Saturdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at 52 things learned in 2019.
Quote of the Day
"But wasting your time is not the worst thing the educational system does to you. The worst thing it does is to train you that the way to win is by hacking bad tests."
(Paul Graham)
Society
- What the return of the freestanding bathtub tells us about society today. (curbed.com)
- How the loss of the landline has changed families. (theatlantic.com)
Science
- Proprioception is the body’s mysterious ability to locate our limbs, even in darkness. We’re just beginning to understand it. (vox.com)
- How octopuses went from 'ugly monsters' to revered creatures. (seattlemet.com)
Environment
- It's hard to find a part of California not affected by 'global weirding.' (washingtonpost.com)
- Regenerative farming practices are the way forward for smaller farms. (indystar.com)
Football
- Why a better helmet is unlikely to fix the issue of CTE in football. (nytimes.com)
- Rashaan Salaam's post-Heisman Trophy life was not a happy one. (si.com)
Longreads
- The US never had a plan to win the war in Afghanistan. (washingtonpost.com)
- A big profile of Olaf Carlson-Wee and Polychain Capital on the other side of the crypto boom. (fortune.com)
- The Star Wars franchise is showing signs of fatigue. (wsj.com)
- Some cool things learned in 2019 including: "The video game industry generates more revenue than movies and music. Combined." (perell.com)
- An autobiographical story of overconfidence. (jasonzweig.com)
