Happy 4th of July Weekend!  We just broke through the 500 subscriber mark for Fifteen on Friday!  If you find this email interesting, helpful or of value, would you consider forwarding to 1 or 2 friends and encouraging them to subscribe?

As always, you can unsubscribe at the bottom – no hard feelings.  Also, I am working to make sure that the Wall Street Journal articles are accesible by all. Any other feedback is always welcome!

1. NYMag – I, Snowbot.  For a man accused of espionage and effectively exiled in Russia, Edward Snowden is also strangely free.
2. NYT – Aziz Ansari: Why Trump Makes Me Scared for My Family.  Comedian Ansari with a thoughtful reflection on the risks ethnocentrism and isolationism pose when the current political climate meets tragedies like the Orlando shooting.
3. Crew – The secret to networking: Help people
4. TheAtlantic – A New Argument for More Diverse Classrooms.  U.S. Education Secretary John King will argue that interactions with children from different backgrounds prepare students for the workforce.
5. WSJ – England Makes a Shocking Exit (Again).  Tiny Iceland pulls off huge upset of Three Lions in its major-tournament debut.  This was Iceland, a country where most domestic soccer is semi-professional and the co-head coach has a side job as a dentist.

1. DSC – The Curse Of ‘Wealth Effects’ Central Banking – Credit JC – A thoughtful look at what is driving markets and the economy and why the Federal Reserve has hit the limit of monetary policy – must read.
2. WSJ – How to Play the July 4th Sales.  As retailers extend discounts past their ‘final hours,’ shoppers adjust to perpetual promotions.
3. TheAtlantic – Why America’s Business Majors Are in Desperate Need of a Liberal-Arts Education.  Their degrees may help them secure entry-level jobs, but to advance in their careers, they’ll need much more than technical skills.
4. NYMag – Good News at the Washington Post.  Inside the paper that Jeff Bezos bought
5. Bloomberg – Whole Foods Is Getting Killed by Aldi. Is a Millennial Grocery Chain the Fix?  Come to 365 for the cage-free eggs, stay for the TeaBot.

1. NYT – How ‘Advantage Players’ Game the Casinos.  They’re not cheaters. Instead, they hone the sharpest (legal) edge they can.
2. Bloomberg – How Amazon Triggered a Robot Arms Race.  In 2012 Jeff Bezos scooped up warehouse automation firm Kiva. Everyone else is still trying to catch up.
3. TheRinger – Never Get Lost, Google Maps  Where would we be without you? No, seriously … where?
4. Bloomberg – Can a Company You Hate Make a Cable Box You Love?  The weird thing about Comcast’s new X1 box: It may actually stop people from cutting the cord
5. WSJ – The Rock Star of Cycling

Some of the best new content is on podcasts – just find the Podcast app preloaded on your iPhone to enjoy.  Here are a few to get you started:

1. Material World – Craft is Dead. Long Live Craft.  Lindsey and Jenny discuss why it is that so many people want the stuff they buy to be special, one-of-a-kind, artisanal. It’s a trend that’s helping small, local businesses and hurting old standbys like MillerCoors and Kellog. Is “craft” just another meaningless marketing term? Can people even tell the difference.
2. Freakonomics Radio – Are We in a Mattress-Store Bubble? You’ve seen them — everywhere! — and often clustered together, as if central planners across America decided that what every city really needs is a Mattress District. There are now dozens of online rivals too. Why are there so many stores selling something we buy so rarely?
3. Revisionist History – The Lady Vanishes.  Episode 1 of Malcolm Gladwell’s new Podcast – In the late 19th century, a painting by a virtually unknown artist took England by storm:The Roll Call. But after that brilliant first effort, the artist all but disappeared. Why?