Your Greatest Love Will Be Hidden In The Hardest Work You Do

Welcome to The Art of The Impossible, a weekly newsletter where I unearth five pieces of content which I hope will both inspire and embolden you.

PODCAST

My two favourite podcast episodes this week are 1. Francois Chollet on the Machine Learning Street Talk podcast. Francois is a prominent AI expert and creator of ARC-AGI, and on this podcast, he discusses intelligence, consciousness, and artificial intelligence. Chollet also explains that real intelligence isn't about memorizing information or having lots of knowledge - it's about being able to handle new situations effectively. This is why he believes current large language models (LLMs) have "near-zero intelligence" despite their impressive abilities. They're currently more like sophisticated memory and pattern-matching systems than truly intelligent beings…

Watch the full interview here.

and 2. I really enjoyed this Mark Manson interview on Never Enough which is hosted by Andrew Wilkinson. I have interviewed a lot of founders over the years, and many have talked about the depression they felt after selling their business. No one would expect someone to fall into a dark hole after making a whole load of money but Mark gives a good explanation as to why that can happen.

Watch/listen to the full interview here.

QUOTE

Find your greatest love... it will be hidden in the hardest thing you do.

INTERVIEW

Elizabeth Feinler and The History of the Internet

This week, I wanted to share an interview I did for my book, Female Innovators at Work, with the incredible Elizabeth “Jake” Feinler.

Elizabeth pioneered and managed first the ARPANET, and then the Defense Data Network (DDN), network information centers (NIC) under contract to the Department of Defense (DoD). Both of these early networks were the forerunners of today’s Internet.

“I am proud to have had a small role in the development of the Internet, a technical phenomenon that has changed the way the world learns and communicates.”

Read the full interview, using my friend link here.

BOOK

Attention Is Discovery: The Life and Legacy of Astronomer Henrietta Leavitt by Anna Von Mertens

If, like me, you are getting exciting about Christmas and already adding books to your wishlist, you might like this one by Anna Von Mertens.

A portrait of trailblazing astronomer Henrietta Leavitt and an illustrated exploration of the power of attention in scientific observation, artistic creation, and the making of meaning.

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, has a diameter of about 100,000 light years--a figure we can calculate because of the work of Henrietta Leavitt (1868-1921), who spent decades studying glass plate photographs of the night sky. Visual artist and researcher Anna Von Mertens's Attention Is Discovery is a fascinating portrait of this remarkable woman who laid the foundation for modern cosmology, as well as an exploration of the power of looking and its revelatory role at the center of scientific discovery. Ushering us into the scientific community of women who worked alongside Leavitt, now known as the Harvard Computers, Von Mertens describes the inventive methodologies Leavitt devised to negotiate the era's emerging photographic technology.

Interspersed with Von Mertens's meticulously researched and lyrically written essays are collaborations with art historian Jennifer Roberts, cosmologist Wendy Freedman, astrophysicist João Alves, and novelist Rebecca Dinerstein Knight. Alongside Leavitt's process, evident in her astronomical logbooks and ink notations on the glass plates, Von Mertens includes details of the hand-stitched quilts and graphite drawings that she made in response to Leavitt's legacy. This interweaving of text and image engages and rewards the reader's own close attention. Highlighting ways that subtle, repeated actions build meaning--whether skilled, technical observation, the crafting of an object, or the mundane tasks that construct our exquisite lives--Von Mertens's pairing of close looking with close reading creates a layered portrait of Henrietta Leavitt that acknowledges the significance of her discovery and the richness of its inheritance.

Buy the book here.

FILM

Unstoppable

I think the world needs more inspiration right now so I am looking forward to watching this film in the new year.

Inspired by an incredible true story, Antony Robles (played by Jharrel Jerome) was born with one leg but he refused to let that hold him back as he aims to become a champion college wrestler. With the support of his mother, Judy (Jennifer Lopez), and coach (Don Cheadle), he will become unstoppable.

Unstoppable is out on Prime Video on 16th of January. Watch the trailer here.

In the meantime, read Antony’s book - Unstoppable: From Underdog to Undefeated: How I Became a Champion - here.

Thank you so much for reading the newsletter and for listening to the podcast, and if you enjoy them, please do share with your network - my goal is to have these stories reach as many as possible so that others can be inspired too. And if you have two minutes, please do leave a review for the podcast - it would mean the world to me and helps others to find it too.

Danielle