The hottest Narrative Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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How Miles Davis Hired John Coltrane

The Honest Broker β€’ 8710 implied HN points β€’ 11 Mar 24
🎢 Music Jazz Artists Narrative Biography Music Industry
  1. Miles Davis hired John Coltrane out of necessity, as his band needed a saxophonist for an upcoming tour.
  2. John Coltrane's musical talent and knowledge of Miles Davis's repertoire impressed during tryouts, leading to his eventual hiring.
  3. Their initial interactions were characterized by Miles Davis's aloofness and Coltrane's uncertainty, but despite difficulties, Coltrane eventually joined Davis's band.

What Really Happened to George Floyd?

Common Sense with Bari Weiss β€’ 7776 implied HN points β€’ 16 Jan 24
πŸ“° News Crime Journalism Documentary Trial Narrative
  1. A new documentary challenges key parts of the George Floyd story: the knee-on-the-neck hold as Chauvin's signature move, asphyxiation as the cause of death, and whether Chauvin received a fair trial.
  2. The full footage of the incident shows more context than the viral clip - officers had tried to place Floyd in the squad car and Chauvin's knee was not on Floyd's neck for as long as widely believed.
  3. Chauvin's criminal trial presented an opportunity to reassess the evidence and public opinion, with the prosecution having to prove Chauvin's actions constituted assault and caused Floyd's death.

Finding Ourselves in Fairy Tales: a new online program at Pacifica Graduate Institute

The Art of Enchantment, with Dr Sharon Blackie β€’ 1797 implied HN points β€’ 13 Feb 24
🚌 Education Myth Psychology Therapy Narrative
  1. The program at Pacifica Graduate Institute offers an eight-month training in personal narrative work, suitable for clinicians/therapists and individuals interested in deepening their personal work with fairy tales and storytelling.
  2. Participants will explore fairy tales as a reflection of the collective unconscious, use fairy tales to rewrite self-narratives, and learn practices for personal growth and therapeutic applications.
  3. The course structure includes monthly recorded lectures, live Zoom discussions, resource lists, and creative prompts, aiming for an interactive and engaging learning experience.

What Derek Chauvin's Trial Didn't Show Us

Glenn Loury β€’ 2063 implied HN points β€’ 19 Dec 23
πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ U.S. Politics Trial Narrative Testimony
  1. The Derek Chauvin trial had potentially exculpatory evidence excluded and facts misrepresented.
  2. There were concerns raised about the pathologist's autopsy report not aligning with the popular narrative surrounding George Floyd's death.
  3. Speculation was raised about the use of certain statements, like 'I can't breathe', becoming tropes in police encounters.
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Managed decline

Logging the World β€’ 418 implied HN points β€’ 25 Feb 24
πŸ“– Philosophy Narrative Luck Life lessons Career
  1. Spurious precision in quantifying data can lead to misleading conclusions. It's important to question the validity and relevance of highly specific measurements.
  2. Success in fields like sports, work, or academia is influenced by luck and chance. It's crucial to acknowledge these factors in evaluating performance and outcomes.
  3. Random events play a significant role in everyone's career. It's essential to maintain perspective during both highs and lows, understanding the impact of chance in long-term success.

Election Countdown: 305 Days to Go.

Breaking the News β€’ 666 implied HN points β€’ 05 Jan 24
πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ U.S. Politics Election Media Narrative Campaigning Legislation
  1. Presidential elections are often influenced by economic and other indicators like job creation, inflation trends, crime rates, and deficit levels.
  2. Media narratives about political figures can shift over time, impacting public perception and election outcomes.
  3. It's important for the media to avoid legitimizing hate speech and to critically analyze the rhetoric and actions of political figures.

What Do You Do With a Problem Like Achilles?

Painful Signs, Or, Joel's Substack β€’ 99 implied HN points β€’ 05 Mar 24
πŸ“š Literature Themes Narrative Violence Mythology Criticism
  1. Book 21 of the Iliad portrays Achilles' extreme violence and cosmic impact, highlighting the danger he poses and his conflict with gods.
  2. The narrative in the Iliad marks Achilles' actions as excessive and transgressive, questioning the traditional heroic depictions in battle.
  3. Ancient readers and scholia saw the behavior of Achilles in book 21 as excessive and indicated a shift in the epic's storytelling approach.

