profiles of people
How Taiwan’s unlikely digital minister hacked the pandemic
“Audrey Tang says tech can build trust, tame misinformation, and strengthen democracy. Her plan might even work in the US.” | learn more
on the blockchain
Newsweek in 1995: Why the internet will fail
This isn’t about blockchain, but it’s a must-read complementary pairing to the article above about blockchain being good for (almost) nothing. “They speak of electronic town meetings and virtual communities. Commerce and business will shift from offices and malls to […]
on the blockchain
Blockchain, the amazon solution for almost nothing
Factually accurate and I think wrong in the most meaningful sense. Sharing anyway! “Blockchain technology is going to change everything: the shipping industry, the financial system, government … in fact, what won’t it change? But enthusiasm for it mainly stems […]
big ideas
The blood of an entrepreneur
“According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were only 2.5M people here in 1776… and many of those people (or their parents or grandparents) came here from somewhere else.” | learn more
big ideas
An open letter to Paul Graham
A few weeks ago I shared The Four Quadrants of Conformism where Graham writes about independent-minded people and the institutions they tend to inhabit being less hospitable over time. He ended with hope, for the “independent-minded are good at protecting themselves.” This […]
thoughts of food
The top 20 nutrition myths of 2020
Published by examine.com, I think this does a great job of building on scientific literature with a fair and reasoned approach. “So many myths it’s hard to know where to start. Covering carbs, (saturated) fat, protein, eggs, and a lot […]
under the microscope
The Dead Sea Scrolls come under the genomic microscope
The parchment, made from animal skins, is impossibly fragile. Most were not found intact, but rather in thousands of fragments that had to be sorted and pieced together. “Enter parchment DNA. Sampling of the skins (done with extreme caution) showed […]
under the microscope
How one researcher is studying déjà vu, the tingly unsettling phenomenon
“Déjà vu – we all know it when we feel it, but could we make it happen in someone else? Psychology researcher Anne Cleary figured out a way.” | learn more
retail therapy
Inside the dark, lucrative world of consumer debt collection
“In the murky world of unpaid bills, a banker and an ex-con can make a fortune — if they don’t run into too many crooks.” My practical takeaway from this article: the best strategy for dealing with debt collectors is […]
retail therapy
Interview with Thrasio cofounder Josh Silberstein
In April I first shared news of Thrasio, the company that’s bought over 60 Amazon marketplace brands. In July they reached unicorn status with a billion dollar valuation. Jason Calacanis interviewed the cofounder and Co-CEO a couple weeks ago. He dropped a […]