Thursdays are now all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at the world’s most dangerous animal.
Quote of the Day
"Practical wisdom requires an appreciation that there is no perfect choice, and that each choice has benefits, drawbacks, and uncertainties."
(Yael Schonbrun and Barry Schwartz)
Book excerpts
- On the future of work from James Suzman’s "Work: A History of How We Spend Our Time." (ft.com)
- A Q&A with Jason Diamond author of "The Sprawl: Reconsidering the Weird American Suburbs." (theringer.com)
- An excerpt from Michael Sandel’s new book, "The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?" (theatlantic.com)
- An excerpt from "Loving Sports When They Don’t Love You Back: Dilemmas of the Modern Fan" by Jessica Luther and Kavitha A. Davidson. (lithub.com)
- How oysters tell time: an excerpt from "The Human Cosmos: Civilization and the Stars" by Jo Merchant. (wired.com)
Business
- Farmers Business Network wants to be the Amazon ($AMZN) for farming. Big Ag is not cooperating. (wsj.com)
- Not every company practices what they preach: the case of Carta. (nytimes.com)
- Why industrial R&D labs went out of favor. (worksinprogress.co)
Investing
- 2020 is a year full of financial and economic contradictions. (theirrelevantinvestor.com)
- A profile of David McCormick, CEO of Bridgewater Associates, as he manages a series of challenges and crises. (institutionalinvestor.com)
- How to fix the IPO process. (a16z.com)
Longreads
- A big profile of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin who has managed to last the full term. (nytimes.com)
- Satellite imagery shows the extent to which China is going to oppress the Uighurs. (buzzfeednews.com)
- Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is sinking...fast. (gen.medium.com)
- Most chairs are designed for form not function. (theguardian.com)
- There is no industry standard for which books get fact checked. (esquire.com)
- A look back at Whit Stillman's 'Metropolitan' 30 years later. (townandcountrymag.com)
