough categories.
Leadership & Management
I always wondered why there were all those management books in airport bookstores until I started leading [poorly] and found myself drawn to that rack in my travels. They stocked what sold. I never found much success at the airport newsstand, but I have found a few newsletters that dole out solid advice on a fairly regular basis.
Soft Skills:
Maven founder Wes Kao writes a weekly newsletter on leadership and driving the business. She shares her wealth of experience and gives a ton of practical advice about soft skills. Some standout pieces include how to give high-quality feedback quickly and how to give the right amount of context in any situation. She provides great advice for leaders at any professional level.
Ops Skills:
Torsten Walbaum shares his wealth of operational experience in The Operator’s Handbook. It is a great resource on multiple levels. For improving your personal effectiveness, the "Nailing the Basics" series is amazing. It includes sections on delivering high-quality work products, effective communications, and personal bandwidth management. For management ops, how to run better meetings is excellent. Philosophically, the power of defaults is underestimated.
Growth Notes:
Admired Leadership is a training institute focusing on leadership development. I have not taken nor seriously considered their courses, but I have really enjoyed their daily publication. Each morning, they deliver thought-provoking notes like warning about false harmony on teams, advice on how to prepare your team for promotion, and how to deal with decisions you don’t like coming from the top.
Positive Outlook: House of Leadership
House of Leadership sends two newsletters a week. The first includes a tidbit of solid leadership advice; the weekend edition features three visuals that can serve as motivational material. The content tends to be growth-oriented, and the Saturday visuals can be particularly uplifting and encouraging. Perfect for those who appreciate a quick boost of motivation and visual inspiration.
Achieving Happiness
At the end of the day, it is about being happy. Here are some people who write about achieving happiness and living a good life.
Happiness Guru: Sahil Bloom
Entrepreneur, investor, and author Sahil Bloom writes the Curiosity Chronicle. His book focuses on what he identifies as the five types of wealth—time, social, mental, physical, and financial. He believes in designing your dream life, suggesting ideas like the think day and providing a wonderful annual planning guide. While some of his ideas feel overly structured or ambitious for my personal style, there are enough practical takeaways to make subscribing worthwhile.
Building Better Habits: James Clear
James Clear wrote Atomic Habits, the classic guide to building and breaking habits successfully. He believes that good habits are the road to success and continues to help the world get there. Beyond the book, he has a weekly newsletter called 3-2-1 where he shares three short ideas, two inspirational quotes, and one suggestion or question to help motivate readers. It really helps you think about what drives your behavior.
Learn From Others: Brain Food
Farnam Street’s Brain Food delivers timeless insights to your inbox weekly. The authors focus on extracting usable tips from winning teams and organizations. Ideas like being obsessed with fundamentals leading to championships ring true to me. The newsletter also offers great reading suggestions beyond the tips.
Advice That Doesn’t Suck: Mark Manson
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck* author Mark Manson has a weekly newsletter that helps you help yourself. Each week, he shares things to think about, questions to ask yourself, and new practices to try. The best feature is the self-reflection—he shares reader breakthroughs, which make the content engaging and sticky.
The Dark Side:
While most self-improvement focuses on positive growth, understanding manipulation tactics and social influence can be just as valuable in protecting yourself and strengthening your own approach to relationships and leadership. Dark Psychology Secrets explores both sides of the equation—how you can be manipulated and how to recognize manipulation. It provides great guidance on avoiding being manipulated and understanding social influence. On the more positive side, the publication shares strategies like how to build better connections with others.
What Are You Reading for a Better You?
If you are looking for some tools to help you digest all these newsletters, check out Jeremy Caplan’s favorite reading tools.
What are your go-to newsletters for growth? What do you read to keep perspective? Share your recommendations in the comments!
The Look
Things to be thankful for: it appears that we can cross “catastrophic asteroid strike” off of the things to worry about list. Maybe working on your leadership skills is still worth it.
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Thanks a lot for the recommendation!