Books, Charm & Endangered Languages - OSV in August

What you might have missed...

Hello, friends.

Before we get started, here’s a cool thing for you: The Greatest Books of All Time. I’m sure the list will be entirely noncontroversial…

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Inside OSV

Speaking of books - as Jim, Liberty & Jimmy Soni chatted about last year, whether you’re a reader or an author, you really do deserve a better model than what traditional publishing has been serving for decades.

We’ve been paddling away under the surface for several months on our solution, Infinite Books, and will have some exciting announcements for you soon. If you’ve been watching closely, you may have already seen some ripples break the surface, not least the cover tease of our debut book.

P.S., if you don’t already, you should follow Infinite Books’ Twitter/X for feel-good content like this:

Elsewhere in the OSV rocket ship, tech-wizard Mykhailo Marynenko has completed his Pokemon-style evolution from fellow, to entrepreneur-in-residence, to chief technical officer. In his new role, Mykhailo will strategically oversee the development of OSV's technical capabilities, spearheading several projects, including in-house AI research and developing scalable web and data solutions.

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OSVerse Updates

• In

  Dylano
  ’s words, “the ability to write—and write well—is never going out of style: for the ability to write is, at heart, the ability to think, the lifeblood of creativity and civilization as a whole.” For this reason, OSV is offering ten scholarships to the final cohort of David Perell’s Write of Passage course. Applications are now open, and close on September 9th. To apply, follow this link.

• Join us for our next OSV book club on 13 September (at noon EST), hosted by our friend Nicolás Forero. This month, we will be discussing… The Tao Te Ching! You can join the book club (for free) by heading over to Discord using this link.

• Our fellow Jack Connor’s Lingua Arterna project to preserve the world’s endangered languages has gathered serious momentum, including: (1) launching a snazzy new website, (2) raising $10k to deposit rare language data into 1000-year storage in the bottom of a mine in the Arctic Circle (!), and (3) seizing various other opportunities, including a short documentary and a BBC interview.

• Our fellow Will Zeng’s nonprofit Unitary Fund, which focuses on developing an open-source quantum ecosystem, successfully held a huge open hackathon encouraging people to contribute to the quantum ecosystem.

• Rue (founded by OSV fellows Isabella Teng & Varsha Raghavan), which connects event hosts with sponsors and brands, was given a short profile by Andrew Yeung, dubbed the “Gatsby of Silicon Alley” by Business Insider.

• Our partner, Alex Petkas, continues to throw heater after heater with his Cost of Glory podcast, which revives unforgettable stories of ancient heroism for modern audiences. He is currently five episodes into an eight-part series on Caesar’s Gallic Wars - you can listen to the episode or read a transcript here.

• Our Fellow, Curt Jaimungal, is cooking something spicy.

• Light up the Deutsch-signal: our grantee, Arjun Khemani, has something very cool in the pipeline 👀 👀

• Our grantee, Alex & Books, is hosting a reading party in NYC later this month - and you’re invited!

• Our grantee, Miyoba Hamuhuma, based in Zambia, is the founder of Enlight Abilities Organisation, which empowers children with disabilities in Africa, including by linking them with government social security and empowerment programs. Enlight recently visited a primary school in Chadiza District, Zambia, where they registered/issued disability cards to more than 150 kids. More (including photos) here.

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Infinite Loops

We want to leverage the continuing growth of this Substack to showcase some exceptional writers in the OSV community.

Friend-of-the show Tom White is one such writer. His Substack, White Noise, is a joy—an endlessly rewarding notebook bursting with personal reflections, philosophical musings, poems, fictional prose, practical insights, and more. In August, we published his guest essay, You Better Believe It: The Reflexive Theory of Everything, which synthesizes insights and anecdotes from Babe Ruth to George Soros to explain how reality is a lot more malleable than we think:

“Belief is not just a passive reflection of inner thoughts but a powerful force that actively shapes reality. When we believe in something fervently, our actions and behaviors align with that belief, influencing those around us and creating a ripple effect that transforms our environment. Collective perception and shared beliefs can drive cultural shifts, economic booms, and societal changes. The world is not just a mirror reflecting our thoughts; it is a canvas painted by our beliefs.”

If you know an underrated writer who you think would be a great fit for this Substack, let us know in the comments!

We also published the next installment of our ongoing “Guide to” series, a product of hundreds of hours sifting through 200+ Infinite Loops conversations to distill the most actionable insights. In August, we dug into the art of communication, sharing insights from Lulu Cheng Meservey, George Mack, and more.

As always, Jim’s Two Thoughts series continues to deliver doses of wisdom straight to your inbox every Sunday. Be warned: these quotes have been known to trigger insatiable curiosity.

Last but not least, Jim welcomed a characteristically eclectic range of guests to Infinite Loops:

• Veteran trader and investor Ateet Ahluwalia dug into the emotional constitution required to succeed in finance and venture capital.

• Management guru Luca Dellanna explored how the ability to identify, play, and win long-term games is, quite literally, the secret to success.

• One-man-army Bilawal Sidhu provided a masterclass on how his short-form, cutting-edge tech videos have generated tens of millions of views on social media.

• Professor Julia Sonnevend dived into charm, revealing why, despite being ignored by most social scientists, it is one of our era's most politically important trends.

As ever, for root access to your humanOS, you can dig into our back catalog of 231 episodes (and counting).

That’s everything for August. Plenty more goodies are coming in September, including the triumphant return of Alex Danco for his eighth (!) Infinite Loops appearance.

Ad Astra, Ex Libris 📚🚀

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