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.
Big Tech
- Silicon Valley has focused largely on digital technology to the detriment of the rest of the world. (theatlantic.com)
- Content moderators see some pretty nasty stuff and many are experiencing PTSD as a result. (theverge.com)
- Big Tech is hiring companies like SureFox Consulting to improve their 'physical risk-management.' (esquire.com)
- You ARE your location and your phone is a location data goldmine. (nytimes.com)
Business
- US Steel ($USX) is 115 years old. It's PP&E is showing its age. (wsj.com)
- The Gates Foundation spends A LOT of money on consultants like McKinsey and BCG. (vox.com)
Higher education
- Higher education has big problem: falling enrollment numbers. (npr.org)
- Are the humanities over? (chronicle.com)
Longreads
- What happens when money goes fully digital? (bbc.com)
- China is not an existential threat to the world order. (foreignaffairs.com)
- Patrons love borrowing e-books from public libraries. Publishers are not happy about it. (ibj.com)
- David Brooks' favorite longreads from 2019 including “When the Culture War Comes for the Kids” by George Packer. (nytimes.com)
- A profile of arguably the world's best fly caster, who happens to be a teenage girl. (outsideonline.com)
- Why we fall for cons. (timharford.com)