Gavin Whatrup’s Shelfie
This is my grown-up shelf. The one Teams backgrounds focus on. Not the one containing my Asterix & Obelix collection.
Politics on the Edge by Rory Stewart
Ironically, this book written by a right-wing ex-politician is on the left-side of my shelf. It’s positioned there deliberately to demonstrate that ‘wings’ can be, should be, listened to across that notional divide. Or, as Rory Stewart and his podcasting foil, Alistair Campbell repeatedly say, to disagree agreeably. A mantra to live by.
This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends by Nicole Perlforth
Most of the middle section is given over to my professional life as a cybersecurity professional. It illuminates the opaque world of cyber warfare and its real-world effects. Perlforth describes the trade in ‘zero-day’ exploits by private companies and government agencies, the money that can be made through buying & selling of these ‘blood diamonds of the internet’, and the tactical use by state & non-state players of them. It’s a story that brings all this very close to home; everyone’s home.
The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Further to the right, and a break from here and now, another tale of trial, this time relating to the expeditions of ‘Scott of the Antarctic’, the build-up, the journey, the ultimate failure, and the horrifying rescue of remains. This story, The Worst Journey in the World is told by one of the younger members of the crew in exquisite detail (requiring reader persistence!). Michael Palin meets Charles Darwin. The detail presented in this book could only have been written by someone not distracted by a smartphone! The observations capture every wrinkle of the time and the task.
Lesson #2, as the title suggests, the players in this tale had a tough time of things. It’s hard to think we would have prevailed as those who survived this did. Or even, those that didn’t, how they survived as long as they did, and achieved so much. Humbling!
Gavin Whatrup has worked in or adjacent to the advertising industry for over 30 years. Born in Germany, based in Kent, working in London. I had a 2-year hiatus when I was applied for a consulting role where one of the criteria for the role was to ‘have a wise head of grey hair’. I was more than qualified!
Shelfies is edited by Lavie Tidhar and Jared Shurin.
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