• Skip to main content

Active Recall!

Podcasts, videos, and iPad art

  • Home
  • About
  • Podcast
  • Cards
  • 2020 Reading List
  •  
    Reading list for April 8, 2021
  •  
    The “before” story (aka before I hopefully manage to shed some of this fat)
  •  
    Brainstorming possible MMA threads
  •  
    Fungible name, non fungible sentence
  •  
    Reading some crypto books
  •  
    Drumline, approval from a distance, and playing without reading (PCxCP vol. 7 of 52)
  •  
    Justin Timberlake, Zuck, and making things cleaner (PCxCP vol. 6 of 52)
  •  
    Hobbits and moving slowly to move far (PCxCP vol. 5 of 52)
  •  
    Interstellar and figuring out the time warps to avoid (PCxCP vol. 4 of 52)
  • What is NBA Top Shot? (Remove the game, remove the shoes)
  •  
    Tony Stark and starting with a bang but going through a cave (PCxCP vol. 3 of 52)
  •  
    Inception and realizing your superpower (PCxCP vol. 2 of 52)
  • The Joker plans a lot, you don’t always have to (PCxCP vol. 1 of ????)
  • Do the same thing (for beginners and experts)
  • “Think Again” (Reading Log 2/23/21)
  • Batch shallow work, mega batch the deep work
  • Procreate how-to video outline
  • Midnights with Booster (Ramblings vol. ???)
  •  
    Reading Ramblings: “How to Get Rich” by Felix Dennis
  •  
    Video log – How to design your environment (for better habits)
  •  
    Video log – How to stay creative (when low on time)
  •  
    Midnights with Booster
  •  
    Notes on visual notes (as I try to learn in public)
  • Book Notes: “The Practice” by Seth Godin
  •  
    Ramblings (December Damage Control #1)
  • Notecards and ideas for the next 5 posts (or next 2 posts)
  • Simplification (when aiming to write every day)
  •  
    The phrases of habits
  •  
    How not to save $40
  • Writing, starting from a spreadsheet (sort of)
  • Actually getting up when waking up (and the steps I took to prep for it)
  • Posting just to post
  •  
    The numbers just don’t matter to people who are going by a “You can just feel it” metric.
  • Advice to Steve Kerr: Bring a lot of stuff (Reading Log: “The Victory Machine”)
  • Reading log: The hot hand vs. The gambler
  •  
    Podcast Note | Sahil Lavingia: Minimize surface area to maximize polish
  • Podcasting Log: Aaaand we’re back
  •  
    73: “Magic: the Gathering” life lessons
  • Podcasting Log: Zero to 18m audio (in 90 minutes)
  •  
    Podcast Note | The Ready State Podcast: “S1EP7: John Berardi”
  • Podcast Note | Shea Serrano: Grit and central points
  • 5 tips for writing daily (and mayyybe publishing)
  •  
    Ramblings (on a timer)
  • You know something that’s worth teaching (so share your knowledge)
  •  
    3 ways I use Shortcuts for writing with my iPad (and iPhone)
  • Why does Ronnie Coleman still Lift? (Joe Rogan Experience)
  • Why is acting so easy? (Jimmy O. Yang)
  • How do you lose a whole bunch of weight? (Kevin Smith)
  • Why is television a good thing? (Rob McElhenny)
  •  
    The Notepod #3 – “Chasing Excellence”
  •  
    How all these pieces might work together
  •  
    Reading Log: 9 takeaways from Mark Hunt’s “Born to Fight”
  •  
    The Listener #8 (by the Notepod (by Active Recall (by Francis (typing at his computer(but sometimes talking to it so a robot can turn it into text)))))
  •  
    Village Global’s Venture Stories: Unbundling Journalism with Chris Best of Substack
  •  
    Notes: “Hyperfocus” The College Info Geek Podcast
  •  
    Notes on Quentin Tarantino 2014 Interview with Robert Rodriguez pt 2
  •  
    Notes on Quentin Tarantino 2014 Interview with Robert Rodriguez
  • iPad Writing Apps: My favorites for different use cases (and why I use Shortcuts for pretty much everything)
  • Kevin Hart (Ozark motivation) x Brian Koppelman (Stoke the flame)
  •  
    The Notepod #2 – “Rebel Without a Crew”
  •  
    untools
  •  
    Joe Rogan: Doing the thing
  • The Notepod #1 – “The Fighter’s Mind”
  •  
    Reading Log: The Fighter’s Mind
  •  
    Free writing an outline for a solo episode
  • 71: “Work Clean”
  •  
    Spider mines and more
  •  
    Ramblings: Fighters, new archive page, and random links
  • Writing down a schedule (Steps toward fixing my focus)
  •  
    What’s on my desk (setting a 25 minute timer in Figma)
  • Ideas that changed your life (but from Starcraft)
  •  
    Against the Rules Presents: Michael Lewis in Conversation with Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg
