2.28.23 Tabs

What a millennial boss has learned from their Gen Z direct report. What is it about youthful recklessness that many people actually miss? How Duolingo uses design to get more users hooked, and more!

Wow, it’s been…a while. This newsletter has clearly become a whenever I don’t feel so burnt out kind of thing. But it doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading articles, listening to podcasts, and watching a tooooon of TikToks, so get ready for some of my fave ‘tabs’ from the past few weeks.

Also, welcome to the 150+ of you all that have subscribed since my last post in NOVEMBER. HELLO! Just as a refresher, here’s what you can expect in these posts:

1. Links to some of my favorite things I’ve seen on the internet. It’s obviously just a small subset of stuff, but it’s things I’ve not stopped thinking about, stuff that is worth pushing through your over-saturation and overwhelm. I will be sure to get you great dinner conversation starters.

2. Random polls that I sprinkle in because I’m always really interested in taking the pulse of opinion on any given thing (lol, basically the conceit of my entire TikTok)

3. A Spotify podcast playlist of some of the best episodes I’ve listened to recently

4. Comment section- please comment, chat with me, suggest internet stuff you too haven’t stopped thinking about

Tips:

• If anything is blocked by a paywall and you have a library card, check out your library to see if you can get a short-term subscription for free!

• I’m really trying to keep this list short and sweet but if you get overwhelmed, work your ways through these links slowly.

Let’s get into it!

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Written Tabs:

1. Why do so many of us crave the recklessness of our youth as we get older? What was that really about, and how can we find those feelings now?

   “When you show yourself, you make more space in the world for other people to show themselves. When you smile at a grumbly stranger on the subway, you make more space for teddy bears to come out and play.
   
   Don’t forget who you are. You are enough. Show yourself. Come out and play.”

2. How Gen Z is showing up in the workplace, both good and bad, as told by one millennial manager. This manager has learned valuable lessons in boundary-setting from their Gen Z colleagues, but has also realized that some of those same colleagues don’t quite understand how certain things work (ie. the difference between venting and problem-solving with your boss). I found this super interesting! If you work with Gen Zers (or are Gen Z), would love to know if this rings true to you.

3. This whole Twitter thread around the race to finish as many books as possible:

   Anna Fitzpatrick @bananafitz

   I saw a book influencer give tips on how to read more books a year. They were: listen to audiobooks on 1.5 speed, skim long passages of texts, read novellas and graphic novels to hit your “reading goals” faster. Which is fine, if your goal is to consume as much as possible

   What do you think? Is this policing peoples’ reading habits and they should be able to do whatever they want, or do you think the poster has good points? I’m definitely leaning towards the latter, because I myself am trying to get away from gamifying reading; I absolutely have lost some of the magic I used to have with reading, the flow of it all. The idea that I used to just read a book and then let it float away, instead of marking on Goodreads?! Can’t even remember those days.
   

4. This thread from a Duolingo Product Manager explaining a few tests that they ran on Duolingo, to see what customers liked best. It’s both interesting from a technical perspective, but also cool from a human behavior/psych standpoint. For ex: how adding the word “perfect!” can change our perception of the experience. Eerie and so interesting.

   

5. Crossword puzzles notoriously center white people/culture/history. I randomly saw this tweet from someone who MADE a black crossword site AND IT’S SO GOOD. Highly encourage you to check it out, because without a doubt, the questions are more interesting than the NYTimes crossword (sorry not sorry Will Shortz….)

   juliana @thecityofjules

   Black Crossword is live! These free daily mini puzzles put an emphasis on terms and clues from the Black diaspora. Play today’s puzzle here: blackcrossword.com

TikTok Tabs:

Genuinely have not stopped thinking about this TikTok since I saw it: this person quit their teaching job, now works as a server and has never been happier because their needs are met (social, financial etc.) and they do not feel stress; I repeat… they do not carry work stress outside of their workplace. MY GOD.

@taylorryannardoneposting this for me as much as you so I never forget. worth a listen. #manifest #manifestation #resign #resignation #quitjob #quittok #leapoffaith

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New life mantra: “I’m not afraid to be seen trying” —like are you KIDDDDDING this is so good

@caffeineaddictedqueer#stitch with @itxmejules “i am not afraid to be seen trying” 🪞🤍

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Marrying in your 30’s, you marry the product, not the potential I LOVE THIS SO MUCH

@layloolReplying to @pind13579 this will be polarizing, but I stand by it

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My podcast playlist

A wrap-up of some of the podcast episodes I’ve listened to over the last few weeks. Feel free to download/save/share the playlist to others!

Listen to my podcast!

I started my TikTok in Jan 2022 after I listened to a podcast episode on the concept of moral injury. Fast forward to now, I have a podcast called Moral Injury with two of my friends. Would love it if you checked it out, reviewed it, suggested topics etc.

Thanks for reading and engaging here (if you’ve made it this far, lol)! Please let me know if you like this newsletter, what you’d like to see more of, less of, if you have any podcast eps or articles you haven’t stopped thinking about recently. THANK YOUUUU!

Miriam