Hello there, you luminous learner!

'Tis the season to kiss productivity goodbye and indulge, right?

At least, in this Weekend Reads, you can get wrecked on some decadent brain food that will actually make you smarter while putting a smile on your face 😁

This time, you can join us for a romp around our favourite books, listen to a song created by one of our learners, and even take the Christmas Quiz we played as a team, and see if you're brighter than us (spoiler - you probably are.)

Happy holidays, and big love, 

Chris & the 42courses team x 

• The best behavioural science books of 2024: A smorgasbord of reads to educate and entice us, surprise and delight us, and leave us smarter, wiser, and better informed about ourselves and our world.
   
• The most wonderful time of the year for an insurance ad? Only the Aussies could pull off a stunt as relatable and hilarious as this over Christmas. For mature and jaded audiences ;)
   
• The 42courses rap: "Forty two courses to make you brainy, now you're armed and dangerous learnin ain't lazy" - these are only some of the absolutely brilliant lyrics in a song made by the marvellous Mike B and AI about yours truly!
   
• Meet the nerds: We decided to drop a podcast with...us. Yes, if you want to meet the brains behind 42courses, join us for a ramble about our favourite books and highlights from the year. 
   
• Another way to show off your smarts: Want to play a brainy quiz with your friends and family? Look no further than the 42courses Christmas Kahoot! This one was specifically designed with plenty of pop culture to stop Jake from winning, and worked!

• 1790 - The first successful US cotton mill begins spinning yarn in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, built by Samuel Slater based on Richard Arkwright's design. 🧵
   
• 1812 - Grimm's Fairy Tales, also known as Children's and Household Tales, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, is published for the first time. 📖
   
• 1879 - Thomas Edison privately demonstrates his incandescent light bulb at Menlo Park. 💡
   
• 1880 - Broadway in New York is lit by electricity for the first time, earning the nickname "Great White Way." 🌟
   
• 1957 - Elvis Presley receives his draft notice to join the US Army for national service. 🎸
   
• 1963 - The Berlin Wall opens for the first time to allow West Berliners to cross. 🪧
   
• 1990 - The world’s first website and server go live at CERN, marking the birth of the World Wide Web. 🌐
   
• 2007 - Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest-ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months, and 29 days. 👑
   
• 2007 - Pablo Picasso’s Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904) and Candido Portinari’s O Lavrador de Café are stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art. 🎨