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I found your piece on Goodreads incredibly compelling, and featured it in my weekly roundup of Very Good Articles, with some commentary: https://sacredtension.substack.com/p/curiosities-vol-5-how-we-treat-our

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“it’s easier to succeed like this if you’re white/middle class/have a good education/posh accent.”

Boris Johnson not reimbursing interns after sending them to get coffees while he was London Mayor, the story about him that has always stuck on my mind as an indicator of who he really is as a person

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I think you are right about billionaires, which (leaving everything else aside) makes me very confused about Coutts’ (apparent) belief that their customer base cares more about ethics than privacy. Is there more to the story or was it just a lesson to be careful of customers with that much media presence?

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It’s a good Q. I think we might talk about it on Page 94 so I’ll be digging into it.

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Jul 28, 2023·edited Jul 28, 2023

The "fake it til you make it " was used by David Bowie's management , who on an early visit to the US, as a relative unknown, would book an entire hotel floor for maybe 2 or 3 (?) occupants , implying exclusivity. It's similar to if you see a large entourage with bodyguards in public, even if you don't recognise any one - surely they must be important or famous? Eventually someone has to pay for it all , though.

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