Thursdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. Wherever possible, free links for premium sites are used. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at the growing problem of ‘Internet rot.’
Quote of the Day
"Netflix is first and foremost a television company, one whose recent business strategies have made the company resemble the cable providers it’s tried to make irrelevant."
(Will Tavlin)
Chart of the Day
Despite good news on renewables growth, global fossil fuel use hit a record in 2024.
Books
- Insights from "The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk and Luck" by David Spiegelhalter. (theguardian.com)
- An excerpt from “Father Nature: The Science of Paternal Potential“ by James K. Rilling. (thereader.mitpress.mit.edu)
Finance
- How do 'synthetic risk transactions' or SRTs work? (on.ft.com)
- The 30-year mortgage wasn't built for climate change. (bloomberg.com)
- How financial professionals are sidestepping the net income investment tax. (propublica.org)
- Humans have been obsessed with gold for millennia. (smithsonianmag.com)
Russia
- The 'sleeper agent' trope is common in spy novels, but is a real (Russian) phenomenon. (wsj.com)
- The war in Ukraine has played out in the electromagnetic spectrum. (wired.com)
Longreads
- Undocumented workers are more likely to be put into dangerous workplace situations. (nytimes.com)
- Online fraud is a big business. A visit to a Philippines outpost. (wsj.com)
- Why the energy transition is running in place. (coldeye.earth)
- Autonomous weapon systems are already here. What comes next? (undark.org)
- If you are going to engage in a PR smear campaign, don't put it in writing. (nytimes.com)
- How much does language shape our thinking? (newyorker.com)
- The dating app backlash is here. (on.ft.com)
