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Impressions Whenever I watch a political thriller on Netflix I think, "No way, none of this stuff actually happens."

Anne Lamott’s father taught prisoners at San Quentin, and herself, how to write.

The only light in the motel room came in through the blinds from the street lights.

The Accidental President is a unique biography.

Get Up and Write I started watching Foundation on Apple TV this week (I’m late, I know), and it was so good I had to learn more about Isaac Asimov, the original author of the Foundation series.

I spent the afternoon walking around the Hoover Institute at Stanford University today.

After starting Foundation on Apple TV (I’m late, I know), I became interested in Isaac Asimov.

Poetry and Politics In June 1956, Senator John F.

I don't believe in writer's block in the traditional sense.

Knowledge While Richard Feynman was working at Los Alamos on the Manhattan Project, every now and then, a lieutenant from the Army would come down and check on his team’s work.

Impressions American Prometheus is a tale of a modern Galileo, “a scientist-hero martyred by the authorities in America’s anticommunist witch-hunt.”

Enjoy the Doing In the autumn of 1932, Robert Oppenheimer wrote in a letter to his brother Frank, "The work is fine, not the fruits but the doing..."

Chase Your Reading There are two main modes of reading, Robin Hanson writes , searching and chasing.

No one influenced the ideas and philosophies of Orville and Wilbur more than their father, the Bishop Milton Wright.

Being born out of wedlock in 1400s Italy didn't leave a lot of options for the son of a multi-generation notary.

One ship drives east and another drives westWith the self-same winds that blow.’Tis the set of the sailsAnd not the galesWhich tells us the way to go. – Ella Wheeler Wilcox, “Winds of Fate” No one was less likely to change the world than two poor boys from

20th-century scientists often embody a certain stereotype that befits their profession as stuffy and dry, only caring about smoking pipes and reading books.

Discipline is a habit.

You can read more structured notes on this book here.

As if it were a movie, The Splendid and the Vile captures the courage and hope of Winston Churchill – the newly minted Prime Minister – his family, close associates, and other Londoners during The Blitz, a nine-month rampage of German bombings on the capi…

Novelist as a Vocation gives a glimpse into the creative mind of novelist Haruki Murakami.

I don’t think there are any secrets to reading more other than just sitting down to read.

Impressions Novelist as a Vocation is an entertaining anthology of essays–some reprinted, some original–about writing and life.

Irrational People don’t make irrational decisions on purpose.

Look at Your Fish Louis Agassiz, the nineteenth-century Harvard naturalist, would place a smelly old fish in front of each one of his students and say, “Look at your fish,” then he’d leave.

Whenever great artists talk about their craft, I pay attention.

Rules Filmmaker extraordinaire Stanley Kubrick had 12 rules posted in every room in his house.

Impressions I can confidently say that The Splendid and the Vile is one of the best books I’ve ever read.

Impressions Working is the book I was hoping it to be.

Sandwich Robert Caro is a master biographer.

Impressions When one opens The Crack-Up, they open a portal to a strange new world: the jazz and liquor-filled 1920s.

Comparison Four years before the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, the French unveiled the Eiffel Tower–a majestic display of creativity and ingenuity–at the Paris Exhibition.

Here are three lessons I learned from reading The Devil in the White City, a book on the construction of the Chicago World’s Fair (juxtaposed with a suave, murderous criminal), on human psychology and project management. 1.

Da Vinci If you want to be a “genius,” it starts with being more curious.

Impressions An enthralling tale of “murder and mayhem” at the Chicago World’s Fair.

Curiosity In 1910, Thomas Edison created a controversial test as part of the application process to join his company.

Impressions In Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work That Lasts, Ryan Holiday creates a playbook for writers, creators, and artists to make exceptional work and get noticed.

Edison 143 years ago to the day, Thomas Edison patented his design for an incandescent lightbulb.

After the space shuttle Challenger exploded, Richard Feynman got a call asking to be apart of a committee to investigate the accident.

Time is funny.

The life and wisdom of Albert Einstein was the result of his innate curiosity.

Time In 1583, at the Duomo of Pisa, a teenager noticed something peculiar about the lamps swinging back and forth from the ceiling.

There’s no better manual on time management than Arnold Bennett’s How to Live on 24 Hours a Day (notes).

Writing Advice from Hemingway Ernest Hemingway’s first real writing job was as a reporter at the Kansas City Star.

Impressions How to Live on 24 Hours a Day is the most timeless, practical guide to time management.

Impressions I discovered this book at a used bookstore.

Droste Effect I'll ask you the same question Sally Draper asked on MadMen: "When I think about forever, I get upset.

Impressions Almost every writer or creative person I listen to swears by this book.

Impressions Though this book wasn’t the detailed account of the technical innovations required to get to space as I was hoping, I enjoyed it.

“If someone can just tell me how to catch up [to the Soviets in the space race],” John F.