  • Tobi Lütke: Building lings, hydras, mutalisks (and Shopify) | Podcast Notes
  • Book Notes: “That Will Never Work” by Marc Randolph
  • Outline for a video about the iPad Magic Keyboard
  •  
    Ramblings: Magic Keyboard first impressions
  • Bill Simmons on developing your voice as a writer | Podcast Note
  • What to do if you can’t type an apostrophe
  • BJ Fogg: Build tiny habits with positivity | Podcast Note
  •  
    A 1-hour tinkering goal
  • Small motion test
  • Workout Log (04/15/2020) — Molting
  •  
    One issue with writing right in the editor
  • iPad Journal (March/April 2020)
  • Workout Log (04/09/2020) — Warzone
  • Workout Log (4/8/2020) — Black belts for presenters, selling Cobra Kai at a basketball court, and mac ad slots in high school
  •  
    Workout Log (4/7/2020) — Tiny Habits and Cobra Kai
  •  
    Workout Log: 2020-04-06
  •  
    Workout Log (4/2/2020) — The joy of movement (even when stuck indoors)
  •  
    Procreate and the cutting room floor
  •  
    Note to Self: Goals April 2020
  • This setup worked super well
  • Note to Self: Places I’ve used the iPad in the first week
  •  
    Note to Self: Posts to Update
  • Thing #1 that I did with my iPad Pro: Drew short animations for this blog (March iPad Journal)
  • Short retro on my unfinished iPad Journal video
  •  
    Notes to self: Trimming silence in Logic Pro X
  •  
    Notes on “EP 364: How to Build a $113 “Minimalist” Home Gym” (The Pat Flynn Show)
  •  
    Just picked up The Great Mental Models 2
  •  
    Notes on “Jimmy Kimmel in Quarantine, Shaq and Kobe, and TV’s Future”
  •  
    Michael Lewis and Malcolm Gladwell (2016)
  • Reading log: “That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea”
  • Conan O’Brien: Note to self, tomorrow you’ll eat nothing (Podcast note)
  •  
    iPad Journal: thoughts for the next video
  •  
    Read, Listen, Watch: Rebel Without a Crew, Hatching Twitter, The Joy of Movement
  •  
    Like yesterday, but on an iPad
  •  
    Writing about finishing (again) (again)
  • Jason Calcanis: Read the last two chapters first (Podcast Note)
  • Walter and Francis, talking about returns, talking about books
  • Book Log: “Next” by Michael Lewis
  •  
    How I use my iPad Pro (January 2020) — Getting back to it
  • Jocko Willink: Detach
  •  
    Warming up the gear (and top 10 books of 2019)
  •  
    Write jokes the way a photographer shoots
  •  
    Reading Log: Pocket Full of Do
  •  
    Reading Log: Work Clean
  •  
    Lean toward learning and meaningful relationships (Adam Grant on the Tim Ferriss Show)
  • Do the simple thing first (whiteboards don’t scale and that’s okay)
  • An example disagreement (between very smart people)
  • Leash yourself (to turn values into actions)
  • Find the medium that you’ll be most consistent in
  • Plan right in the editor (how an editorial calendar is helping me be more consistent)
  • Create before you consume (and maybe stop consuming some things altogether)
  • October Book Stack Progress
  • Journaling toward stillness
  • Mission: take this turkey to the editor as fast as possible
  • Book Notes: “Indistractable” by Nir Eyal
  • Removing friction
  • Improving my solo episodes
  • Podcast Notes – “My First Million”: Don’t make lists
  • Video: Book note – Adam Savage’s “Every Tool’s a Hammer”
  • Back to basics (and writing in the editor)
  • 67 – “Finish” — PAO: Mr. Perfect cutting food in a kitchen with an invisible cloak on
  • Podcast Notes: Start winning, become passionate (Ramit Sethi)
  • 66: “Quitter”
  • Analog conversations and digital detoxes (Cal Newport on “Hurry Slowly”)
  • Podcast Notes: Thomas Frank on building up College Info Geek
  • The 5 Ms, explained with quotes from ‘Rounders’
  • Podcast Notes: John Skipper and the early days of ESPN.com
  • F04: Walk, Listen, Talk — “Digital Minimalism”
  • Podcast Notes: Jim Collins on rating your days (Tim Ferriss Show)
  • Podcast Notes: Hasan Minhaj (The Dave Chang Show)
  • Chris Paul: Team dinners (JJ Redick Podcast)
  • John Wooden walked a lot
  • Book Notes – “Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality” by Anthony de Mello
  • How to change the voice in your head: Seth Godin
  • Seth Godin: Write in public, change your brain
  • Be a demanding reader (and listener)
  • Joe Rogan: Podcasting as an art form
  • You don’t have a choice (Yes you do!)
