Feldman's Faves: August 15, 2022

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

It was great seeing people in person last week for lunch and meeting our new students. Please do everything you can to get Bayley and Alexa involved in your files. The summer has been relatively quiet but we are starting to see quite a pipeline as we head into the fall.

Not much to say this week other than to express my excitement of the upcoming Harry Styles concert, which I know will be lit….

And of course, a happy belated birthday to our good friend Tara.

No theme this week, just interesting stuff.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America By: Erik Larson – I know many of you are Erik Larson fans (as am I) and once I heard that Keanu Reeves will be starring in the TV version of this book, I knew I had to read it. The Devil in the White City is also one of Shlomit’s favourite books (and obviously she has great taste)….. As with all of Larson’s books, this story is another situation where life is more interesting than fiction. In Devil in the White City, Larson tells the story of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago (that was put on to commemorate the 400 year anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of America) from the perspective of the brilliant architect Daniel H. Burnham who was in charge of showing America’s greatness (in response to the World Fair in Paris where the Eifel Tower was the main feature) and Henry H. Holmes, the serial killer who used the fair as his stomping ground. Burnham was one the country’s most famous architects having designed the Flatiron Building in NYC and Union Station in Washington, DC. Holmes, on the other hand was a doctor and pharmacist as well as entrepreneur at least outwardly, but was really a con-man and a real life “silence of the lambs” kind of guy who built a “hotel” near the fair that included secret passageways, torture chambers, dissection rooms and a crematorium. Burnham’s story is that of assembling a team of leading experts to build the fair (e.g., Frederick Olmstead, who designed Central Park) where there were so many firsts. This fair was the first fair to have a “midway” and the grand feature (a structure to try to beat the Eifel Tower) was the first Ferris Wheel, which was a huge success. This fair also was the precursor to Pickle Lemonade, Deep Fried Butter and the Cronut in that it introduced some new foods to fair goers like Cracker Jacks, Shredded Wheat and Juicy Fruit Gum. The fair also introduced Americans to foreign cultures (albeit in a kitschy and somewhat offensive way) through its many pavilions from all over the world highlighting the “middle east”, Vikings and pygmies from Africa. The entire city was painted white (hence the White City), used electricity to light up at night and started the City Beautification movement. It was the most significant event in American history since the Civil War and was a statement at the time of the emergence of America and American exceptionalism. There were also tragedies (a devastating fire in the ice rink, the murder/assassination of the Mayor, and of course, the Holmes story).

The parallel story in this book was that of Holmes - Holmes found a group of people who helped him build his hotel and lure innocent victims – mostly young women. Holmes was considered extremely handsome and charming and used this power to get what he wanted. Some say he killed up to 200 people during this time but the real number is likely less but still horrific. The details of what he did are too gruesome to write here but suffice it to say it was shocking.

It is a little crazy how the lives of these two individuals came together and as per usual Larsen tells quite a story. Here is a good review from Penguin Random House - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/98115/the-devil-in-the-white-city-by-erik-larson/9780375725609

How I Built This - Noom: Saeju Jeong – If you haven’t heard of NOOM then you might be living under a rock. Noom is an extremely popular wellness app that tries to help people lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle using various pillars of “NUDGE philosophy” (made famous by Nobel Prize winning economist Richard Thayler). While Noom is an interesting company (and one that will likely IPO soon with a valuation of over $10B) it is its founder, Saeju Jeong, who is most interesting. After failing to get into the “family business” in Korea (of being a doctor) and trying numerous ways to make money in the fitness space (he had a “Peloton like” bike that never took off and a “Strava like app” that failed) he finally (along with his partner) came up with Noom that has been a huge success. Jeong’s life story is one of perseverance and hard work leading to big success. Here is an excerpt from the PODCAST itself: “When Saeju Jeong moved from South Korea to the U.S. in his mid-20's, he barely knew anyone, didn't speak much English, and had only $5,000 in savings. Today, he's the CEO of Noom, one of the most popular weight loss/wellness apps in the U.S. Inspired by his late father—a doctor who criticized the profession for treating people only after they got sick—Saeju and his co-founder built their first fitness product in 2007. Several pivots later, they arrived at Noom, an app that carefully tracks what you eat, how you sleep and when you're stressed out. Noom has hinted it may go public this year—if so, the valuation could be as high as $10 billion.” https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?i=1000571589993

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation.

And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon