Thursdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at how bigger goalies are changing the game of hockey.
Quote of the Day
"If you want to manipulate others exclusively for your gain as a communicator, you can easily find some people to join you in the alternative reality you create. Being a pied piper is as easy as writing a tweet. "
(Om Malik)
Books
- An excerpt from Walter Isaacson's "The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing and the Future of the Human Race." (wsj.com)
- Bill Gates brings an 'intellectual honesty' to the climate change debate in "How To Avoid A Climate Disaster." (sl-advisors.com)
Big Tech
- Facebook ($FB) has never really been all that interested in getting bad actors off the platform: the case of Alex Jones. (buzzfeednews.com)
- What it's like to work for a company like Google ($GOOGL) vs. a startup. (paygo.media)
- On the inevitability of billion dollar 'solo companies.' (notboring.co)
Investing
- How money manager Arne Alsin transformed himself from a value investor into a tech investor. (institutionalinvestor.com)
- How Pennsylvania Treasurer Joe Torsella took on the state's big pension funds and lost his job along the way. (inquirer.com)
- The sneaker market has all the trappings of a developed financial market. (bloomberg.com)
Longreads
- The timber market in the U.S. is a study in contrasts: lumber prices are at record highs and timber operators are struggling. (wsj.com)
- Wide swaths of the U.S. are underinsured for flood damage. (bloomberg.com)
- In an ideal world there would be one vaccine that protects against all coronaviruses. (futurehuman.medium.com)
- How Chess.com built a streaming empire. (protocol.com)
- How Andy Warhol became the most important American artist. (papers.ssrn.com)