Weekend Briefing No. 520

Weekend Briefing Turns 10!

Welcome to the weekend.

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Weekend Briefing Turns 10!

This is a very special issue. Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Weekend Briefing! Every week for the last 520 weeks in a row, I’ve hit send on an email. To my great surprise and gratitude it seems to add value to people’s lives. Thanks so much for reading over the years. Thanks for allowing me to be a small part of your weekend ritual.

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Prime Numbers

28 — Right now, 28% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, and they’re one of the fastest-growing religious — or nonreligious — groups in America.

1,461 — The chances that someone is born on February 29 is one in 1,461.

550,000 — After completing a long census, scientists believe there are an estimated 550,000 penguins on Antarctica.

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I Want to Write A Poem

I had to share this poem with you from Rudy Francisco. Watch the whole video, but here are the opening lines: “I wanna write a poem. But I want it to say what you’re thinking. I wanna patch up the holes when your boat starts sinking. I wanna write that ‘one of a kind’ poem, that ‘free your mind’ poem, that ‘I like how you made that rhyme’ poem, that ‘I like that last line’ poem, that ‘Can I hear that one more time? (That is, if you don’t mind.)’ poem. I wanna write that ‘So heartfelt, I think I know him’ poem, that ‘This is so tight! I gotta go find all my friends so I can show them’ poem.” Button Poetry (2 minutes)

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The Last Repair Shop

The Los Angeles school district runs a shop that maintains and repairs 80,000 musical instruments in a nondescript warehouse, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of LA. This short documentary is nominated for an Oscar this year. LA Times (39 minutes)

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Where AI Innovation is Headed 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is helping cash-rich startups target ads and steal your attention. What will we accomplish when we put AI into the hands of social entrepreneurs? Google estimates AI has helped nonprofits achieve their goals at three times the speed and half the cost. A new generation of AI-powered nonprofits (APNs) are still in their early days, but the results so far are impressive. 1) Earth Species Project developed the first-ever foundation model to decode non-human language. 2) In climate, WattTime (via Climate TRACE) uses machine learning and satellite data to reveal the emissions of more than 350 million global pollution sources. 3) CareerVillage’s AI coach mentors career seekers to find the job of their dreams. 4) Gramhal’s AI has delivered over 10 million messages offering hyperlocal farming and crop pricing guidance to poor farmers across India. These APNs are changing how we change the world. Subscribe to AI For Humanity to keep up. Fast Forward (Sponsored)

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The Most Important Parenting Strategy

Everyone loses their temper from time to time, but the stakes are dizzyingly high when the focus of your fury is your own child. Clinical psychologist and renowned parenting whisperer Becky Kennedy is here to help. Not only does she have practical advice to help parents manage the guilt and shame of their not-so-great moments, but she also models the types of conversations you can have to be a better parent. (Hint: This works in all other relationships too.) Bottom line? It's never too late to reconnect. TED (14 minutes)

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Drinking Ice

In this video, a pair of YouTubers from Mongolia show us a glimpse of the nomadic lifestyle in their country as they gather ice from the river to make their hearty breakfast, a hot milk tea combined with meat, flatbread and clotted cream. It’s a super peaceful seven minutes. YouTube (7 minutes)

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Origin Story

“Drummer seeks musicians to form band.” That sign hung up on the wall of a high school in Dublin in 1978. It changed the course of music history. This is the origin story of the rock band U2. U2 (3 minutes)

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Concert for One

This powerful performance of “Heavenly Father” by Bon Iver is given to an audience of one. One woman gets surprised with a solo concert. The music is beautiful and raw. The experience is intimate and chilling. Enjoy. Blogothèque (5 minutes)

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Should We Work Together?

Hi! I’m Kyle. This newsletter is my passion project. When I’m not writing, I run a law firm that helps startups move fast without breaking things. Most founders want a trusted legal partner, but they hate surprise legal bills. At Westaway, we take care of your startup’s legal needs for a flat, monthly fee so you can control your costs and focus on scaling your business. If you’re interested, let’s jump on a call to see if you’re a good fit for the firm. Click here to schedule a one-on-one call with me.

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Founder Fridays

Check out my other email, Founder Fridays — a Friday morning briefing helping startup founders and operators scale smarter.

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Weekend Wisdom

Relationships feed on credibility, honesty and consistency. - Scott Borchetta