Thursdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at how the home remodeling industry makes you feel miserable.
Quote of the Day
“With 36 years of data now, I can confidently say that I have never once lost my temper and afterwards said, “I’m so glad I did that.”
(Ryan Holiday)
Books
- An excerpt from "Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud" by Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman. (rollingstone.com)
- An excerpt from "Wasteland: The Secret World of Waste and the Urgent Search for a Cleaner Future" by Oliver Franklin-Wallis (gq.com)
- An excerpt from “Programmable Planet: The Synthetic Biology Revolution” by Ted Danton. (wsj.com)
- A Q&A with Gloria Mark author of "Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity." (davidepstein.substack.com)
Investing
- Why ads for gold coins dominate the airwaves of conservative media. (wapo.st)
- A profile of Ben McKenzie and how he went from actor to cryptocurrency skeptic. (theringer.com)
Media
- Disneyland and Disney World are 'theme parks not amusement parks.' (trungphan.substack.com)
- The soap opera that is CNN over the past two years. (variety.com)
Society
- Oregon's drug decriminalization efforts is running into trouble. (msn.com)
- Why every American city looks pretty much alike. (businessinsider.com)
Longreads
- Why do startup-types keep trashing strategy vs. execution? (notboring.co)
- What really happens when you donate your clothes. (gq.com)
- John Fetterman has had a rough year, but has come out on the other side. (time.com)
- A dedicated group believes the ivory-billed woodpecker isn't extinct, yet. (gardenandgun.com)
- Ukraine, was and still, is a hotbed for surrogacy. (politico.com)
- To combat the 'comfort crisis' we need to do hard stuff. (mrmoneymustache.com)