The Cancer Episode > My diagnosis and prognosis > What this means for How to Take Over the World > A few thoughts on death > See below for links to GoFundMe, etc.

I just spoke with @BenWilsonTweets and he said the response to the episode has been “life-affirming”. Since it was released he’s received introductions to other people who have beaten advanced cancer and so far you have helped raise over $800,000 for Ben and his family. Ben’s doctor originally gave him a year to live. With the new medication Ben is on (that’s working!) the goal is to push that out to 2 to 3 years and then with new therapies push 2 to 3 to 10, and then 10 to 25, and 25 to 50 and Ben gets to see his 4 small children grow up. Even today someone offered to make an introduction to Ben for a promising new therapy. I’d like to ask you to keep helping spread the word about Ben. Someone out there that doesn’t know about Ben (yet) could have information that could save his life. And if you’d like to donate you can do that here. Every little bit matters: gofundme.com/f/help-ben-figh…

Ben Wilson (@BenWilsonTweets) has stage 4 cancer and 4 kids under the age of 5. I want to help him as much as possible, so I invited him on the podcast to talk about his work studying history’s greatest leaders and what it’s like getting told he’s going to die at 38. He’s a good guy, a close friend, and one of my favorite podcasters. His work has benefited millions of people all across the world. Please watch this episode and see if you can help with medicine, introductions, or donations. 0:00 What Ben has learned from making How to Take Over the World and studying history’s greatest leaders. 55:51 Living like you're dying. Ben on facing cancer.

Ben Wilson (@BenWilsonTweets) has stage 4 cancer and 4 kids under the age of 5. I want to help him as much as possible, so I invited him on the podcast to talk about his work studying history’s greatest leaders and what it’s like getting told he’s going to die at 38. He’s a good guy, a close friend, and one of my favorite podcasters. His work has benefited millions of people all across the world. Please watch this episode and see if you can help with medicine, introductions, or donations. 0:00 What Ben has learned from making How to Take Over the World and studying history’s greatest leaders. 55:51 Living like you're dying. Ben on facing cancer.

There's a huge opportunity for invite-only social networks because current networks are flooded with noise or contain people who don't want to talk to each other. Any network that isn't great (e.g. Goodreads, Yelp) can be rebuilt easily now. The 10x better product is the curation of people and information. The internet can't just be split between broadcast networks for everyone and group chats for dozens of people. There has to be something in between.

Alexander Hamilton, 20 years old, Washington's Aide de Camp, stayed up reading late into the night at Valley Forge. Especially Plutarch's biographies of the state founders of antiquity. One quote he copied from Plutarch's bio of Romulus: "We must readily believe, that both from their nature and the divine constitution virtuous souls are exalted from men into heroes, from heroes into demigods, and after that... they are raised to consummate felicity and enrolled amongst the gods not by the vote of a people but by the just and established order of nature."

My life hinges on this study and the results appear to be very VERY good! The data won’t come out until next month but this early indication is better than I could have hoped for. Stage 4 cancer is always dangerous but I might have many more high-quality years in front of me.

Homer sends his regards

Which translation of the Odyssey should you read? Should Homer be translated into everyday, colloquial language? Alex Petkas:

Hero cult > book cult. A brief explanation of why this is true