Dear Community,

Every time COVID laughs at our plans, I try to remember how much intellectual humility and adaptability it’s teaching us.

And when it laughs, we can do our best find any humor we can. Humor is great medicine (almost as good as a booster.)

I have a new word to get through this messy COVID era. First, a little context. For years, writing what I am grateful for every morning has been a very powerful practice for me to start the day. Yet I get how that word "gratitude" can feel a little too precious sometimes. So here’s the new version of that word that bubbled up during winter break.

Drumroll.

“Gratitouille” (rhymes with the French ratatouille) Cracks me up everytime I say it. I know many people pick a word for the new year. Mine is gratitouille.

May we all focus on gratitouille as we wade through this Omicron surge, masked and with as many rapid tests as we can find nearby.

I was thrilled to kick off 2022 with our new “Reinventing the Way Work Gets Done” 4-week program last week with a large beloved Bay Area company. We're in such a massive period of transformation and opportunity in the workplace, and it is exciting to be working with companies to create better hybrid work environments by bringing together the silver linings from the pandemic, understanding how to best use technology and when to step away from it, and exploring the neuroscience on productivity, creativity and well being. Sawyer and I at the Let It Ripple Studio are hosting another Zoom overview about the program on January 20 at 10 am PT/1 pm ET. Sign up here.

I asked one of my favorite thinkers and dear friends, author Howard Rheingold, to share with this community his best practices of teaching online. You can find that below along with books I recently loved (Our Country Friends), art shows, podcasts, fiilms and more for this monthly newsletter.

Finally, Ken, Odessa, and Blooma and I made our annual 1-min film of all the things we will need to usher in the new year. Be sure to turn up the volume. Watch here or any of the below.

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With love and gratitouille,

"The Future of Work: Creating a Thriving Hybrid/ Remote Workplace" Free 30-min Overview of Our New Program Jan. 20, 10 am PT / 1 pm ET

Join us for a 30-minute free Zoom overview of the new 4-week program we're offering to companies and organizations to create a thriving hybrid/remote workplace. Join us Thursday, Jan 20 @ 10 am PT / 1pm ET to find out more.

WATCH

Don't Look Up

I nearly fell out of my seat in the theater when there was a Webby Award on President Meryl Streep's desk in Don't Look Up. The movie raises a lot of interesting ideas about the near future. Find out more here.

Get Back

Loved seeing the creative process in action in this Beatles documentary. Watch on Disney+ here.

Succession and Lessons for Non-billionaire Families

I know Ken and I were late to the party on Succession but now we are knee-deep and midway through season 3. It's so good (and yes dark). I loved this Atlantic article about the lessons of the show (basically, don't be a Roy). Read here

The Lost Daughter

Another dark but very good movie (great direction, casting and acting). (Apparently I need to watch some comedies—recommendations welcome.) Learn more here.

Stories of Impact

My colleague Richard Sergay is producing this wonderful video series about the big questions of life. You can see by the titles all the issues they explore; highly recommend. Links to episodes below:

Innovations in Human Flourishing
What It Means for the World
Listening in a Polarized World
The Science of Spiritual Exercises

LISTEN/LEARN

L'Invitation by Freedom Fry

This music is buoyant, very Bay Area, and on my playlist for 2022, in particular "Bonnie and Me" and "Big Happy Family." Listen here.

70 Over 70 Podcast

Never mind all the "20 under 20" and "30 under 30" lists—we all know the true wisdom comes over 70. Here's a podcast about just that. Listen here.

Online Learning Can Be Engaging and Effective

Howard Rheingold is a dear friend and someone I love to take walks with our dogs on the hills of Northern California. A recipient of a MacArthur Digital Media and Learning Award, and the one to look to on online education; he's been doing it the longest and knows the most. His article on the subject is something online educators and anyone engaging people online should check out. Read the full piece on Medium here.

ART

Mothership: Voyage into Afrofuturism at the Oakland Museum of California, Dec. 3 - Feb. 27

This show in Oakland is amazing. Info here.

Three Fates by Gallery Wendi Norris in SF, Jan. 13 - 30

Gallery Wendi Norris has a show in Fort Mason in SF. Learn more here.

Nature x Humanity: Oxman Architects at SFMOMA, Feb. 19 - May 14

Looking forward to this immersive experience celebrating images from nature and human nature. Learn more here.

The Rurals by Jock McDonald at Harvey Milk Photo Center in SF, Jan. 8 - Feb. 3

My very dear friend Jock McDonald's work is so powerful. So excited about this new show. Learn more here.

READ

Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart

This was my winter break book. It's hilarious and poignant with great insights on this period we've been going through. Learn more here.

It Could Happen Here by Jonathan Greenblatt

Jonathan Greenblatt and I have been Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute for over a decade, and he's done great work both for Obama and now as head of the ADL. He has many important lessons to share about anti-Semitism and hate in America. Learn more here.

Smart Growth by Whitney Johnson

Whitney Johnson has a great podcast (Disrupt Yourself). I love her insights on business and am looking forward to read her new book Smart Growth. Learn more here.

TO DO

Paseo in Mill Valley

So wonderful to see restaurants opening back up and so good to support local busineses. I just ate there and highly recommend the clams in white wine sauce. Learn more here.

Greater Good Science Center's Grants to Explore Intellectual Humility: Request for Proposals

The GGSC is accepting proposals to report and produce stories related to “intellectual humility”—a concept defined, most simply, as “the degree to which people recognize that their beliefs might be wrong.” With funding from the John Templeton Foundation, the GGSC will distribute grants of between $5,000 and $50,000 to journalists and nonfiction media producers who approach the topic of intellectual humility from a variety of angles and across a range of media, including articles, videos, radio stories, podcasts, and more. The grants are part of the GGSC's Expanding Awareness of the Science of Intellectual Humility project.The application deadline is March 31, 2022. Learn more here.

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WOULD LOVE TO STAY CONNECTED WITH YOU

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