  • Atomic Habits, Chrono Trigger, and making time your ally or enemy
  • 63: “Atomic Habits”
  • How to follow-through on projects (re-frame, remove reasons, and start moving)
  • Trace, freehand, and then draw from memory
  • Play pick-up basketball, sell your company to Amazon for $13 billion
  • Jason Fried: No one should listen to me about how to start a business
  • David Goggins: Things I don’t want to do
  • Weekly Deck — Issue 001
  •  
    Working undercover or just tracking books: Keep it simple
  • Podcast note: How to beat writer’s block
  • Podcast note: How to tell better stories
  • Book Note: The Bullet Journal Method
  • Coffee, espresso, and bullets (The Bullet Journal Method x Hasan Minhaj)
  •  
    Thrashing
  • How to End a Bad Habit (Book note for “Atomic Habits”)
  • Book Notes: “This is Marketing” by Seth Godin
  •  
    Use nature’s eyes (or the Hubble telescope) to remember your insignificance
  •  
    Atomic Habits: Initial Impressions
  • Podcast Notes: Chase Jarvis and Tim Ferriss
  •  
    Newsletter 00X: Books finished, books in progress
  • Newsletter 000: If I had a newsletter
  • Weaving my finisher hat
  •  
    Focus on two minutes (Podcast Notes: James Clear)
  •  
    Write in the editor Vol. ?
  • Oh give me a hell yeah (a calm yeah works also)
  • Practice directing your attention
  • Kobe Bryant: Every day math
  • Read more books (until you need to read fewer books)
  • JJ Redick, Hasan Minhaj: Negative Motivation
  • Elon Musk on Joe Rogan’s podcast
  • What’s your hiding place? (Book notes for Jon Acuff’s Finish)
  • Book Note from “Creativity, Inc.”
  • Trying out a bullet point routine
  • Prioritize information with these 3 questions (Book note for “Visual Intelligence”)
  •  
    Notes from “The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly”
  •  
    Look at your summer after high school (and work those things back in)
  • IGTV C4D: Make something daily (and share it!)
  • iPad apps for presentations (and videos)
  •  
    51: Grit revisited
  • Find Your Flow (Day 5): Pose-able figure
  • Find Your Flow (Day 4): Draw a Box pt. 2
  • Find Your Flow (Day 3): Draw a Box
  • Find Your Flow (Day 2): Omega Red pt. 2 (of 2)
  • Find Your Flow (Day 1): Omega Red pt. 1 (of I think 2)
  • Finding my flow (in 30 minutes each day)
  • Notes on “The Power of Starting Something Stupid”
  •  
    A case against flow
  • Life Lessons from Watching Videos of Jim Lee Drawing
  • You’ve got 2 seconds, what advice would you give to a new graduate?
  •  
    Write right in the editor (in this case it’s Evernote)
  • Describe Your Restaurant in a Single Sentence (Dave Chang and “Perennial Seller”)
  •  
    Handle Your Distractions (Especially if the distraction is Mr. Fuji)
  • The best backpack for the gym (Spoiler: it’s the GORUCK GR1)
  • Be like LeBron (and take a walk)
  • It’s okay to be bored (and even worth practicing)
  • Get to the bottom of it (and then work up to your life’s purpose)
  • A non-master class on writing (based on Steph Curry’s MasterClass course on basketball)
  • It’s not them. It’s you. (Even if it’s actually them.)
  • Will you remember this a week from now? (How about a year from now?)
  • Prune your garden (even if you don’t have an actual garden)
  •  
    Decide what you aren’t (even if you haven’t decided what you are)
  • Write right (in the editor)
  • Have a vision (even if it isn’t to save humanity)
  • Focus on What Won’t Change
  • Wear a uniform (But don’t tell anyone)
  • We are a nation obsessed (Chuck Klosterman IV)
  •  
    34: How to build good habits and end bad habits
  •  
    33: How to deal with setbacks (according to Mario and Ryu Hayabusa)
  • How do you build anything? One chunk at a time
  •  
    35: And we are back
  •  
    What’s inside those money bags?
  • The illusions of feelings
  •  
    Covers for upcoming videos
  •  
    32: How to practice (according to games)
  • Pivot to video (Newsletter issue 3)
  •  
    31: Musashi and How to Stop Worrying
  • Day-tight Compartments
  • Resolutions (Newsletter issue 2)
  • How to find the best way to practice
  • 30: Resolutions, Subtle Art, Arcade Games
  • Learning about generalism
  • Some kettlebell notes
  •  
    Review your beliefs (your future self will thank you!)
