Hi friends,

You already got Tuesday’s letter, so you know the James story. This is the podcast version. I’m putting it here so you can just press play and listen, dishes-in-the-sink style, if that’s more your speed.

For now, here’s James (HVR). The plane, the three phones, the carbon, the billion years. His debut memoir is Too Soon et pero Too Late: French Grace. American Collapse. Colombian Care. (You can grab a copy with the link 👆).

He’d never written anything for himself before last July. Then, inside a single year: a memoir, a Substack, a spot on the Rising in Literature bestseller list more than once.

The video is me retelling a slice of James’s story and threading it through one of mine from my twenties (you’ve heard parts of it before). It’s the investment-grade diamond company I wrote copy for, and what I learned there about carbon and pressure and what survives.

Some pressure breaks you. This kind shows you what was already there.

With love & rebellion,Ashley aka Fake Guru

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