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The Observe and Rapport Newsletter
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A weekly guide of my favorite books, articles, products, and lifestyle habits.
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June 10th, 2022 | by Kyle Brennan
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Remember when poker had a colossal run back in 2004-2008? It seemed like everyone was playing Texas Hold 'Em or watching the World Series of Poker. Poker is exciting because it is just as much a game of luck as it is a game of skill. It's similar to life in that you get good breaks and bad ones, but it's the ones who are able to stay resolute who end up succeeding.
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In 2017, Maria Konnikova set out to go from a writer for The New Yorker to a poker champion from scratch. What started out as an interesting journalistic piece ended up becoming way more than Maria anticipated. She approached Erik Seidel, Poker Hall of Fame inductee and winner of tens of millions of dollars in earnings, and convinced him to be her mentor for one year. With a Ph.D. in psychology and an acclaimed and growing body of work on human behavior and how to hack it, Maria wasn't coming to the table empty-handed either.
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Over the next year, Maria went from chump to champ (with some bumps along the way) and not only learned how to play poker with precision, but how to master her mind to accomplish anything.
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I love novels based on historical reality. This fictional story is based on the incredible efforts of the Red Cross nurses stationed in the Philippines during WWII who were held in captivity.
Elise Hooper centers the plot around Tess Abbott, a 20-year-old nurse leaving the US for what she expects, and Flor, a Filipino native with a family struggling to survive amid constant moving and infiltration of Japanese soldiers. There are also a couple of love stories that are somewhat based on factual events. Excellent read.
Rating: 3.9 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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This was an interesting show. The cast is stacked with Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon & Bobby Cannavale. It's based on a book set at a wellness retreat run by a mysterious Russian yogi named Masha somewhere in California. Masha selects nine people with various backgrounds - depressed, suicidal, angry, confused, and lost people. Throughout the retreat, the guests slowly realize they are being dosed with psychedelic drugs without their consent. While they are angry at first, they realize these drugs have been the major catalyst for the breakthroughs.
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I didn't know much about the Showtime Lakers. I've always been well aware of the Lakers/Celtics rivalry, Magic vs. Bird, Kareem, Pat Riley... But this show provides an insight into everything that led up to that magical era of Lakers basketball. Adam McKay and Jonah Hill directed the first two episodes respectively, so it's got a uniquely funny way of explaining the story. Also, John C. Reilly is fantastic as Jerry Buss. Only a few episodes in, but excited to see what's next.
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Ok, I’m never buying another book anywhere else. This library in Hampton Bays is the greatest hidden gem I’ve ever come across.
Deep in the basement lives a full separate library of donated books available to anyone for $2-3 each. I was blown away. I spent almost a full hour combing through their vast collection as if time was running out to grab every last great unread book.
The staff was amazing and helped me find every book I needed within seconds. While I was there I saw at least five people drop off huge boxes of donated books.
I bought nine books from some of the greatest authors alive for less than $15. Unbelievable. Never going anywhere else again! 📚
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Friendship > Politics by Maya Rackohh [Substack]
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Maya Rackoff, who just finished her first year at Brown, tells a great story about how politics has been forced upon our daily lives so much in the last few years that it has affected her friendship and her entire college experience. This story involves friendship, and falling out, and making things right.
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Most of us agree that the situation with Lia Thomas - a former male swimmer who transitioned to a woman and is now dominating women's college swimming - is unfair to female swimmers. We can also agree that male bodies (on average) have inherent physical advantages in cardiovascular capacity, muscle mass, height, and more. It's the main reason we have separated men and women into the two primary competitive sports categories. It makes sense, for the most part.
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However, the case for Lia Thomas, and all transgender athletes for that matter, has ignited a culture war and I don't have the answers. Do any of us, really?
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All-In Podcast with Chamath, Jason, Sacks, & Friedberg [Spotify}
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Tim Urban (@waitbutwhy) is one of my favorite thinkers on the internet. His blog, Wait But Why is a fantastic exploration into some of the curiosities of life, and he uses simple illustrations to explain complicated frameworks in a simple manner. He also has the most viewed Ted Talk ever.
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I've been listening to the All-In Podcast for a while now and I really enjoy it. The hosts are Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks, and David Friedberg - and they cover all things economic, tech, political, social, and poker.
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In this particular episode, the guys host the All-In Summit - a conference with guest speakers who cover those same topics in a panel interview fashion. Tim Urban gives a fantastic presentation explaining how America's political discourse is not driven by simple red/blue division, but rather by high-rung and low-rung thinking.
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"If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your troulbe, you wouldn't sit for a month."
- Theodore Roosevelt
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What's on My Reading List?
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Kyle's Published Work
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33 Life Lessons on My 33rd Birthday
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Thirty-three was a big one. Mostly because I became a dad. Our daughter was born on New Year’s Eve — a fitting arrival for a kid destined to reset everything. It’s been a beautiful, if slightly sleep-deprived blur ever since. I’ve only been “Dad” for less than ten months, but if I’m being honest, I’ve been preparing for the role for over …
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Depth Over Downloads: Why Spending Time with Books Still Matters
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Everyone wants faster information. But no one asks if faster information leads to better understanding — or a better life. In the age of AI and tweet-sized wisdom, we’ve confused information with transformation. But there’s a massive difference between knowing what a book says and being changed by it. The Delusion of Instant Learning In a recent interview, political journalist Ezra Klein admitted he once believed …
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The Jack Reacher Approach to Never Being Caught Off Guard
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There’s no difference between a pessimist who says, ‘Oh, it’s hopeless, so don’t bother doing anything,’ and an optimist who says, ‘Don’t bother doing anything, it’s going to turn out fine anyway.’ Either way, nothing happens.” —Yvon Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia I don’t read much fiction, but I’ve always been hooked on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. He’s not your typical …
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