Thursdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at what dogs would do without us.
Quote of the Day
"Free will exists because it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy."
(Tomas Pueyo)
Books
- A Q&A with David Henkin author of "The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms That Made Us Who We Are." (theatlantic.com)
- An excerpt from “Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19” by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley. (wsj.com)
- A Q&A with Nick Offerman author of "Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside." (gq.com)
Wealth
- A profile of the Bridgespan Group that helps the wealthy give away their money. (nytimes.com)
- A look inside the world of private placement life insurance. (moontowermeta.com)
Finance
- A Q&A with Michael Mauboussin, co-author of "Expectations Investing: Reading Stock Prices for Better Returns." (riaintel.com)
- A big chunk of the financial system still runs on COBOL. (wealthsimple.com)
Housing
- People find that their forever home, is often not. (wsj.com)
- Hot housing markets around the country are making home buyers act more like speculators. (nytimes.com)
Health care
- The story of health care workers who have left the field since the onset of the pandemic. (theatlantic.com)
- The nation’s largest Catholic hospital system is buliding out its own private equity portfolio. (statnews.com)
Global
- Autocrats are winning around the world. (theatlantic.com)
- Singapore is not the aspiring techno-utopia it is made out to be. (restofworld.org)
Longreads
- Russia has been, and remains, a haven for cyber-criminals. (bbc.com)
- A profile of the late David Graeber co-author of the new book "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity." (nymag.com)
- The story of how Britney Spears was freed from her conservatorship. (newyorker.com)
- Why the D.B. Cooper myth remains compelling 50 years on. (seattlemet.com)
