Category: People

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Creativity Fashion People Photography Writing

Anna Wintour teaches creativity and leadership

Anna Wintour Masterclass on creativity and leadership
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Anna Wintour, the indomitable editor of Vogue and Condé Nast’s most senior editorial figure, is the latest teacher to join the ranks of Masterclass to teach creativity and leadership.

In 12 lessons, Anna Wintour gives unprecedented access to her world, teaching you how to lead with vision and creativity—and without apology. A fashion and media icon, Anna Wintour has been driving our cultural conversation for more than 30 years.

The Vogue Editor-in-Chief and Artistic Director of Condé Nast takes off her signature sunglasses and gives you unprecedented access to her world. See how Anna nurtures talent, makes bold decisions, and evolves a brand. Learn how to lead with impact from a visionary creative leader.

Anna Wintour on how to be a boss

“I know many people are curious about who I am and how I approach my work,” Wintour says. “This is a class for those who want to understand my leadership style and then understand the experiences that have helped me become an effective leader.”

“Own your decisions and own who you are, but without apology.” – Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour Masterclass on creativity and leadership

Anna Wintour doesn’t have an official Instagram or Twitter page where you can gain access to her expertise in creativity and leadership so Masterclass is your only workbook.

> Anna Wintour Teaches Creativity and Leadership

Not for you? Gift the class!

About MasterClass

If you’ve never taken a MasterClass before, it’s a great opportunity to take a peek into the mind and explore the process of some of the world’s leading experts in photography, writing, music production, filmmaking, and even cooking. You may be aware of Malcolm Gladwell’s writing course, Tom Morello’s electric guitar course, or Serena Williams teaches tennis course.   

If you’re looking for a great gift, consider sending one of the courses to a loved one or friend. Even better, gift someone the All-Access Pass so they can explore all the courses they want!

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Culture People Psychology Tech

What does it mean to be me?

Sociologist Erving Goffman believed that all human interaction was a theatrical performance. In his most famous book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life , Goffman called his analysis the study of  “Dramaturgy.”

Dramaturgical analysis is the idea that we present an edited version of our selves when we meet others in person.

All the internet’s a stage

The internet, of course, adds a new layer of complexity to Goffman’s perspective. If social media is edited real life, then our dramaturgical action is the physical extension of it. We are no less authentic online than we are in person.

Goffman’s theory builds on American sociologist Charles Cooley’s ‘The Looking Glass Self’ theory. In 1902, he contextualized the individual:

“I imagine your mind, and especially what your mind thinks about my mind, and what your mind thinks about what my mind thinks about your mind.”

Keep in mind that people didn’t even think of themselves as individuals before the spread of mirrors in the 15th century.

We juggle identities online and off but each of us has a fixed character. It is our friends and family members and Google that know our truest self.

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People Tech

RIP Evelyn Berezin, creator of the first word processor

We take the word processor for granted but fifty years ago it didn’t even exist. That is, until Evelyn Berezin came along and produced the first standalone word processing machine. She previously had made the world’s first bank and airline system software.

She called her machine the Data Secretary, thinking that the new technology would eradicate the role of the human secretary.

The machine itself stood 40 inches high and contained thirteen semiconductor chips that Berezin patented. Unlike machines of past this one could delete, cut, copy, and paste — features we find ubiquitous today.

Berezin thrived in a man’s world, crushing all stereotypes that came her way. She felt compelled to lead the way in computer technology. Author and blogger Gwyn Headley sums it up perfectly:

“Without Ms. Berezin, there would be no Bill Gates, no Steve Jobs, no internet, no word processors, no spreadsheets; nothing that remotely connects business with the 21st century.”

Her influence is profound. One to remember.

Photo by Barton Silverman/New York Times

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History People

NASA’s “women computers” 🚀

Katherine Johnson helped launch America’s first orbit around Earth. She also “computed the path” that would eventually get Neil Armstrong to the moon. 

In 1962’s Mercury-Atlas launch, astronaut John Glenn personally requested that she hand-crunch the machine’s calculations around the planet.  She confirmed the math a day and a half later.

The 2016 film Hidden Figures pays tribute to Johnson’s seminal role in one of the most important NASA missions in America’s spaceflight history.

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People Quotes

RIP Anthony Bourdain: ‘I love having my teeth kicked in by a different perspective’

Stay hungry. Stay curious. And above all, stay interesting.

Queens of the Stone Age lead singer Josh Homme, who wrote a song for Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, said it best:

He was such a beautiful contagion. He presented such a fascinating doorway to so many other things that aren’t within your narrow doorway of what you do.

Bourdain shared so many important messages on keeping an open eye on life and work. Below are some of my favorite Bourdain quotes as posted on this blog throughout the years.

Don’t aspire to mediocrity. Even if you fail, try to be awesome. At something. Anything. It doesn’t matter. Just try to be awesome.

Life ain’t that simple. It IS complicated. And filled with nuance worth exploring.

If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food, it’s a plus for everybody.

Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.”

Show up on time. It is the basis of everything.

We literally sit down and try to figure out, ‘What’s the most fucked-up thing we can do?’

I love having my teeth kicked in by a different perspective.

There are the type of people who are going to live up to what they said they were going to do yesterday and then there are people who are full of shit. And that’s all you really need to know. If you can’t be bothered to show up, why should anybody show up. It’s just the end of the fucking world.

If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean or simply across the river. Walk in someone else’s shoes or, at least, eat their food.

Anthony Bourdain

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Arts People Uncategorized

‘To me, a painter, if not the most useful, is the least harmful member of our society’

man ray quote.png

“To me, a painter, if not the most useful, is the least harmful member of our society.”

— Man Ray, Self-Portrait