Deconstructing the Hegemony; Reconstructing the Pluriverse β€” I

Pluriversal Planet β€’ 314 implied HN points β€’ 03 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Civilization Narrative Decolonization Humanity
  1. The hegemonic narrative is collapsing, challenging individuals to redefine their beliefs and stand for a different world where many worlds can coexist.
  2. Human consciousness is undergoing a significant shift, urging people to confront the oppressive systems of the past and choose a path towards creativity, selflessness, and consciousness.
  3. The concept of Pluriverse emphasizes the coexistence of diverse worldviews and interconnectedness, offering a new perspective on how to rebuild civilization along more inclusive and interconnected lines.

That Other Me

Painful Signs, Or, Joel's Substack β€’ 119 implied HN points β€’ 19 Feb 24
πŸ“š Literature Epic Narrative Grief Characters Audience
  1. Achilles' lament for Patroklos in Iliad 19 explores the impact of Patroklos' death on others, showcasing themes of personal loss and grief.
  2. Achilles expresses a collapse of identities with Patroklos and projects the loss of a single person onto his living father and son, illustrating a narrative of replacement and surrogacy.
  3. Grief is associative and unpredictable, touching not only the mourner but also the internal and external audiences, encouraging reflection on personal losses and the importance of responding to others' suffering.

Age of Invention: Cort Case

Age of Invention, by Anton Howes β€’ 1297 implied HN points β€’ 07 Jul 23
πŸ’Ύ History Inventions Industrial Revolution Research Narrative
  1. Henry Cort, a key figure in the British Industrial Revolution, may have stolen iron-making improvements from enslaved Jamaican metallurgists.
  2. The origin of Cort's inventions is still debated, with limited evidence to prove the claims made by Jenny Bulstrode in an academic paper.
  3. The narrative presented by Bulstrode requires multiple unproven assumptions and lacks concrete evidence.

The Future of Travel Writing

Talking Travel Writing β€’ 648 implied HN points β€’ 03 Oct 23
🏝 Travel Future Narrative Diversity Evolution
  1. The future of travel writing involves a shift towards more diverse voices and a focus on sustainability and responsible travel.
  2. Guidebooks of the future will prioritize providing a human context to travel experiences that AI cannot offer.
  3. Travel writing is expected to see a resurgence, with an emphasis on self-reflection, diversity, and challenging traditional travel norms.

The Power to Control the World

Painful Signs, Or, Joel's Substack β€’ 79 implied HN points β€’ 16 Feb 24
πŸ“š Literature Narrative Interpretation Comparison Myth
  1. Ekphrasis in literature involves describing a work of art within a verbal or textual creation, shedding light on the text's awareness of its literary nature.
  2. In the epic of Achilles' shield, the imagery of a peaceful city compared to a city at war invites reflection on conflict resolution and the importance of judgment in storytelling.
  3. Comparing the shield of Achilles to other artistic representations, like the Allegory of Good and Bad Government frescoes, highlights the dichotomy between well-governed and strife-ridden cities and the role of audience judgment in interpreting such depictions.

Legacy Media is an Antiquated, Obsolete Relic

DARK FUTURA β€’ 1395 implied HN points β€’ 28 Mar 23
πŸ“° News Media Censorship Journalism Narrative Propaganda
  1. Legacy media is becoming outdated and irrelevant in the face of democratized citizen journalism.
  2. The internet has revolutionized news delivery, allowing direct access to information and challenging traditional media sources.
  3. Legacy media is resorting to censorship and biased reporting to maintain control over the narrative as their power diminishes.

Love the Mission or Love the Game

Working Theorys β€’ 76 implied HN points β€’ 12 Feb 24
πŸ’Ό Business Entrepreneurship Founders Narrative Momentum
  1. There are two types of true entrepreneurs: those who love the mission they're obsessed with and those who love the game of entrepreneurship itself.
  2. The entrepreneurial type you are, whether Type I or Type II, can significantly impact how you approach ideas, your role, and your long-term success.
  3. Identifying whether you are driven by the love for a mission or the game of entrepreneurship can help you understand your motivations, make better decisions, and potentially find more fulfillment in your entrepreneurial journey.

