Jon Kaye.Reading, creativity, distraction and finding something worth saying.
I nearly sent you a very different email this week. One of those bullshit product launch emails where I tell you I’m “thrilled to announce” something and pretend this was all part of a carefully laid out plan.
Stop Reading More. Start Reading Different. Last year I was stuck on how to price the Do Radio subscription tiers.
Put your phone down, or die - The Alps have a very effective digital detox programme I’m in the Alps this week.
I'm a writer. Well, I like to write at least. You can decide whether I'm any good at it or not. For a writer, when Substack launched, back in 2017, it was amazing. It was genuinely groundbreaking and idealistic.
Nobody tells you creativity is political. It's usually talked about in terms like self-expression, or problem-solving, or channelling your inner child.
The word “more” is everywhere these days. More content, more tools, more ideas, more posts, more books, more apps, more things to read, watch, save, start, finish and become.
If you've ever watched football on TV, then you'll have heard the commentator say: “He’s 20 years of age.” As opposed to years of what? Years of custard? I think you mean that he's 20 years old. Nobody has ever said "years of…
A few weeks ago I watched a kid build a bridge (I was deep in a YouTube rabbit hole). A real bridge. Two chairs in the living room, a broom handle balanced across them, and a sofa cushion shoved underneath like a structural…
- ...but it might make you more human. I’ve always loved reading. But I used to think of fiction as a luxury. Something indulgent, even a bit self-serving.
I've started a book club. That sentence still feels faintly ridiculous, which is probably why I keep repeating it. You see, I’ve never been in a book club before. It's not really my thing.
Well, I do too. Thirteen GCSEs, two AO levels (yes, I'm that old), four A levels, Cambridge university degree and two Masters degrees.
I heard an acronym the other day that made me genuinely laugh out loud: BALM. Not the stuff you put on dry lips, but: "Baking as a Lifestyle Medicine."
I’ve never been political. It’s not that I'm anti-politics. I just don’t see the point.
This week, I started reading a book called Fax Club. It’s about a group of 100 strangers who agreed to answer one question each week, sent out anonymously over the internet. No introductions. No small talk. Just one prompt, and…
Starting something is hard. Starting again is harder. I’ve been going to the gym on and off for 30 years. Long enough to know the routine, long enough to know the excuses, and long enough to know that progress is never a straight…
Every time I write, I’m not trying to sound smart. I’m trying to feel sane. Not in a “Who am I really?” philosophical way but more like a “What the fuck just happened?” kinda way. Writing is how I clean up the emotional mess…
I was standing in King’s Cross station the other day, surrounded by people, many of them on the phone, on conference calls, joining zoom, voices raised, trying to cut through the noise. There were suitcases rattling,…
I’ve been composing a lot of music lately. And what with AI and software enhancements, it's getting easier and easier to make music. But a lot of it still isn't very good.
I'm doing a lot of walking at the moment. It's supposed to be good for you. But winter definitely makes it tougher to get out there. Cold, dark, often wet. I'd rather just stay inside, thanks.
"So, what do you do?" At any gathering of adults, especially adults who are friends of friends, rather than part of the inner circle, this question will be uttered hundreds of times during an evening out.
When my personal trainer tells me that I ought to cut out the crisps, biscuits and chocolate, I know, of course, that he’s right. Why bother killing myself in the gym only to go and eat like a bored teenager?
“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated that the man who reads nothing but newspapers.” Thomas Jefferson. As it’s Saturday morning, it’s likely you’ve got a newspaper in your hands right now. Either an old fashioned…