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Draft No.4

John McPhee distils writing advice from a long career as a journal-ist writing for The New Yorker and Time magazine, among other publications. This is a gossipy book full of anecdotes about encountering bears in Alaska, rafting down rivers, hopping on trains and trucks, all for the sake of a good story. John’s advice is refreshingly practical, as he takes the reader through his writing process, letting us see how he resolves challenges.John has an idiosyncratic approach to structure and uses strange, swirling diagrams to illustrate his methods. His advice for overcoming writer’s block seems genuinely helpful: write a letter to your mum explaining what you’re trying to write and where you’re struggling, then keep going.The act of writing is often portrayed as something that comes from a moment of divine inspiration, a communion with writing muse. Maybe this is because many writers don’t want to pull back the curtain to reveal the mechanical, messy processes behind creativity; or maybe they can’t find the words to talk about their process in a useful way. By contrast, John emphasises writ-ing as a craft, with a methodical process behind it, with concrete considerations about structure, about what goes where, about text-editing software and editing techniques, about the proper way to use a dictionary – it is reassuring to see that a craft-based writing method can equally yield creative, successful writing.

WATCH

The Financial Diet

If you’re trying to bulk up your savings account, tune into Chelsea Fagan and Lauren Ver Hage of The Financial Diet. Their YouTube channel has a surplus of snappy videos, breaking down financial basics like budgeting, investing and living with debt. Fear not –this is not nearly as yawn-inducing as it seems. From 5 Ways to Legally Pay Less in Taxes to Cringeworthy Things We Saw in OurIntern Applications, TFD learns from their past to help you avoid (totally) screwing up your financial future.

LISTEN

Philosophy

“Do you have a philosophy?” Wil Anderson asks each of his guests this same question. The conversations which follow contain rol-licking laughs, total tear squeezers and motivational monologues of the TEDTalk calibre. Unlike Wil’s standup, or cynical quipping as host of ABC’s Gruen, these podcasts are intimate and power-ful. Many pass the two-hour mark, and delve deep into childhood ,regret and mental health. Some particularly affecting episodes feature: Marc Maron, Tim Minchin, Lauren Fried and Todd Sampson. Episodes are released erratically. Wil records them when the right guest comes along. Find it on iTunes, or from wherever you stream. How did air conditioning affect the election of Ronald Reagan? When exactly might one need a laser to chop an onion in mid-air?Who decides the release of fresh Emojis?? If you enjoy answers to questions as bizarre as these, check out 99% Invisible. The podcast delves weekly into how architecture and design invisibly shape the world through which we all move. The 99% Invisible archives are a trivia trove of stories behind everyday objects.After subscribing, you will quickly find yourself boring unwitting(and, likely uncaring) friends with all manner of factoids. Fortunately, the podcast is anything but boring.

See their full archive at: 99percentinvisible.org

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Monocle 24

There are some magazines that are so beautiful, such objects of near-lust, that we simply must own them. But some subscriptions are just really damn expensive. Of this ilk is Monocle. The upshot: their radio app is totally free. Forgo the shelf-cred, and download Monocle 24. The app primarily streams their live radiochannel (which operates 24/7), but all of their programs are avail-able. Check out The Monocle Daily (which, unsurprisingly, is a daily news and political program), Monocle on Design and the one episode of the 2015 Quality of Life Conference. As with their print publications, Monocle’s broadcasts are beautifully produced,balancing journalistic rigour with ruminative storytelling.