The Beat

March 2025

Are You a Noble Winner?

Our current President has a history of calling people losers. It's part of his rhetoric. "I never want to be called a loser," Trump said in 2019 before denying he lost the 2020 election.

You may be uncomfortable with the terms "winner" and "loser." I know I am.

However, this month, I read an essay that deepened my understanding. I'm excited to share it with you.

Find more in Spotlight, below.

Also, an invitation: Will you join me on April 11? I'm on a mission to make networking more fun and meaningful, especially for introverts.

​Register for our next Object Diaries: Show and Tell Networking Meetup on April 11! (moved to April due to Spring Break)

Details are under Don't Miss below!

Warmly,

Lisa Weiss
​The Beat​
A Newsletter by Storybeat Studio

In this issue: ​

Spotlight Noble Winners & Losers Practice Writing Prompts to Fuel Your Creativity Ideas Insights from Authors & Thought Leaders Don't Miss! Show & Tell Networking: Objects and Stories from our Elders

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Spotlight

Noble Winners & Losers

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Have you heard of the concept of the "noble winner"? It's not a Nobel Prize winner, although there could be crossover.

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I discovered the "noble winner" concept this month in Sigal Samuel's piece in Vox, "How do I resist Trump without ruining my life?"

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In her piece, Sigal Samuel references Dutch historian Rutger Bregman who coined the term "noble winner." According to Bregman, Rosa Parks is a noble winner—a person who takes an enormous risk and moves human history forward.

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On the flipside, there's the noble loser—a person who takes a stand without making any noticeable impact. As Bregman adds, the noble loser is sometimes characterized by "prioritizing personal purity over actually achieving results."

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The idea of delineating a "winner" from a "loser" can be, well, polarizing. But I hope you'll bear with me. Sigal's essay is one of the most interesting pieces I've read this month.

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Read the essay here.

Practice

Taking a Stand

In our monthly Practice section, discover writing prompts to help you transform thoughts into words on the page. ​ This month’s writing practice invites you to explore moments when you took a stand: ​ Reflect on a moment when you were a noble winner. When did you take an impactful stand on behalf of a cause or an injustice? What happened? The impact needn't be super large scale, but think about an action you took that that led to meaningful results aligned with your moral compass. ​ This is a tough one, but consider a time when you prioritized personal purity over actually achieving results. These are moments when we act "holier than thou," or take actions that only serve our own interests. Here's a related example from me: I've worked in several toxic workplaces. One of them became pretty extreme for a good number of employees. I reported it and spoke out against it. But after experiencing retaliation, I quit and got another job. That was great for me, but nothing changed for my colleagues. I didn't do enough to organize a resistance and protect those who were still there.

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Ideas

Insights from Authors & Thought Leaders
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READ:

Nonfiction: Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson (this one is flying off the shelves. Ironically, copies aren't abundant)

Fiction: The Antidote by Karen Russell (Bestselling author of Swamplandia!)

Essay: "Europe's Elon Musk Problem," this essay by Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic explains some of the ways a lack of transparency in tech and social media can tilt an election. Losers can become winners when it's impossible to conduct a free and fair election.

WATCH:

Video: This wildly original one-minute "one-hand band" puppet video by Santiago Moreno, posted on Beautiful Bizarre Magazine. Thank you to Sarah Ecolano, founder of Copper River Fish Market for sharing this video with me. Sarah is the generational fisher(woman) behind my favorite award-winning artisan smoked salmon, wild caught in Alaska's Copper River.

“But if you kept thinking about a fight you’d lost, Mom said, you were programming yourself to lose again.”​
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― Karen Russell

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I like this quote from Karen Russell. Rehashing a lost "fight" to learn from it can be productive. But perseverating—not so much, right? Top athletes watch their game performances to learn from their errors, but they don't watch their losses on repeat.

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Don't Miss!

Gifts From Our Grandparents Event

What Show & Tell Networking Event When 4/11 @ 11 AM - 11:30 AM Central Where Online (Zoom) What to Bring An object that reminds you of a grandparent or elder

Register here →