A late entry into the end of the week, or an early start to the beginning of the week, remember we told you yesterday, time is melting!  Today an actor from The O.C. tells you that crypto is bad; we found more old jeans, discovered a new personal finance website, and learned more about conversations and giving.  We always finish with a few musical ideas to send you off with. 

Congratulations to Argentina and Messi for winning the 2022 World Cup!

In our first story from the website The Balance, we give you a fascinating story about the numbers from 2022.  This story knocks out the top ten personal finance numbers that interest you.  Weaving together everything from inflation and housing costs to cryptocurrency is the story of 2022 by the [personal finance] numbers.  Here are our favorites from the list – go to the article and check the website for the complete list.

There is a blurb on cryptocurrency, but we are trying to wrap our heads around cryptocurrencies and blockchains.  We can report what we read, but it’s hard to add commentary based on a lack of understanding.  Maybe that will be a 2023 resolution to understand cryptocurrency better.  The blockchain seems more important, but it doesn’t make sense either.

In a see-it-to-believe clip online, we watched a panel testifying before the U.S. Senate on cryptocurrency and FTX.  The panel included a professor, a CATO Institute Director, Kevin O’Leary, and Ben McKenzie Schenkkan, an actor from The O.C. and Gotham.  It turns out “Big Ben” from The O.C. also has a degree in Economics and recently wrote a book.  He might have some street cred, after all.

A story on the Smithsonian Magazine site about an old pair of jeans wouldn’t usually make the Stranger Things section of our newsletter, but this did.  These jeans are even older than the last pair of old Levi’s jeans found in an abandoned coal mine earlier in the year – this made a list because in less than 100 days, we’ve now reported on two pairs of jeans that were made in the 1800s, and that’s crazy!

The debate continues about the origins of the latest pair of oldest known jeans.  Some say the first Levi’s were produced in 1873, and the shipwreck these jeans were found on sank 16 years earlier than that.  They might not be Levi’s, but jeans were making their way out of mining towns and onto ships at some point.

This a late entry into an already late newsletter, but the news never stops, and today what started as a thought blossomed into a topic with input from a few exciting places.  The idea originates in many areas and goes back to a statement made in Seth Godin’s blog posts.  His statement was

Take that idea into conversations; when you are talking to someone, are they trying to tell you something or ask you something?  This is where another thought came up when talking with anyone, could we at any point ask them:

Think of any tough and heated conversations you have with people who may have firmly held beliefs about anything.  When you get into a conversation with them, is it a conversation?  If at any point you ask them, “Do you have any questions about “XYZ” and they answer “no,” you aren’t having a conversation; you are being said something.  You can also use this same strategy if you have the willingness and energy to ask them why they believe and don’t have any questions about that belief. 

The podcast No Stupid Questions, related to the conversation discussion, had an episode called How Can You Be a Better Communicator?  Listen to the whole episode; Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth, whom we’ve highlighted in this newsletter, are great listeners.  Duckworth came to an exciting epiphany by once again asking questions. 

She noticed how easy it is to say or write something when you have something you want to say.  Keep asking questions if, for no other reason, it tells your brain to keep seeking answers.  No one likes talking to a Know-It-All.

End-of-year giving and gratitude during the holidays can bring joy to many people.  We’ve read several stories this year about giving, and here are two websites that have information on what types of giving are available and how to set yourself up as a big giver.  A big With A Shout Out to MacKenzie Scott, who is bringing attention to a lot of these projects.

Scott established this and tied the resources of those with a high net worth with authenticated programs that help.  There is an aspect of Yield Giving, and once the aid is given, the donors also give up control.  The non-profits use the resources as they see fit.

This project is driven by a focus on helping balance the sometimes out-of-whack dynamics between a foundation giving resources and the nonprofits who accept the resources. 

Can you make giving better only if you are willing to ask questions and listen to people?

The Guardian talks with the cast of Glass Onion A Knives Out Movie.  This is a feel-good who-done-it, and the interviews with the staff will make you smile.  The only thing that won’t make you smile is the horrible images of Will Smith and the Apple TV+ movie promotion of Emancipation all over the screen.  What brilliant algorithm thought that someone willing to read 5,000+ words about a comedy wanted to see 15 graphic ads for a movie about the horrors of slavery?

[Music Notes]

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With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.