From the outside, October appeared to be a busy month with the release/ re-release of two big podcast projects.
- The Carbon Removal Show went live after a year’s research and went straight to being the number one nature podcast in the UK. You can read more about the show here:
https://restored.cc/ - What The Denmark is back with Season Two. More episodes about trying to decode Danish culture (you can see the launch video here)
In reality, it’s been a similar amount of work, though there’s still been plenty of “life admin” to occupy things, especially around moving apartments in Copenhagen.
Now that we’re in November, the leaves (in Denmark at least) are turning lovely colours and the candles are coming out as the nights draw in. (Did you know Denmark has the highest candle consumption per capita in Europe?).
I hope all is well wherever you’re reading this and speak to you soon!
🤔 Thinking
Things I’ve been thinking about last month
A job without screens
A thought experiment I’ve pondered a few times recently is how I would make a living if I couldn’t look at a screen for more than 1 hour/ day.
Right now, my work is centred around being sat down and working from a laptop for several hours a day. This has many benefits, such as being able to work wherever/ whenever there is a chair, table, internet + being able to earn income from customers not physically close by.
One major downside though is physical – being static for large chunks of the day + staring at a screen for an extended period.
I sometimes wonder what I would do if, for example, I got a concussion.
At first, there is a boundless list of possibilities (mountain guide?!), but after a while, some life practicalities are considered (do I really want to move halfway across the world/ do all the training + grunt work necessary/ be responsible if things go wrong up a mountain) and the list narrows a bit.
My current thinking is that with an hour/ day I could potentially have some sort of business whereby I (or a colleague) manage online enquiries, but then the “delivery” of the service takes place in person. For example:
- Tour guide
- Therapy dog trainer
- Bike mechanic
- Fitness instructor
With a list like this, I sometimes get lost in thought and think that, in the grand scheme of things, maybe in 5-10 years, I should try for a year or two to earn income via one of the above and not be sat down all day.
And then I get back to working on Cofruition and realise that, for now at least, this is exactly what I enjoy doing.
What do you think? What would you do if you had to make a living without e.g. looking at a screen?
🎧 Listening
A selection of podcasts etc. I’ve enjoyed recently
- The Food System was Designed to Fail | Food by Design: one of the best series I’ve listened to in a while. Really engaging and well produced collection of episodes that uncover how the food system “works”
- Amia Srinivasan on Utopian Feminism | Conversations with Tyler: I got this as a recommendation from another newsletter and found it quite an interesting listen, even though at times it was turgid to get through. The guest and host are both very smart, eloquent academics who have differing opinions on seemingly everything. Interesting to hear them (try to) find common ground
- Trees: should we just plant more? | The Carbon Removal Show: shameless plug #1. If you think the solution to taking carbon out of the atmosphere is to plant more trees – then give it a listen…
- Work life balance (US vs Denmark) with David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) | What The Denmark: shameless plug #2. Really interesting guest I got to interview about his time working/ living in the US and Denmark.
📖 Reading
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: nice little novel about a period of history I knew little about (the Channel Islands being occupied by the Germans during the war).
📼 Watching
We still don’t have internet in our new apartment and so viewing has been way down… We did, however, go out to see the new Bond film which was a good watch
- No Time To Die: I enjoyed the new Bond film. It was interesting to see how the character is evolving, and how he was much ore vulnerable in this film (still had the Dad jokes…)