Malcolm Gladwell reviews Stephen Brill’s new book America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System. (New Yorker via kottke)
Quote of the Day
"You’re worth more than a deer or a car. And your car can be fixed. Your neck can’t. Your car? That’s what insurance is for. So don’t swerve. Hit the damn deer."
(George Hertzner)
Engineering
- Are modern jets too automated to fly safely? (thedailybeast.com)
- Why we don't need real-time airline tracking. (wired.com)
- Riding in a self-driving car is "delightfully dull." (wired.com)
Technology
- Apps are making the web less functional. (nytimes.com)
- The promise of personalization has faded somewhat. (ft.com)
- On the inevitable "robotification" of society. (wired.com)
Science
- Why Iceland is a center for volcanology. (nytimes.com)
- Denmark is now getting 40% of its power from wind. (qz.com)
- How sequencing whale DNA can help us learn more about human longevity. (cbsnews.com)
Health
- Antibiotic breakthroughs are rare but very welcome. (kottke.org)
- How exercise helps keep us young. (well.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Cold weather actually can help cause a cold. (qz.com)
- Cellphones do not give you brain cancer. (fivethirtyeight.com)
- A blood test that could help identify the severity of concussions. (blogs.scientificamerican.com)
The brain
- Spouses help you navigate the middle age crisis. (washingtonpost.com)
- Can an app tell if you are depressed? (wsj.com)
- Is depression really the manifestation of an underlying physical illness? (theguardian.com)
Food
- Italy's famed food makers are struggling at home and are moving to export more. (wsj.com)
- The Nordic diet is the new Mediterranean diet. (qz.com)
- How DNA testing is being used to breed tastier cattle. (wsj.com)
- How bone broth became the hot new health drink. (nytimes.com)
- Plant-based meats are going to change how we eat. (outsideonline.com)
Drink
- How the craft beer movement snubbed its father: Jim Koch of Samuel Adams ($SAM) fame. (bostonmagazine.com)
- Craft brewers are running out of names for their beers. (npr.org)
- On the rise of craft distilling. (fortune.com)
Sports
- Why the "billy goat curse" for the Chicago Cubs is BS. (grantland.com)
- This computer program can reportedly play perfect head-to-head poker. (marginalrevolution.com)
- ESPN won the college football playoffs. (wsj.com)
Entertainment
- Would "The Wire" make it on television today?* (thedailybeast.com)
- Patton Oswalt's "Silver Screen Fiend" is "ostentatiously nerdy."* (slate.com)
- Vinyl is more about identity than sound. (qz.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- What you may have missed in our Friday linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: understanding your audience. (abnormalreturns.com)
