Blurb
Since 2007, entrepreneur and philanthropist Vikas Shah has been on a mission to interview the people shaping our century. Including conversations with Nobel prize winners, business leaders, politicians, artists and Olympians, he has been in the privileged position of questioning the minds that matter on the big issues that concern us all. We often talk of war and conflict, the economy, culture, technology and revolutions as if they are something other than us. But all these things are a product of us – of our ideas, our dreams and our fears. We live in fast-moving and extraordinary times, and the changes we’re experiencing now, in these first decades of the twenty-first century, feel particularly poignant as decisions are made that will inform our existence for years to come. What started out as a personal interest in the mechanisms that inform our views of the world, and a passion for understanding, has grown into a phenomenal compilation of once-in-a-lifetime conversations. In this incredible collection, Shah shares some of his most emotive and insightful interviews to date.
My Review
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book and to Kelly and Meggy at Love Books Tours for organising this tour.
The Rosie Synopsis
This book is a collection of excerpts from interviews with a large number of people gathered by subject area. They cover identity, culture, leadership, entrepreneurship, discrimination, conflict and democracy.
The Good
I found this book fascinating. Shah’s own opinions and commentary are as interesting as his interviewees. The format of the book, with interviews split up over chapters on specific subjects is a good way of exploring the issues that reprinting the entire interviews wouldn’t have. I haven’t read any of the interviews on Shah’s website but I think this book provides a taste that could bring people to it for wider reading.
There were many interviewees whose words I found interesting, thought provoking, and moving. Harry Leslie Smith, Maya Angelou and Ben Ferencz were particularly moving on the subjects of poverty, culture and war respectively. The large variety of interviewees brings so many different perspectives, which I appreciate – hearing others’ views helps to broaden the mind, even if you disagree with the person. I like to be challenged.
The Not-So-Good
I wasn’t too fussed by the ‘Entrepreneur’ chapter, most of them came across as particularly privileged individuals who aren’t aware of their own privilege. A lot of them already had some advantage in life before becoming entrepreneurs.
The culture chapter swung between profound (Lemn Sissay and Ken Loach, among others) and arrogant arseholes (like David Bailey and Tracey Emin). I would go from deep thought and fascination, to frustration at the complete ignorance and arrogance at the interviewees.
In the chapter on discrimination, most of the writers were clearly involved in the modern drive for change, except Philip Craven – his attitude towards disability is very negative, and he doesn’t seem to be aware of the modern disability rights movements.
He says that people shouldn’t let their disability define them, if he can do it anyone can, ignoring that he was already an athlete before his accident, and many people weren’t and aren’t going to ever be elite athletes. This attitude makes disabled people feel shamed for not being able to ‘overcome’ their disability and ignores the systemic discrimination disabled people face in a society designed for abled, neuromajority people. He comments about Paralympians in the USA being called ‘supercrips by the community they’re supposed to belong to’, but he doesn’t know what ‘super-crip‘ means (it was a criticism of the disabled person as inspiration porn and ‘if they can do it, you can’ attitudes); honestly, Frances Ryan would have been a better person to interview on the subject of disability discrimination.
You might have guessed, this really wound me up.
The Verdict
An interesting and thought provoking collection on important subjects, with many views, some opposing others, that will make your brain work and give you new things to think about.
Author Bio
Vikas Shah MBE is a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan (The Lisbon MBA), Honorary Professor of Business at The Alliance Business School, University of Manchester and an Honorary Industry Fellow at the University of Salford Business School. Vikas started his first technology business aged just fourteen, and is currently CEO of Swiscot Group (a diversified international trading business). He is a venture investor in fast-growing technology businesses internationally and is a non-executive director and advisor to numerous organizations. Vikas was awarded an MBE for Services to Business and the Economy in Her Majesty the Queen’s 2017 New Year’s Honours List.
Thought Economics was founded by Vikas Shah MBE in 2007, and has been recognized globally for the quality of its editorial content, having been named as an official honoree at the 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 Webby Awards (run by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences) for Best Writing (Editorial) alongside The New York Times, the BBC, the Paris Review, Vanity Fair, the Financial Times and National Geographic.
The Thought Economics website includes interviews on a diverse range of topics including: business and economics, culture, society and the arts, politics and policy, science and technology.
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