Every Friday I highlight the most interesting or entertaining items from my media diet of the past week.

Articles:

• The 3D Printed Gun Isn’t Coming. It’s Already Here (medium.com): Homemade weapons are viable and gaining in popularity with the increasing availability of online information, blueprints and 3D printers.
• The 7 Things Successful People I Know Struggle with to Be Happy (leowid.com): Good reminder of 7 things that can contribute to a more meaningful life.
• The 7 Types of Writers: From Delusional to Perfectionist (writingcooperative.com): Knowing your type can help you diagnose your writing problems.
• And in the End (rollingstone.com): A look back on the breakup of The Beatles on the 50th anniversary.
• Apple, Epic, and the App Store (stratechery.com): Ben Thompson explores the boundary between anticompetitive practices and good business.
• The Batman Effect: How Having an Alter Ego Empowers You (bbc.com): “Small shifts in perspective can help people to gain control of their emotions.”
• Expression Is Compression (perell.com): “Experiences become shareable creations the way tree sap becomes maple syrup.”
• My Best SEO Tactic so Far (questinglog.com): TL:DR version: When Google returns an unsatisfying response to query, create the page you wish it would have returned.
• Remote Learning Is a Bad Joke (theatlantic.com): Many parents share the opinion of this op ed writer.
• Secret Gyms and the Economics of Prohibition (npr.org): Underground “speakeasy” gyms are popping up from LA to NYC.
• Use Examples (maxwellforbes.com): Amen. Examples are critical for quality communication and learning but for some reason aren’t used enough (imho).

Podcasts:

• Conversations with Coleman: Approaching the Third Rail with Bret Weinstein (colemanhughes.com): Refreshingly honest and intellectually curious conversation about race and inequality.
• Darknet Diaries: Bangladesh Bank Heist (darknetdiaries.com): The story of a $1B robbery conducted entirely via computer by a state-sponsored organization.
• EconTalk: Michael Munger on the Future of Higher Education (econtalk.org): Conversation about opportunities for colleges and universities to innovate to meet the changing landscape and economics of the pandemic.
• Joe Rogan Experience #1506: James Nestor (youtube.com): We do it 22,000 times each day but rarely think about it. An episode about the power of mindful and conscientious breathing. (Thanks to reader AV for the recommendation).
• Robert Greene: Alive Time vs. Dead Time (sf.blog): Conversation between the author of The 48 Laws of Power and Farnam Street’s Shane Parrish.