Quick note: Last week I spent a few hours with the Substack team in New York. They made a compelling pitch for me to move Big Optimism to their platform next month. I'm seriously considering it. I want to make 100% sure that no matter what happens, you keep getting this newsletter every Monday. So can I ask a favor? Sign up for the Substack version now—it takes 10 seconds and ensures you won't miss an edition if I do make the switch. Sign up here for the Substack version of Big Optimism...
14 days ago • 5 min read
October 20, 2025 "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." — Thomas Edison ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Please let me know here if you can't see the ads. You can ignore the fact that the webpage might not load — just clicking the link tells me! ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ The Gamble By October 1879, Thomas Edison was burning through money, patience, and credibility. He'd been working on the electric light bulb for more than a year—far longer than the "three or four months" he'd confidently promised when he started....
21 days ago • 4 min read
Friends, we're a day behind due to the holiday yesterday. I hope you had a good day ("off," if you got it off), and that you enjoy today's edition. October 14, 2025 "I'm not funny. What I am is brave." — Lucille Ball ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Please let me know here if you can't see the ads. You can ignore the fact that the webpage might not load — just clicking the link tells me! ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ 'You're damn right I am' In 1933, a 22-year-old struggling actress in Hollywood did what thousands of aspiring...
27 days ago • 7 min read
October 6, 2025 "We have not lost, first, our geography. Nature called the lakes, the forests, the prairies together in convention long before we were born, and they decided that on this spot a great city would be built." — Rev. Robert Collyer ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Please let me know here if you can't see the ads. You can ignore the fact that the webpage might not load — just clicking the link tells me that people aren't seeing ads! ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ The Perfect Storm This week's anniversary is unusual for...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
September 29, 2025 "That's funny." — Sir Alexander Fleming (If you see my dad today, wish him a happy birthday!) ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Please let me know here if you can't see the ads. You can ignore the fact that the webpage might not load — just clicking the link tells me that people aren't seeing ads! ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ 'Nature did that' Professor Alexander Fleming was not what you'd call a tidy scientist. His laboratory at St. Mary's Hospital in London was famously cluttered: petri dishes stacked...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
September 22, 2025 "Ecco un poco!" — "Here's a little!" called out by Italian pushcart vendors on the streets of Manhattan at the turn of the last century. ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Hey look, a chance to support the newsletter! Sponsored by: Brain.fm Ready to Unlock Peak Focus? Brain.fm is music made in collaboration with neuroscientists, to help high performers sharpen their edge. Whether you're coding, creating, or crushing your to-do list, scientifically-optimized audio can help you find your flow state...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
September 15, 2025 “I'm going to let the public serve themselves. It's going to work because it makes sense.” — Clarence Saunders. ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Hey look, a chance to support the newsletter! Please let me know here if you can't see the ads. Thanks! ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ $500 and a prayer Picture this: You're sitting at your kitchen table in Fresno, California, sipping morning coffee on a perfectly ordinary Tuesday. The mail arrives. Among the bills, you find something unexpected—a piece of plastic with...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
August 25, 2025 "The children then were ages 2, 4, 6, 8, 16 and 18. So, no, I wasn't interested in South America." — Betty James ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Hey look, a chance to support the newsletter! Sponsored by: Brain.fm Ready to Unlock Peak Focus? Brain.fm is music made in collaboration with neuroscientists, to help high performers sharpen their edge. Whether you're coding, creating, or crushing your to-do list, scientifically-optimized audio can help you find your flow state faster and stay there...
3 months ago • 5 min read
August 18, 2025 "I saw, unmistakably, in the stomach wall of the mosquito, the parasite of malaria. I could scarcely believe my eyes... I danced for joy." — Dr. Ronald Ross ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Hey look, a chance to support the newsletter! Please let me know here if you can't see the ads. Thanks! ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Out of darkness, into light Imagine, if you might, a colonial hospital in late 19th-century India. One thing. we would have seen: patients, laying wracked by fever, shivering under blankets...
3 months ago • 5 min read