Thursdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at why we love horror movies.
Quote of the Day
"There is, however, a deeper explanation for why Ferriss’s radicalism was diluted in the years following his book’s release: perhaps our culture wasn’t ready to hear it."
(Cal Newport)
Books
- An excerpt from “A Shot to Save the World: The Inside Story of the Life-or-Death Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine” by Gregory Zuckerman. (wsj.com)
- An excerpt from "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity" by David Graeber and David Wengrow. (theguardian.com)
- An excerpt from “The Generation Myth: Why When You’re Born Matters Less Than You Think” by Bobby Duffy. (wsj.com)
- At key points in its history, Facebook ($FB) has chosen growth over safety. (washingtonpost.com)
- History will not look kindly on Facebook ($FB). (theatlantic.com)
Entertainment
- 20 years ago ‘Grand Theft Auto III’ changed the video game world. (theringer.com)
- 25 years ago 'Scream' broke the mold for horror movies. (vox.com)
Profiles
- A profile of Katie Couric and the world of TV news that seems outdated. (thecut.com)
- How Brene Brown became an empire unto herself. (newyorker.com)
- Meet the world's most successful conservationist. (reasonstobecheerful.world)
Longreads
- Calling out scientific fraud is not a riskless affair. (buzzfeednews.com)
- Our obsession with dinosaurs is a modern invention. (nautil.us)
- Why some people believe life was better in hunter-gatherer times. (cold-takes.com)
- The brain processes speech in parallel with other sounds. (quantamagazine.org)
- Dog's noses are powerful, but are they accurate enough to convict someone of murder? (science.org)
