Finding great stories, so you don't have to

Hi, friend. I'm showing my age here but – before this last week – the name Eunice only ever conjured up two people. One was the fictional second wife of Fred Gee, the perennially-downtrodden barman from Coronation Street. The other was Eunice Huthart, former Gladiator and Hollywood stunt double.

If you're still with me after that riveting opening paragraph, welcome to my mind 🤪. And, on with this issue's possibly-less-arcane links...

Why wanting less leads to satisfaction
If only Mick and Keith had understood this back in the mid-60s, eh? 

How to be less wrong
Adam Grant – as always – comes up with the goods. An excellent list to keep in mind, when putting together any sort of forecast at work.

BOOK OF THE FORTNIGHT
Just Ignore Him by Alan Davies
If you're thinking, is that the Alan Davies from QI and Jonathan Creek, then yes it is. But don't go expecting some comedic trawl through his life as a stand-up. This isn't so much a biography, as a confessional. It's a raw, unflinching memoir stretching back to his childhood and the abuse he received at the hands of his father. Understandably it deals with tough subjects, but the writing is rather touching and beautiful, and it ends up feeling redemptive.
Buy links^*: Amazon / Hive / UK Bookshop

In the beginning was the blurb
It feels only right to follow my book recommendation with a piece that lifts the lid on how books get those 'celebrity' quotes on the covers. Very revealing!

How to get better at making decisions
As the intro says: "Here’s what to do if you regularly wish you could hire someone to make all your choices for you."

What medical TV shows get right... and wrong
Good piece tying in with the current airing of the excellent This Is Going To Hurt on BBC iPlayer. Disappointingly no mention of Bodies, though, which is still one of the outstanding medical dramas.

Why we need a standard measure of risk
Steven Johnson is always excellent and this taps into people's difficulties in understanding just how risky things are, from skydiving to not getting a vaccine, to drinking two glasses of wine every day.

This is how you do brand tone of voice
Over the years, I've failed to get a number of organisations I've worked for to rewrite their terms and conditions, in order to make them sound human. This is what happens when you do it, and get it right. (via Storythings)

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“Those who stick to superficialities in their conversations – or who are jokey all the time – don’t know what it’s like to give of themselves and, therefore, have a hard time knowing how to receive." (From You're Not Listening by Kate Murphy)

The end blurb...
^*My book recommendation links usually go to one of three places: 
1) Bookshop.org (an online bookshop with a mission to financially support local, independent bookshops – it's an affiliate link, so I earn a tiny amount at no extra cost to you)
2) Hive, which makes a donation to a local independent bookshop of your choosing every time you buy from them.
3) I also include an Amazon affiliate link, though, as I know lots of people still read via Kindle, even though they're taking over the world!

I'm always grateful when people send on recommendations for inclusion in here. If you ever see something you think I'd love to read, please let me know. The internet is a big space and I only search a small part of it...

Finally, if you're reading this for the first time, why not sign up here to get a dose of similar enjoyment every two weeks, or simply email me at rob@robmansfield.net with "Content-ment" in the subject line.

See you in a fortnight!

Rob