The Profile: The activist ‘playing God’ & Silicon Valley’s most feared pundit

This edition of The Profile features Kara Swisher, Andy Hall, Solange Knowles, and more.

Good morning, friends!

I published my interview with author Rob Henderson last week. In his book, Troubled, Henderson recounts growing up in foster care, attending elite universities, and pioneering the concept of “luxury beliefs.”

After reading his memoir and interviewing him, I want to share something really interesting with you.

If you haven’t seen the interview, here’s a brief bio on Henderson: His three names “Robert Kim Henderson” were taken from a different adult, each of whom abandoned him at an early age. Divorce, tragedy, poverty, and violence dominated Henderson’s adolescence, but you would never know this from looking at his resume.

He joined the Air Force at 17, went to Yale for undergrad, and earned a PhD at Cambridge. He ranks in the top 1 percent of educational attainment.

And many people would look at him on the surface and think, “Wow, look at all he had to overcome to get to the top. But now he’s at the top, so everything must be fine, right?”

Wrong.

In his memoir, Henderson writes the following:

“I’ve heard variations of the phrase, ‘I’m grateful for what I went through because it made me who I am today.’ Despite what I’m proud to have accomplished, I strongly disagree with this sentiment. The tradeoff isn’t worth it.

“Given the choice, I would swap my position in the top 1 percent of educational attainment to have never been in the top 1 percent of childhood instability.”

That sent chills down my spine. And during our interview, I asked Henderson how he defines success. Truthfully, I expected him to respond with something about starting at the very bottom and reaching the very top.

To my surprise he answered with this:

“As far as professional accomplishments, I guess I've pretty much done more than I would have expected, actually. So I've exceeded on that measure, but you know, I never had a dad. And that's something that I would like to be one day.”

How incredible is that?

More often than not, the things we take for granted are the very thinks we should thank our lucky stars for.

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Polina

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TOP AUDIOBOOK: My book, Hidden Genius, was one of the 10 most popular audiobooks in the United States last week! (You can listen on Audible here)

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PROFILES.

— The labor activist playing God [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— Silicon Valley’s most feared pundit
— The woman disrupting the world’s most important industry
— The haunted juror
— The artist following her creative intuition

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The labor activist playing God: If you hear from a man named Andy Hall, just know he won’t go away quietly. Hall, one of Southeast Asia’s best-known human-rights activists, scours the global supply chain on behalf of exploited workers. His brash approach has won him both allies and enemies in Asia and beyond. It’s also prompted recurring questions—about his methods, his motives and his money. What is his deal? Why has he dedicated his life to this mission? How does he have so much power? A fascinating portrait of a fascinating man. A must-read. (Bloomberg, if you can’t access the article, try this link.)

“Most people accept that this happens in the world. But I feel the urgency of these issues. Everything is urgent. And it should be.”

Silicon Valley’s most feared pundit: No tech journalist has built a bigger brand for herself than Kara Swisher. Her three-decade career is a study in hard work and uncommon confidence. Swisher’s interviews can be tough, the most famous being with Mark Zuckerberg in 2010, when he was so rattled by the way Swisher pressed him on privacy that he literally sweated through his hoodie. In addition to interviewing the entire tech CEO pantheon, Swisher has also interviewed figures in politics and culture—Hillary Clinton, Kim Kardashian, Maria Ressa, and so on. In this Q&A, Swisher opens up about her childhood, being called “mean,” and why she’s ‘sick’ of tech people. (WIRED; if you can’t access this article, try this link)

“I'm not really an activist. I'm not raising money to like, fight the power. I'm just using my voice.”

The woman disrupting the world’s most important industry: Meet Marina Hadjipateras. She’s a Greek shipping heiress, a successful venture capitalist, and the woman trying to transform the $14 trillion shipping industry. Here’s why she’s hyper-focused on supply chain and logistics, industries that no one ever wants to disrupt, lest the world come to a standstill. (WIRED; if you can’t read this article, try this link)

“Marina was given a seat at the table early on. She has no impostor complex. She can negotiate with anyone.”

The haunted juror: On July 6, 1987, Luana Mango Dunn was seated in the jury box for the opening of the trial, the People of the State of New York v. Eric Smokes and David Warren. The murder at the center of this trial had occurred when a group of young men killed a French tourist. After investigating for seven days, the police arrested Eric Smokes, who was 19, and David Warren, who was 16. Dunn and the fellow jurors found them both guilty of murder, despite their insistence that they didn’t do it. Last month, Dunn got a call that both Smokes and Warren were exonerated. “I had to sit down,” she says. “I’ve been hyperventilating ever since.” (The New Yorker; if you can’t read this article, try this link.)

The artist following her creative intuition: Solange Knowles is a member of one of the reigning families of musical innovation and pop culture. The global phenomenon Beyoncé is her sister and Jay-Z is her brother-in-law. What can a person take from the past as she seeks to understand herself? And what can she leave behind? (Harper’s Bazaar)

“A lot of my projects are asking questions.”

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