People Are Going to Tell Our Story

Painful Signs, Or, Joel's Substack β€’ 59 implied HN points β€’ 19 Feb 24
πŸ“š Literature Themes Characters Narrative Greek mythology Analysis
  1. Book 19 of the Iliad delves into resolving political conflicts, reconciling characters, and preparing for battle.
  2. The exchange of speeches between Achilles and Agamemnon in Iliad 19 reflects concerns about stories and storytelling, showcasing how characters acknowledge their roles in future narratives.
  3. The comparison between Zeus and Agamemnon in a story told by Agamemnon to Achilles emphasizes the complex dynamics of power, authority, and responsibility in their relationship.

EXTRACTS: Final Jeopardy!

All Visible Objects β€’ 79 implied HN points β€’ 04 Feb 24
πŸ“š Literature Authors Books Fiction Quotes Narrative
  1. Jeopardy questions about Herman Melville and Moby-Dick can be quite challenging and sometimes misleading, requiring in-depth knowledge of the book.
  2. Jeopardy has made factual errors about Melville and Moby-Dick, including incorrectly identifying the port the Pequod sails from and mixing up dates from the novel.
  3. Some Jeopardy clues have questionable or confusing phrasing when referencing Melville's quotes, life events, and genealogy, requiring a careful understanding to navigate.

What Odradek is like

The Leftovers β€’ 119 implied HN points β€’ 06 Jan 24
πŸ“š Literature Fiction Narrative Analysis
  1. Odradek is a mysterious, ominous presence described as a flat star-shaped spool with tangled threads of various colors that lurks in different places and can be difficult to define or understand.
  2. Talking openly about Odradek has become a common topic among various groups and individuals, but many people who experience Odradek's effects may refrain from discussing it directly, despite its persistent presence.
  3. Odradek takes on different shapes and forms, evolving from a spool of thread to a multifaceted entity that can impact individuals in various ways.

A Doublet Disposed

Painful Signs, Or, Joel's Substack β€’ 59 implied HN points β€’ 07 Feb 24
πŸ“š Literature Poetry Narrative Analysis Metaphor Comparison
  1. The death of Euphorbus in Homer's Iliad serves to resolve narrative tension and bring order to the story, illustrating how loose ends are handled in epic poetry.
  2. Homeric similes in stories like the Iliad engage with thematic elements, advancing the plot while also providing insight into the tension between the overall narrative and specific details.
  3. The brief life and death of Euphorbus in the Iliad can be seen as a way to resolve a narrative paradox, showcasing how Homer's poetry works within the boundaries of established narrative traditions.

TITAA #47.5: IKEA Diagrams of Demons

Things I Think Are Awesome β€’ 216 implied HN points β€’ 15 Oct 23
πŸ•Ή Technology AI Art Narrative Models Embeddings
  1. The post discusses using an IKEA-diagrams LoRa of SDXL for fun, generating impossible things like 'happiness' and 'poetry.'
  2. The diagrams in the post show steps to make a robot, angel, and golem, each with unique and interesting instructions.
  3. The post also touches on AI tools for code and reinforcement learning from an AI perspective.

FrΞ±ction /

Fathom β€’ 117 implied HN points β€’ 10 Dec 23
πŸ“š Literature Poetry Writing Prose Authorship Narrative
  1. The text explores a moment between a parent and child, highlighting the transition from childhood to adulthood.
  2. The child's curiosity and deep questions about life are a central theme.
  3. The concept of fractions is used metaphorically to discuss emotions like heartbreak.

Vignettes: War

Myth Pilot β€’ 628 implied HN points β€’ 27 Mar 23
πŸ“š Literature War Fiction Short Stories Development Narrative
  1. The author aims to publish more content regularly, mixing fiction and non-fiction.
  2. The author plans to share short little posts and vignettes to engage readers and improve writing practice.
  3. The vignette shared is a mix of fact and fiction about a soldier's experience with a State Department official in Iraq.

The Iliad's Longest Day

Painful Signs, Or, Joel's Substack β€’ 59 implied HN points β€’ 08 Jan 24
πŸ“š Literature Analysis Narrative Characters Themes
  1. Book 13 of the Iliad focuses on the political aspect, the role of gods and humans, and narrative traditions.
  2. The structure of the story in Book 13 tests the limits of the Achaeans, the narrative, and audience patience.
  3. The narrative in the Iliad, particularly in Book 13, intricately plays with the concept of time, dilating it during war and aligning story time with narrative time.