Articles & Podcasts of Note (Week of 11/11/2019)
- American Millennials’ Mental and Physical Health is on Decline (businessinsider.com): Alarming findings from a Blue Cross Blue Shield report suggests that millennials’ health is declining more precipitously than their Gen X peers. Depression and mental health issues are especially acute for this population.
- The Great American Tax Haven: Why the Super Rich Love South Dakota (theguardian.com): The South Dakota Trust is an increasingly attractive tax shelter for the rich and with so much money at stake, there’s little the local government can do about it.
- He Told a Kid to Slide. Then He Got Sued (nj.com): High school baseball coach tells a player to slide. Catastrophic injury follows followed by lawsuits and a 7-year court case. Raises interesting questions about responsibility, random circumstance and our hyper-litigious society.
- How VCs Make Money: Digging into “Two and Twenty” & VC Compensation (substack.com): One of the best explanations I’ve come across on how venture capital business model works.
- How Whole Foods, Yoga, and NPR Became the Hallmarks of the Modern Elite (vox.com): Ezra Klein’s podcast continues to explore some of the most fascinating topics. This episode discusses the elite class and its approach to consumption; less overtly materialistic but still aiming to signify class position through intellectual pursuits, education and organic foods.
- It’s Not Enough to Be Right—You Also Have to Be Kind (medium.com): “No argument made in bad faith—that the person on the other side is a moron or a dupe or a racist or a snowflake—is ever going to be received in good faith.” Excellent piece by Ryan Holiday (Ego is the Enemy and Stillness is the Key).
- Lydia Davis: Ten of My Recommendations for Good Writing Habits (lithub.com): The habits of observation and note-taking are emphasized here with helpful examples and exercises for the aspiring writer.
- The Myth and Magic of Generating New Ideas (newyorker.com): Insights into the sometimes mundane but essential steps in the process of ideation.
- Richest 1% of Americans Close to Surpassing Wealth of Middle Class (bloomberg.com): The first chart in this article effectively illustrates the growing class divide that will drive so many facets of our society in the coming years.
- The Rising Threat of Digital Nationalism (wsj.com): Is the future of an open, global internet assured or is balkanization and closed domestic networks (think China’s Great Firewall) the logical progression for the Information Age?
- What a Smarter Trumpism Sounds Like (vox.com): Ezra Klein podcast interview with Michael Lind. I consider myself politically moderate and am open to hearing from both sides of the political spectrum. Lind is a thoughtful and articulate conservative. I wish people like him had greater prominence in the public discourse.
- Why Colleges are Betting Big on Video Games (theatlantic.com): “A small Pennsylvania university has only one varsity program: e-sports. Is this the future of college athletics?”