Thursdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. Wherever possible, free links behind the paywall are used. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at the shakeout coming for small colleges in America.
Quote of the Day
"Just because a tool exists and is popular doesn’t mean that we’re stuck with it. Given the increasing reach and power of recent innovations, adopting this attitude might even have existential ramifications."
(Cal Newport)
Books
- Five insights from "Big Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature" by Dan Sinykin. (nextbigideaclub.com)
- Anne Helen Petersen talks with Amy Schiller author of "The Price of Humanity: How Philanthropy Went Wrong — And How to Fix It." (annehelen.substack.com)
Technology
- A true AI assistant is Google's ($GOOGL) real moonshot. (stratechery.com)
- Online advertising networks help fund the purveyors of conspiracy theories. (washingtonpost.com)
- We don't have to accept every technology that comes along. (newyorker.com)
Animals
- Check out the world's largest beaver dam in Canada. (e360.yale.edu)
- Urban pigeons have essentially displaced wild pigeons. (noemamag.com)
- What is the goal of the de-extinction movement? (defector.com)
Entertainment
- Disney ($DIS) has seemingly lost its cultural relevance. (nytimes.com)
- Letterboxd is a rare bright spots in the online world these days. (wapo.st)
- A lovely remembrance of actor Andrew Braugher. (vulture.com)
- The 100 greatest TV shows of all-time including 'Mad Men.' (variety.com)
Longreads
- Why do we still build homes the way we have for 100 years? (nytimes.com)
- Jan Marsalek, COO of defunct Wirecard, was apparently a Russian spy. (wsj.com)
- A look at the hundreds of cases of residents wandering off from care facilities. (wapo.st)
- White males make up 80% of gun-related suicide deaths. (theatlantic.com)
- How the Dobbs decision upended the life of an abortion doctor. (statnews.com)
- High school football participation is in steep decline, but it varies by class and geography. (wapo.st)
- The brain handles small and large numbers differently. (quantamagazine.org)