Hello there, you infinitely fascinating being!

And happy Pi Day! March 14th (3.14) shares a set of numbers with the first few digits of the famous irrational number, Pi, so of course, it's the one day where maths lovers, bakers, and pun enthusiasts unite in an unlikely celebration of niche interests.

Speaking of niche interests, have you ever wondered how Douglas Adams came up with his ideas? Or how much our lives have changed since covid? Have you ever found yourself doubting Simon Sinek's golden rule? 

All this and more in today's Weekend Reads 😉 

Big love,
Chris & the 42courses team x 

• 30 Charts that show how Covid changed everything: From the way we spend on groceries, to marriage rates, to how much TV we watch, Covid changed everything, and some things forever.
   
• The unlikely origins of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy: It's no secret that we're big fans of the book here at 42courses, but did you know it started in a field with a drunk Douglas Adams?
   
• AI is a gauntlet challenging us to be more creative: The brilliant musical comedian, Bill Bailey, created his latest show all about what AI can't do. In this interview he discusses how he did it.
   
• The Simon Sinek Problem: We love Simon Sinek but the Nudge Podcast gives a very compelling argument for challenging his "Start With Why" framework  - namely that it plays into our Narrative Fallacy.
   
• Vibecoding - speaking things into existence: Ethan Mollick guides us through his own demonstration of creating programs with words using Claude. It's a fascinating look into how much (or little) expertise you need to create something great.

• 1592 – Ultimate Pi Day At 6:53 AM, the date and time align with the most significant digits of pi (3.14159265358), a rare mathematical occurrence. 🔢
   
• 1794 – Eli Whitney Patents the Cotton Gin revolutionising the cotton industry, boosting production in the southern U.S. 🌾
   
• 1900 – Mendel’s Laws Rediscovered by Dutch botanist Hugo de Vries, confirming Gregor Mendel’s groundbreaking work on heredity and genetics. 🧬
   
• 1950 – FBI’s “10 Most Wanted” List Begins to track and capture dangerous fugitives. 🚔
   
• 1995 – First Time 13 People in Space, a record number of astronauts are in orbit at the same time. 🚀
   
• 2013 – Xi Jinping Becomes President of China, consolidating power in the world's most populous country. 🇨🇳
   
• 2018 – NASA Twin Study Finds DNA Changes in astronaut Scott Kelly when he returns from space with 7% of his genes altered compared to his twin. 🧑‍🚀🔬
   
• 2018 – Finland Named World’s Happiest Country by the World Happiness Report 😊 (Burundi is ranked as the least happy)
   
• 2019 – U.S. Senate Blocks Trump’s National Emergency and overturns Trump’s declaration on border security. 🇺🇸🏛️