time flies
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the god thing
ReligionInteresting topic which goes under reported:
the Stanford study, a survey of more than 8,000 Liverpool fans, suggested the reason for the reduction in prejudice towards Muslims in Merseyside was because Salah was familiarizing his fans with Islam, through his observation of the faith, while his image as a bubbly father, friend, and fantastic footballer breaking down stereotypes of “threatening Muslims”.
The hard bit is to come
Spin Class
We did a podcast on PR. Called it Spin Class, which the participants didn't much like. They don't like the word spin, they prefer reputation, which sounds more grown up, and certainly more expensive.
Hear it here:
The Kirsty Coventry press conference, as we can now call it, was a big bit of the conversation. Jon Tibbs was in the room when it happened and reported back. Context is useful on these occasions. The summary would be that this was a blip at the end of what has been deemed a successful Winter Olympics.
Denyer spitballs on betting
Betting
This podcast has been one of our best performing. Not a surprise, Simon Denyer is one of the smartest guys in the room.
Part of the conversation was about betting.
A question I've asked a few times on the podcast is about where betting sits in the private equity playbook.
I was struck by how bullish George Pyne was on TGL, and how explictly he referenced it as a potential betting product.
The p/e money likes betting for semi-obvious reasons to do with risk diversification and revenue predictability.
As Denyer notes, when evaluating sports investments,
Why has the DCMS commissioned a Parkrun consultation?
LawI’ve just finished Dan Wang’s Breakneck. Strong recommend (no affiliation).
Why can’t we build things anymore?
Wang’s book tackles this lament, which runs through the political conversation from pot holes to HS2.
The lawyer vs engineer framing (Warning, contains nuance).
Blaming lawyers for blocking progress is a trick beloved of populists the world over. They do it because it works. Lawyers are unpopular, until you need one on your side.
So, let’s be careful with the lawyer-engineer binary; I admire China’s bridges but don’t want to live there
Music as tap water
The Scroll
Spotify for Sport anyone?
This is from something Jimmy Iovine said on a podcast.
Since the labels lost control of the formats, tech companies commoditised the product.
Look at the video streaming wars. Netflix, HBO Max, Disney Plus are in a bloodbath. But they have a distinct weapon: Differentiation. If you want to watch Stranger Things, you need Netflix. If you want The Last of Us, you need HBO. Yet, if you look at music: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal all offer the exact same product: A library of 100 million