  •  
    Kicking Things Off (Newsletter issue 1)
  • Posting some training notes
  •  
    Know who you are
  •  
    Tell good stories (even for nonfiction!)
  •  
    Plug-ins, greasing the groove, and keeping it simple
  •  
    Some lessons from buying a bunch of infoproducts
  •  
    Pause the Cassette Now
  • 29: P-Rex and a return to The Magic Window
  •  
    28: Tribe of Mentors
  •  
    Book Notes: Four Seconds
  •  
    Stories we believe in
  • Book Notes: Basketball and Other Things
  •  
    Utility of fiction
  • Notes after making a video about two Mr. Harts
  •  
    Book Notes: The Creative Habit
  •  
    27: The Magic Window
  •  
    I started reading “City of Thieves” by David Benioff
  •  
    Talent vs. Hard Work (An animoji fox’s perspective)
  •  
    Why you shouldn’t say you don’t care what other people think (Notes on things by Chuck Klosterman)
  • How to succeed as a writer (What I’ve learned by reading Bill Simmons)
  •  
    26: Someday we will vlog like bosses
  •  
    How to tell your friend they probably shouldn’t pursue their dream anymore (Podcast Notes for Stone Cold and Brendan Schaub)
  •  
    25: Podcast recommendations, don’t leave your shopping cart in the parking lot
  •  
    24: Edit Better
  •  
    Book Notes: This Book Will Teach You How To Write Better
  •  
    23: The Power of Moments
  • My Year of Running Safely
  •  
    Brain bruises and the power of words
  •  
    Sympathetic links between ideas
  •  
    Whoa!
  •  
    Are you picking the right goals? (And my quick foray into competitive Counter-Strike)
  •  
    Outline: Creativity creates creativity
  •  
    22: We Can’t Make This Up
  • None of these look like Kevin Hart
  • The power of the first day on the job
  • SHAKE IT UP
  •  
    21: Not Caring What Other People Think is a Superpower
  •  
    20: Barking up the Wrong THREE
  •  
    19: Barking up the Wrong Tree, Again!
  •  
    Daily creativity: First, through writing
  •  
    Cardio Sucks book note: A little bit at a time
  • I just finished reading Ed Latimore’s book
  • Book reaction: The Forever War
  •  
    Some questions for myself
  •  
    How to post more (by writing less!)
  • 18: Primal Branding
  • 17: Better Than Before
  • 16: Made to Stick
  • 15: Talent is Overrated
  • 14: Shoe Dog
  • 13: The First 20 Hours
  • 12: The One Thing
  • Journal: The first 8 weeks of Active Recall
  •  
    11: Designing your life
  • The Ugly First Draft
  •  
    10: Wired to Eat
  • 09: Looking back, looking forward
  • Podcast notes: The power of gratitude with The 5-Minute Journal
  •  
    Picking activities
  •  
    08: More podcast recs for your head top
  • Creative Pages: Morning Creativity Routine version 2.0
  • How to live as an artist: 1000 fans, 10000 readers, but it all starts with ten
  • 07: When did you realize wrestling is fake?
  • Video: Book notes for “Barking up the Wrong Tree” by Eric Barker
  •  
    Sketchbook: Working on a publishing schedule
  •  
    Sketchbook: Planning different time scales and appropriate books
  •  
    Sketchbook: Will Ferrell*
  • 06: Creative Confidence
  •  
    Morning creativity routine: The Great Courses 
  •  
    Sketchbook: my favorite apps
  •  
    Sketchbook: morning routine
  •  
    My morning creativity routine
  •  
    AirPod first impressions
  •  
    iPad Journal: A Notability time lapse 
  •  
    iPad Journal: An intro
  •  
    Starting this site a little too early
  • Steal like an artist, show your work, Bruce Wayne, and Batman: Austin Kleon & Chase Jarvis — Sketchnotes Video
  • 05: The Obstacle is the Way
  • Make it easy, sustainable, and consistent: Tim Ferriss and Chase Jarvis — Active Recall Sketched
  • Pull-ups for your brain, studying effectively, and skill before passion: Cal Newport and Pat Flynn — Active Recall Sketched
  • Have fun, help others, and meditate: Lessons from Drama and Lewis Howes — Active Recall Sketched
  •  
    04: The Slight Edge
  • 03: Barking Up the Wrong Tree
  • 02: Grit
  • 01: Flow
  • Activities — Do you enjoy it? Does it go toward your goals?
Back to homepage • By Francis Cortez (@activerecall)