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 how solar energy works in practice.
Quote of the Day
"When you’re committed to some big project, your relationship to pain changes. Murakami has clearly learned to take pride and satisfaction in his ability to withstand pain."
(David Brooks)
Books
- A Q&A with Alex Hutchinson who has a new book: "The Explorer’s Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map." (twopct.com)
- An excerpt from "This Way Up: Old Friends, New Love, and a Map for the Road Ahead" by Cathrin Bradbury. (thewalrus.ca)
Wealth
- Katie Gatti Tassin, "Extreme wealth can buy a room at the Four Seasons, but it can’t buy a less addictive iPhone." (moneywithkatie.com)
- Americans are wealthier than ever, but are seemingly miserable. (nytimes.com)
- American policy is now singularly focused on making life easier for the rich and powerful. (slate.com)
- It's becoming more expensive to hire a nanny these days. (newyorker.com)
Business
- Nintendo is betting big on the Switch 2. (bloomberg.com)
- How Brazil successfully built airplane manufacturer Embraer. (noahpinion.blog)
- Brightline works. Why can't we have it in more places? (nytimes.com)
Work
- Gen X is feeling the pain at work these days. (nytimes.com)
- Are people increasingly bad at their jobs, or are the jobs themselves bad? (annehelen.substack.com)
Longreads
- An oral history of the demise of Bear Stearns. (washingtonpost.com)
- Don't ignore the environment costs of AI use. (institutionalinvestor.com)
- Lessons from history on how to protect democracy. (foreignaffairs.com)
- Are we any readier for the next pandemic? (hub.jhu.edu)
- How animals like coyotes adapt to urban environments. (biographic.com)
- Why did the Bayesian sink? (newlinesmag.com)
- Remember that viral story about an Ole Miss student? It wasn't true. (nytimes.com)
