Thursdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s linkfest including at the enduring interest in the story of D.B. Cooper.
Quote of the Day
"Facebook isn’t just dangerous, I learned. It doesn’t merely have the ability to shape offline reality for its billions of users. No, Facebook is also—and perhaps for most people—senseless and demoralizing."
(Kaitlyn Tiffany)
Books
- An excerpt from "The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines" by Cassandra Quave. (wsj.com)
- An excerpt from "The Other Dark Matter: The Science and Business of Turning Waste into Wealth and Health" by Lina Zeldovich. (slate.com)
- An excerpt from Brad Stulberg's "The Practice of Groundedness." (wsj.com)
Big Tech
- Clickbait sites are a key part of the misinformation network. Facebook ($FB) and Google ($GOOGL) enable them. (technologyreview.com)
- You can't talk about Big Tech without talking about the role music and entertainment played in their rise. (tedgioia.substack.com)
Crypto
- Crypto isn't BS, but the crypto-proponents can be pretty annoying. (modelcitizen.substack.com)
- What are the newly crypto-wealthy going to buy with it? Influence, perhaps? (josephcwells.com)
Longreads
- Sahil Bloom, "The Cantillon Effect is the most important economic concept you’ve likely never heard of." (sahilbloom.substack.com)
- Not everybody looks back on their time working at Enron with regret. (texasmonthly.com)
- Aging in-place will require more technology...surveillance technology. (washingtonpost.com)
- Humanity is increasingly at-risk of fungal infections. (wired.com)
- Keanu Reeves is just cooler than you. (esquire.com)
