What I’m Reading These Days

The podcasts I listen to cost me money. On a recent podcast, I caught an interview with Cal Newport, who discussed his new book, Deep Work. I’ve been taking a break from business books lately, but this one is very different. His thesis is simple. Our technology has created an expectation and a temptation that we work in shallow technological endeavors, miring us down in various inboxes, from our email, to our Facebook feed, to tweets, to photos on Instagram. Knowledge workers (I include lawyers in that category) are losing the ability to engage in deep work necessary to be truly successful at a time when it is more necessary than ever. And if we can reclaim the skill to engage in deep work, we will cultivate rare marketable skill. And he proposes some radical solutions to get there (I actually bought this book in a physical hardback form, versus a Kindle or iBooks download thinking that he medium is also the message. As a result of reading this book a bit obsessively, I’m revisiting many of my work habits.

From another podcast I have found Debt by David Graeber. I’m just past the introduction. But I’m already understanding the Occupy movement a little better. I’m not saying that I agree with Graeber (yet). But I’m challenged by the perspective.

Then, on a completely different note, a colleague on a mutual legal project asked me to go into Clarence Darrow’s closing argument in the Leopold and Loeb trial to pull out some quotations for us in our endeavor. This activity has gotten me obsessed with the Leopold and Loeb trial. And it’s inspired me to do something that I’ve never thought of doing before — finding old transcripts from famous trials. The entire Leopold and Loeb transcript is available online, and it’s amazing!