Thursdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at how the world of bowling was upended.
Quote of the Day
"That golden era of Twitter will always be this collective hallucination we look back on with increasing nostalgia, like alumni of some cult."
(Eugene Wei)
Books
- An excerpt from “Random Acts of Medicine: The Hidden Forces That Sway Doctors, Impact Patients, and Shape Our Health” by Anupam B. Jena and Christopher Worsham. (wsj.com)
- An excerpt from “Nobody’s Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It” by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris. (wsj.com)
Global
- China may have reached its demographic peak, but that does not mean its influence is waning. (noahpinion.blog)
- Portugal is rethinking drug decriminalization. (washingtonpost.com)
- Ukraine is already rebuilding. (wired.com)
Environment
- California's salmon population is increasingly at risk. (modernfarmer.com)
- A number of sovereign nations have claims on Colorado River water. (politico.com)
- Fireflies are disappearing. This isn't good news. (washingtonpost.com)
- Elon Musk has made Twitter irrelevant. (businessinsider.com)
- Why there will likely never be a Twitter replacement. (eugenewei.com)
- Why Threads may never take Twitter on in some areas. (stratechery.com)
- Threads hits Twitter where it hurts - ad revenue. (om.co)
- Threads pricked the Twitter balloon. (lefsetz.com)
- Is Elon doing us all a favor? (notboring.co)
Entertainment
- The writer's strike just underlies the problems with the streaming business model. (variety.com)
- How TikTok and Instagram are changing how books are marketed. (esquire.com)
- It's not just Taylor Swift that is re-recording their music. (theringer.com)
Longreads
- Syracuse, New York is betting big on a new semiconductor plant. (technologyreview.com)
- There is still a mental health stigma on Wall Street. Ask this therapist. (wsj.com)
- A profile of Andrew Huberman of the Huberman Lab podcast. (time.com)
- Evidence that we humans have gotten to far away from our original purpose. (raptitude.com)
- What makes for a resourceful person. (ribbonfarm.com)