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 what it means to be ‘working class’ in American today.
Quote of the Day
"The true difference between work and play is the reason you have, and the control you have, over what it is you’re doing and why."
(C Thi Nguyen)
Books
- An excerpt from "Valley of Death: How Big Tech Is Fueling the Future of War" by Sharon Weinberger. (wsj.com)
- A look at Danny Meyer’s new book, "What Could Possibly Go Right?" (mattrodbard.substack.com)
Business
- How ESPN helped save Disney ($DIS). (wsj.com)
- Bagged ice is big business in Texas. (texasmonthly.com)
- Family-controlled Lodge Cast Iron pan company has been at it for 130 years. (wsj.com)
Society
- The divide in American is between asset owners and labor providers. (kyla.substack.com)
- How much of the drop in fertility is due to changing preferences? (theatlantic.com)
- Why everything feels like a scam these days. (yourbrainonmoney.substack.com)
- How class affects loneliness in America. (slate.com)
Politics
- A first hand account on how the CIA has been gutted under this administration. (theatlantic.com)
- A look at the lengths Trump is going to put his name and face on just about everything. (theatlantic.com)
- Don't look to politics for meaning. (theargumentmag.com)
Longreads
- Jordan Dworkin, "Our lives today are a gallery of past generations’ heroic efforts to do the same." (ordinaryabundance.com)
- On the challenges of building humanoid robots in the U.S. (nytimes.com)
- It will take technology, time and taste to bend the curve on animal welfare. (worksinprogress.news)
- We have a big, and growing, tick problem with few solutions in sight. (nytimes.com)
- The Soviets drilled the deepest hole in the world. Why? (nautil.us)
- 7 things learned from puzzle master Will Shortz, including 'Progress is possible.' (experimentalliving.substack.com)