Over the last few weeks I’ve been obsessively binge-watching the sci-fi TV series The Expanse. The year is 2350. The solar system has been settled and is divided into warring factions. Earth is still the greatest economic power, its industries unrivaled. But Earth’s society has grown stagnant, losing its sense of ambition and vitality over the centuries….
When I created my first online course in 2013, online learning was a lonely affair. Platforms like Skillshare and Udemy were exploding in popularity. But the vast majority of courses at that time were one-way: information flowed only from the instructor to the students. There was no expectation that a student would get to know…
We are in the midst of the fourth wave of online education. Known as “Cohort-Based Courses,” or CBCs, this is the first truly Internet-native form of learning. It is the first to tap into the essential nature of the Internet: that it is open-ended and interactive. To truly understand why this is such a big…
In 2017 I published an article about my quest to be a “full-stack freelancer.” Instead of having only one highly specialized skill to offer – such as copywriting, coding, graphic design, or photography – I wanted to build a portfolio of income streams. In order to do that, I knew that I needed to invest…
In this interview, I spoke with Brad Costanzo, the host of the Bacon-Wrapped Business podcast. This was a two-way interview. We spent the first 35 minutes talking about Building a Second Brain, the methodology I teach for personal knowledge management. I summarized some of the main ideas and shared some good ways of getting started…
I’m incredibly proud to introduce a brand new course we’ve been working on for the last few months. It’s called the VIEW Workshop, and its purpose is to teach authentic communication. It trains people in how to create life-changing conversations. Not just to have such conversations whenever they happen to show up. But to be…
I’ve decided to invest in a startup that I believe has enormous potential to shape the future of education. But to do that, we’re going to need your help. It’s called SchoolHouse, founded and led by Brian Tobal, who has a long history of working in educational innovation, most recently as Head of Academics at…
Here are the best online articles and blog posts I read in 2020. For each one I’ve provided a short excerpt and an explanation of how it shaped my thinking. #1 Seeing Like an Algorithm “Understanding how the algorithm achieves its accuracy matters even if you’re not interested in TikTok or the short video space…
“Honestly, I feel like more people should know about you and your content.” That’s how the email from a guy named Billy started. It was April 2019, and I was at a crossroads. I had been teaching my Building a Second Brain course for a couple years at that point. I’d had success, but the…
I was very happy to receive an invitation to join Noah Kagan, influential online marketer and founder of Sumo Group, on his podcast. I’m officially on hiatus from interviews this year while I write my book, but I couldn’t say no. I remember back in 2012 when I first arrived in San Francisco to start…
It is June of 2016, and I’m sitting quietly at my computer in a trendy cafe in downtown Oakland, California. I’m gulping down a huge, over-sweetened chai latte and sweating profusely as I log in to my computer. I’m incredibly stressed out, and using the sugar as a coping mechanism. I’m sweating not because I’m working…
In this new video series, I walk you through my own learning process as I get to know Roam Research, the “note-taking tool for networked thought.” From creating my Roam account and opening the program for the first time, I’ll ask the stupid questions so you don’t have to, experiment with every feature through trial and…
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