Out-of-Date – DaneCobain.com

Arianna Huffington – Fanatics and Fools | Review

Title: Fanatics and Fools

Author: Arianna Huffington

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 372

Rating: 3.5/5

Arianna Huffington – Fanatics and Fools

I have mixed feelings about this book, and when I first started it I wasn’t enjoying it to the point at which I almost gave up on it. I was filming an unhaul video for my BookTube channel when I happened to notice that my copy of this was signed by Huffington herself. That made me think that I might as well keep it.

It’s basically a big long book about the 2004 presidential election, outlining Huffington’s theories on what a democratic candidate would need to successfully unseat George Bush. Obviously it didn’t quite turn out that way, but it’s strange because a lot of what she says about this new leader that they need could be describing Barack Obama.

Huffington also has an interesting take on things because she’s no stranger to politics. She ran against Arnold Schwarzenegger for the role of governor of California, and she has some interesting things to say about his brand of politics — and indeed of Republican politics in general.

Arianna Huffington

One of the main themes in this book is the way in which corporate America basically makes a mockery of democracy, with politics for sale to the highest bidder. Huffington clearly knows her stuff and I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a dossier on her computer to this day detailing all of the sleazy, sketchy stuff that politicians get up to, not just in America but around the world.

Sure, it’s sometimes a little slow going, and I did have to read this twenty pages at a time as my bedtime book, but I am still glad that I picked it up even if it’s out of date by now and no longer really relevant. I also found Huffington’s writing style a little abrasive to begin with just because of how sarcastic she can get, but after a while I was able to overcome it.

All in all, I liked what she had to say here and if she was running for office somewhere that meant I could vote for her, I probably would. And most of the policy ideas she shared were spot on.

Arianna Huffington Quote

Click here to buy Fanatics and Fools.

Seth Godin – Linchpin | Review

Title: Linchpin

Author: Seth Godin

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 246

Rating: 4/5

Seth Godin – Linchpin

All of Seth Godin’s books are pretty good and so it’s hard to rate them anything below a 4/5. This one wasn’t his best, but it was enjoyable enough. Even though some of the references were occasionally out-of-date, the actual lessons inside it are still just as relevant as ever.

The idea behind Linchpin is that we have a responsibility to ourselves to become indispensable. Historically, we’ve been taught to fit in and to be nothing more than cogs in a machine. That approach might have worked when everyone was working blue collar factory jobs, but it doesn’t work in today’s complicated business landscape. That’s where linchpins come in.

A linchpin is an indispensable employee, the kind of person that a company can’t easily do without, and Godin’s book talks about how to become one and what to do should you be lucky enough to hire one. Packed with examples, it makes for an enlightening read, and while it doesn’t necessarily offer a map for people to follow, that’s a good thing.

Godin himself explains that it’s not just a set of rules you can follow, and he talks about how that way of thinking is rooted in the old ways of doing business. If your job involves following a set of rules then you need to find yourself a new job before you’re replaced by robots and artificial intelligence.