Newsletter


Every Friday, I send a short email called the Friday Five—a quick hit of ideas worth your time. Each issue includes a curated mix of insights from books, business, habits, music, and more.


You’ll get:

  • 🎵 One song I’ve been spinning
  • 💬 One quote or idea that stuck with me
  • 📰 One article I’m thinking about
  • 📚 One book I read or revisited
  • 🎧 One podcast from the week

It’s simple, free, and always timeless.

[Join the newsletter here]


Lastest Newsletters

  • Friday Five – Work the tonnage, Subtract the noise, Sail to the horizon

    Friday Five – Work the tonnage, Subtract the noise, Sail to the horizon

    No. 287 June 27, 2025 Welcome to this week’s Friday Five: insights, inspiration, and a few personal favorites to kick off your weekend. Music of the Week This week, I revisited Sevendust—an Atlanta-based rock band known for blending heavy metal with a lot of soul in the vocals. Since forming in the mid-90s, they’ve released…


  • Friday Five – Stay around your spots, Figure out your edge, Say no fast

    Friday Five – Stay around your spots, Figure out your edge, Say no fast

    No. 286 June 20, 2025 Welcome to this week’s Friday Five: insights, inspiration, and a few personal favorites to kick off your weekend. Music of the Week This week, I revisited the music and legacy of Jimmy Buffett—the laid-back king of “island escapism.” Known for hits like Margaritaville, Come Monday, and Cheeseburger in Paradise, Buffett…


  • Friday Five – Be who you imagine, Try to have a good past, Don’t stay down

    Friday Five – Be who you imagine, Try to have a good past, Don’t stay down

    No. 285 June 13, 2025 Welcome to this week’s Friday Five: insights, inspiration, and a few personal favorites to kick off your weekend. Music of the Week Terius Gray—better known as Juvenile—got his start in New Orleans and began rapping at just 11 years old. A few favorites from his catalog: 400 Degreez, Bling Bling,…


  • Friday Five: Success breeds complacency, Complacency breeds failure, Only the paranoid survive

    Friday Five: Success breeds complacency, Complacency breeds failure, Only the paranoid survive

    No. 284 June 7, 2025 Welcome to this week’s Friday Five: insights, inspiration, and a few personal favorites to kick off your weekend. Music of the Week Lake Street Dive was formed in the mid-2000s in Boston. Founding band members include Rachael Price, Mike Olson, Bridget Kearney, and Mike Calabrese. Keyboardist Akie Bermiss joined the…


  • Friday Five: Change Your Mind, Simplify, Try Again, Break Dependencies, Repeat

    Friday Five: Change Your Mind, Simplify, Try Again, Break Dependencies, Repeat

    Welcome to this week’s Friday Five: insights, inspiration, and a few personal favorites to kick off your weekend. Music of the Week 311 (Omaha’s finest) — Omaha is more than just Berkshire Hathaway HQ. It’s also home to 311, the band behind tracks like Amber, Beautiful Disaster, and Love Song. Formed in the ’80s, their…



Prefer to explore everything I’ve written? 

[Explore All Articles]


Scroll to Top
Michael McHugh
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.