RECOMMEND: A book, a podcast, a blog post

Reading/listening

Three recommended items this week:

1. The great gambling writer Michael Kaplan has a new book out. It’s is a collection of articles he’s written for publications like Cigar Aficionado and Wired. The ROR podcast is built on the foundation constructed by writers like Kaplan, David Hill, Richard Munchkin, and countless others. Some of the chapters in Kaplan’s book are stories I am familiar with, and others are new to me.

2. Andrew Walker and Byrne Hobart talked about Ray Dalio’s new book.

3. Adam Mastroianni wrote about mental “unpacking.”:

   I meet a lot of people who don’t like their jobs, and when I ask them what they’d rather do instead, about 75% say something like, “Oh, I dunno, I’d really love to run a little coffee shop.” If I’m feeling mischievous that day, I ask them one question: “Where would you get the coffee beans?”

   1. If that’s a stumper, here are some followups:

      • Which kind of coffee mug is best?

      • How much does a La Marzocco espresso machine cost?

      • Would you bake your blueberry muffins in-house or would you buy them from a third party?

      • What software do you want to use for your point-of-sale system? What about for scheduling shifts?

      • What do you do when your assistant manager calls you at 6am and says they can’t come into work because they have diarrhea?