About

A little bit about me, my name is Daniel Foster and originally hail from Vancouver, Canada. My life up until this point has taken me all around the world, backpacking South America, doing my MBA in Lithuania, and since late 2022 living in Leeds here in the UK. My academic path began after my first backpacking trip where I moved a short distance from home to the University of Victoria and completed my BSC in Economics with a minor in Business. During my last two years there I acted as a Basketball Statistician for the university varsity basketball teams which then led me to become a FIBA-licensed statistician and working international events, including an Olympic tournament. Thanks to this experience and my love for basketball, I was accepted into the EBI Institute Sports Business MBA in Kaunas, Lithuania. This unique blend of sports and academics not only deepened my understanding of the business side of sports but also allowed me to experience life in another part of the world.

 

Nowadays you can find me working in risk for a major sports betting company here in Leeds. Why the move, you ask? I had always wanted to go live in another country and had planned to immediately after my bachelor's but this was delayed a few years due to the pandemic. The allure of the UK music scene, family connections and its easy (and cheap!) access to the rest of Europe was too compelling to pass up. So there I went, 2-year work visa in hand.

 

In this blog, I plan to share my love of the arts. Although the core subject will be reviewing and reflecting on my long list of books, I will also be discussing my love of films and music. Before my master's, I was fascinated by the thriller genre with my favourite author being Hubert Selby Jr but have since found myself reading mainly nonfiction. Sparked by the EconTalk podcast, my curiosity about current events and understanding different sides of intense issues has led me to read a large spectrum of the nonfiction genre, specifically an interview done with Noreena Hertz where she discusses her book The Lonely Century. That book inspired me to write my thesis on the relationship between loneliness and sports betting tendencies. Since finishing my thesis, I have read academic material on Belonging, Fear, how to create environments for open communication in these divided times, etc...

 

The creation of this blog has 2 core reasons:

1. To document and discuss the main aspects of the books I'm reading

2. To share my passions and my insights So, to all who share a love for the depth and diversity of stories, whether told through the written word or the cinematic screen, welcome. Let's uncover the narratives that challenge, unite, and inspire us.