Last week on our social media we shared a list of books on Working Human and this started a conversation amongst the mwah. Team on what we read, watched and listened to lately that has inspired us, made us laugh or taught us something new.
Instead of keeping these to ourselves the mwah team thought we would share some of our favourites. Please feel free to judge, enjoy and share our list of things.
Sonja Ankucic:
Documentary: Jiro dreams of sushi.
Released in 2011, this is not a new documentary, but it has stood the test of time and is still brilliant.
This Netflix documentary follows a 90 year old sushi master and his lifelong passion for his work and his craft. The care, precision, and absolute unrelenting focus on the legacy of his restaurant was the most real and inspiring thing I have viewed for a very long time.
Prepare to have your breath taken away.
Website: Will robots take my job?
Exactly as it says- you enter your job and to get a view on the ‘robot’ take over. While it sounds a little silly, it is a good reality check on the narrative that Robots are going to swoop in and do all of our jobs for us. A fun little two minute experience that may turn into a little longer as you sit there typing in different job titles.
Alicia Luong:
Netflix Series: Abstract – The Art of Design
A great mini documentary series where each episode walks you through the process of a different designer, from a Designer of Nike Shoes (most famously the Air Jordans) to the Stage Production Designer for Beyonce. It takes you into the minds of each designer and how they go from an initial concept to final product. I would highly recommend Episode 7 which focuses on Platon, a world renowned photographer well known for his portraits of World Figures from Obama to Putin.
Website: The Cooper Review
A website that you can easily spend hours on because it’s filled with the funniest work memes and infographics that you can’t help but share with your colleagues. Their caption being ‘It’s funny because it’s true” comes to life in all of their hilarious cartoons, one of my favourites being ‘36 Signs you pulled this presentation together at the last minute’.
Kerri Thomas
Netflix Documentary: Brain Games
An interactive series that uses games, illusions and experiments to illustrate how our brains manufacture our reality and often play tricks on us. Fascinating program in its second series looking at how we perceive the passage of time, how marketers use persuasion, how focus can be elusive and how fear can be healthy.
The whole family loved it and it definitely makes you think!
Topical Public Debate: Fighting Climate Change
Patagonia shows how big business should lead the way to changing politics around the Climate debate. They are demonstrating their famous values and integrity in the most public way possible.
Topical Public Debate: UK Brexit Debate
David Lammy’s video on the fundamental deception of the Brexit campaign, how the media promoted lies to sell newspapers, how the leave campaign was fuelled on false promises and how interference from Russia was beyond reasonable doubt.
James Hancock:
Documentary: Derren Brown – Sacrifice
Team mwah. clearly loves psychology and exploration of the human psyche (given how little we really know)! Credentials and personality aside, Derren Brown’s Sacrifice provides entertainment on the knife’s edge of ethics and reason to give insight on a whole range of observed phenomenon – biases, the falsehood and manipulative power of perceived expert and much more. Watch the car crash unfold, and know you won’t be able to look away!
Zoe Collyer:
Book: The subtle art of not giving a F*ck
A hard-hitting book that inspires honest deep reflection on what you care about in life, and more importantly – what you shouldn’t care about. The book is full of counterintuitive advice that, is sewn together with hilarious true stories. Whether you agree with the author’s advice or not, it’s impossible to put down and will leave you laughing out loud!
Rhonda Brighton-Hall:
Movie: RBG
They describe this as a ‘fist-pumping, crowd-pleasing documentary’ but I think it’s much more than that. Some people just lift up more than their share and show us all how it should be done. From the simple act of friending her enemy, to a lifetime of fighting for others, I wish there were more RBGs on the planet we share.
Everything you’ve heard is true! Great show. Nothing like great actors and an awesome script. Plus I’m a huge (!!) FanGirl of Jane and Lily. Something about people who make you laugh out loud, makes my heart sing.
Book: Power of Others
By Henry Cloud. Just approaching its fifth birthday, this is still a wonderful lazy read about how connected we all are. We are more influenced by each other than we will ever admit. A bunch of case studies about Peer Pressure, Group Think and How the people around us shape everything we do.
Michael Brighton-Hall:
National Geographic series: Year Million
Advances in science and engineering are bringing us closer to a reality in which artificial intelligence will become indistinguishable from – or perhaps even surpass – human intelligence. But how will this affect our evolution? Prepare for your mind to be blown in this conceptual take on the ‘far future’ based on the thoughts, fortellings and expectations of current times best futurists. Follow the ‘life’ of a couple as they navigate major changes in society, longevity, relationships and the future: the good, the bad and the outright frightening.
Book: The Plant Paradox
The Hidden Dangers in “Healthy” Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain.
In The Plant Paradox, renowned cardiologist Dr. Steven Gundry reveals that gluten is just one variety of a common, and highly toxic, plant-based protein called lectin. Lectins are found not only in grains like wheat but also in the “gluten-free” foods most of us commonly regard as healthy, including many fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and conventional dairy products. These proteins, which are found in the seeds, grains, skins, rinds, and leaves of plants, are designed by nature to protect them from predators (including humans). Once ingested, they incite a kind of chemical warfare in our bodies, causing inflammatory reactions that can lead to weight gain and serious health conditions.
Movie: Cloud Atlas
An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.
With a huge cast of stars lead by Tom Hanks, Hallie Berry & Hugo Weaving all playing up to 6 different roles with makeup and costuming that make the actors at times unrecognisable as they play hugely varying roles across many generations. They production jumps around a fascinating timeline and you WILL need to pay attention to keep up. Look out for Tom Hanks as Dermot Hoggins, writer of Knuckle Sandwich!
We hoped you enjoyed our list of things. Let us know in the comments what you would recommend as a must for 2019!
