Saturdays are the day we catch up with all the non-finance related stuff we didn’t get to during the week. You can check out last week’s edition here.
Quote of the Day
"Life is precious, and driving sober or washing our hands isn’t just about our own health and safety; it’s also about protecting other people...Understanding risk isn’t about paranoia, it’s about priorities."
(Alexander Webb)
Chart of the Day
Netflix introduced more new shows in 2019 than the entire TV industry did in 2005.
Autos
- Apparently the Tesla ($TSLA) Cybertruck design ISN'T all that novel. (kottke.org)
- "Deep-pocketed customers have made Porsche the world’s most profitable mass-market luxury auto brand. (worth.com)
- How to nudge drivers to drive more safely. (papers.ssrn.com)
- Automotive country clubs are popping up around the country. (nytimes.com)
Energy
- How one Colorado county is looking to ease the transition from coal to solar. (theatlantic.com)
- Offshore wind power in the US is poised for big growth. (cnbc.com)
- Small modular reactors could save us. (wired.com)
- The state of Wyoming is not happy with PacifiCorp's pullback from coal. (ft.com)
Climate denial
- How long have we known that human-driven climate change could be a catastrophe? Longer than you think. (daily.jstor.org)
- Add the big US railroads to the list of companies funding climate denial. (theatlantic.com)
- Speaking of climate denial, don't forget about coal companies. (nytimes.com)
Environment
- Six depressing climate records broken in the past decade. (buzzfeednews.com)
- Just how much of consumer cardboard is getting recycled these days? (theverge.com)
- Homes in the West receive huge subsidies based on their need for firefighting resources. (nber.org)
- Trees are smart, but not smart enough to keep up with human-derived climate change. (slate.com)
- "Exposure to air pollution is linked to a greater risk of depression and suicide, the first overview of studies on the subject has found." (newscientist.com)
- If CO2 is just garbage we dump in the air, why don't we clean it up? (blogs.scientificamerican.com)
Product returns
- Your product returns may get landfilled if they cost too much to process. (cbc.ca)
- Product returns are an environmental disaster. (fastcompany.com)
Transport
- A big change is coming for shippers (and fuel prices). (gcaptain.com)
- SpaceX (and Boeing) have struggled with parachutes in their recent tests. (latimes.com)
- In Europe it's eaiser to indulge your flygskam. (nytimes.com)
- Why high-speed rail is not coming to the US. (bloomberg.com)
Science
- Female killer whales go through menopause just like humans. (arstechnica.com)
- Male scientists have a tendency to overhype their research relative to female colleagues. (washingtonpost.com)
- "A team of American archaeologists has discovered two large ancient Greek royal tombs dating back some 3,500 years near the site of the ancient city of Pylos in southern Greece." (npr.org)
- A historical example of a town trying to fight rising sea levels and failing. (washingtonpost.com)
- Scientist don't take holidays off when it comes to journal submissions. (nytimes.com)
Technology
- The biggest tech threats to the 2020 election. (venturebeat.com)
- It's hard to understate the importance (and impact) of AOL AIM. (fastcompany.com)
- Smart, high-end toaster ovens are the gadgets of the year. (nytimes.com)
Behavior
- The impact of 'social priming' is overstated. (nature.com)
- How to overcome the 'arrival fallacy.' (stylist.co.uk)
- How busyness makes for bad decisions. (bbc.com)
- On the upside of being predictable in life. (fastcompany.com)
- Six steps to take to try and change someone's mind. (bakadesuyo.com)
Health
- The flu season is off to a weird start. Also, get your flu shot! (arstechnica.com)
- Why a cure for cancer is so elusive - maybe we are doing it wrong. (slate.com)
Fitness
- There is ample support for the idea that physical activity helps brain function. (scientificamerican.com)
- Marathon running will not ruin your knees. (nytimes.com)
- The brains of top athletes are quieter. (nytimes.com)
Food
- African swine fever has wiped out a quarter of the world's pigs. (nytimes.com)
- Family restaurants, like these pierogi spots, are a dying breed. (eater.com)
- How online delivery could help eliminate 'food deserts.' (npr.org)
- How 2019 became the Year of the Chicken Sandwich. (washingtonpost.com)
Drink
- The 29 best bottles of booze in 2019. (esquire.com)
- The 10 best new whiskeys of 2019. (pastemagazine.com)
- This is the best bourbon of 2019. (insidehook.com)
- Tapping a (beer) can won't do anything to prevent it from foaming over. (modernfarmer.com)
Coffee
- Coffee bean prices should jump in 2020. (modernfarmer.com)
- Doug Boneparth gives Josh Brown a coffee lesson. (thereformedbroker.com)
Dogs
- The US Army is equipping its dogs with more technology like cameras. (businessinsider.com)
- Yet another reason to get your child a dog. (hopkinsmedicine.org)
- The best dogs of the decade. (mentalfloss.com)
Vaping
- E-cigarettes have a waste problem. (npr.org)
- Public health officials can't agree on e-cigarettes. (wsj.com)
Consensus best-of lists
- The consensus top 10 best movies of 2019. (digg.com)
- The consensus top 10 best TV shows of 2019. (digg.com)
- The consensus top 10 best books of 2019. (digg.com)
- The consensus top 10 best albums of 2019. (digg.com)
- The consensus top 10 best songs of 2019. (digg.com)
TV
- The 10 best TV episodes of 2019. (hollywoodreporter.com)
- The best TV episodes of 2019. (nytimes.com)
- The 10 worst TV shows of 2019. (hollywoodreporter.com)
Movies
- The 14 best movies of 2019 including 'Knives Out.' (wired.com)
- The 20 best documentaries of the past decade. (vox.com)
- A film critic's list of the 25 best movies from the past five decade including 'City of God.' (ft.com)
- The 10 best Netflix ($NFLX) movies of 2019 including 'Dolemite Is My Name.' (variety.com)
- Every Adam Sandler movie, ranked. (gq.com)
Music
- The best albums of the 2010s including Taylor Swift's '1989.' (gq.com)
- The 20 best Americana albums of the year. (pastemagazine.com)
- The best Southern albums of 2019. (gardenandgun.com)
Sports
- Why soccer is the future of pro sports in America. (msn.com)
- The professional International Swimming League has attracted many of the world's best swimmers. (wsj.com)
- What do you do with an artificial turf field when it is worn out? (fairwarning.org)
- Pro sports team owners just can't catch a break. (newrepublic.com)
Children
- There is no perfect time to have children, so get on with it. (avc.com)
- Millennials have a different perspective on parenting than Gex X-ers. (ft.com)
- A new study found that kids who had helicopter parents were more likely to experience burnout from schoolwork. (cnbc.com)
- The news on teen drug use is generally pretty good. (axios.com)
- At what age should you get your child a smartphone? (fastcompany.com)
College
- Over the past eight years, college enrollment nationwide has fallen about 11%. (npr.org)
- Colleges are trying to replace students with senior citizens. (wsj.com)
Earlier on Abnormal Returns
- Longform links: overdosing on digital technology. (abnormalreturns.com)
- What you missed in Friday's linkfest. (abnormalreturns.com)
- Podcast links: the in-ear economy. (abnormalreturns.com)
