Thursdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at whether Austin will become Silicon Valley 2.0.
Quote of the Day
"Desire’s greatest trick is in convincing us that we will be satisfied after we fulfill it. This is a deception that we reliably fall for – over and over again."
(Lawrence Yeo)
Book excerpts
- An excerpt from "The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease" by Charles Kenny. (slate.com)
- An excerpt from "Beginners: The Curious Power of Lifelong Learning" by Tom Vanderbilt. (outsideonline.com)
- An excerpt from "This Is the Voice" by John Colapinto. (theguardian.com)
Pandemic policy
- How the U.S. set itself on path for failure during the pandemic. (nytimes.com)
- Operation Warp Speed was kind of working until it came to vaccine distribution. (politico.com)
Food
- Loss of sense of smell is a Covid side effect. What happens if you make your living by your nose? (wired.co.uk)
- A profile of chef Ángel León and his plan to save the sea. (time.com)
- Just how sustainable can Big Meat actually become? (ft.com)
Longreads
- How Andreessen Horowitz transformed into a media company. (newcomer.co)
- A deep dive into investing in the art market and Masterworks specifically. (notboring.substack.com)
- A profile of America's first true global soccer star, Christian Pulisic. (gq.com)
- An oral history of Wikipedia. (onezero.medium.com)
