Highlights from the content I consumed in 2024, in no particular order — with notes and takeaways.
1. Pattern Breakers
by Mike Maples & Peter Ziebelman
Inflection moments are as important to startup success as anything else. If the tide is not moving in your direction, you will not likely reach your intended destination. Aligning insight, luck, timing, and external factors is what unlocks massive gains for startups breaking into new markets. Look for the relevant inflections for your startup, if you can’t identify them then you may need to rethink your idea.
2. When McKinsey Comes to Town
by Walt Bogdanich & Michael Forsythe
McKinsey has an impressive, albeit concerning, track record of building prestigious positions of influence across the globe at the highest levels of power. They have maintained what appears to be an unshakable global power network built on questionable ethics, cutthroat practices, and deep loyalty. Despite it all, you have to respect their strategic prowess and ability to position themselves as THE premier consultant for leaders, global corporations, and nation states.
3. Co-intelligence: Living & Working with AI
by Ethan Mollick
An excellent primer for anyone trying to figure out where to start with AI and integrating it into the workplace. The only sure way to fail with AI is to fail to adopt it and experiment with it. Top-down control is likely not the best way to manage organizational innovation and adoption of these tools because so much of the value lives at the edge where workers lever it against niche needs using specialized knowledge and context.
4. Your Face Belongs to Us
by Kashmir Hill
A good reminder of the concerning ways our data can be made valuable, with or without consent — well timed in an age of rapidly decreasing data privacy and the advent of new “dual-purpose” AI tools capable of even greater scales of mass control and surveillance.
5. Active Measures
by Thomas Rid
An important historical reminder about the extents to which our adversaries (and our own government) goes to shape public narrative, incite conflict, and spin information to their benefit. Particularly, relevant and worth rereading around election cycles.
6. Dark Wire
by Joseph Cox
A compelling true story about the world of black market encrypted phones, the criminals enterprises that distribute them, and the new methods law enforcement are using to ensnare criminals. The FBI launched and cooperating foreign agencies launched and operated a black market criminal smartphone company and distribution network for the sake of catching said criminals. Setting a new bar in law enforcement, and begging the question: do the ends justify the means?
7. Yearbook
by Seth Rogen
A laugh out loud narrative that reminded me of the friends I grew up with and our experiences in high school. Best (imo) as an audiobook read by Seth Rogen himself — much funnier in his own voice. Entertaining, light, and relatively quick.
8. Encounters
by D.W. Pasulka
The nature of reality and consciousness are revealing themselves and it appears (give other recent revelations) that we’re on the cusp of learning a lot more about consciousness. This books is written by a religious studies professor who was pulled into the world of UAP and paranormal. Encounters is her second book. It is a fascinating collection of interviews and co-written stories about direct experiencers and researchers of a variety of “paranormal” phenomena including synchronicity, precognition, UAP, spritual awakenings, and information downloads. IYKYK.
Interesting to note that more than one of the people covered in this book tie together the nature of paranormal phenomena and the rise of artificial intelligence.
9. Imminent
by Luis Elizondo
This book is the personal account of one of the most prominent UAP whistleblowers of the last decade. What’s most striking is the author’s credentials and the conviction with which he talks about certain phenomena (formerly considered absurd) as real. If even a small portion of this high credible whistleblower account is factual, the implications are world changing.
10. The Secret Teachings All Ages
by Manly P Hall
An encyclopedic review of the world’s most prominent esoteric religious practices, their symbology, their teachings, and how they influenced one another over time. I listened to this as an audiobook first and upon purchasing a print copy realized it is in fact meant to serve as an encyclopedia. Not light reading, but interesting if this subject matter is attractive to you.
11. The Invisible College
by Jacques Valleé
An intriguing account of the collective of esteemed academics, scientists, experts, and researchers working together in the shadows to investigate and deconstruct the UAP phenomenon. Covers the secret and ongoing research into paranormal phenomena and the very serious people who are serious about these topics. Written by a successful VC and one of the most influential UAP/UFO researchers of all time, Jacques Vallee. Interesting to read this (which was written many years ago) in light of the fact that more and more of these ‘invisible’ researchers have come out to the public in the last few years.
Noteworthy articles (on the future with AI)
In a year of AI breakthroughs, it’s worth noting several of the most notable pieces about the future of AI and society.
The Intelligence Age by Sam Altman
Machines of Loving Grace by Dario Amodei
Situational Awareness by Leopold Aschenbrenner
Standout podcasts
I regularly consume a variety of podcasts (many more than only this list), but these are my most listened to in 2024.
Unfinished/in-progress books
Started but for one reason or another never finished before EOY 2024.
Material World by Ed Conway
Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation by Byrne Hobart
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
I am a Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter