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The Week’s Best Reads – 01/19/18

Jan 19, 2018 | Fifteen on Friday

This week’s highlights:  Corporate Social Responsibility, Craft Beer, and the Instant Pot Cooker.

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Fifteen on Friday – 01/19/18 – Issue 269

Happy Friday from a thawing Nashville.  5 consecutive days off from school plus the MLK holiday – led to the 2nd winter break I don’t think anyone planned on or wanted!

Lots of good stuff to read this week – so hopefully you can ward off the cabin fever a bit this weekend.

Cheers,

David

Food for Thought:

  1. NYT – BlackRock’s Message: Contribute to Society, or Risk Losing Our Support.  On Tuesday, the chief executives of the world’s largest public companies received a letter from one of the most influential investors in the world. And what it says is likely to cause a firestorm in the corner offices of companies everywhere and a debate over social responsibility that stretches from Wall Street to Washington.
  2. Vox – How our housing choices make adult friendships more difficult – Credit DR
  3. WashPo – The surprising thing Google learned about its employees — and what it means for today’s students.  – Credit DH –  In 2013, Google decided to test its hiring hypothesis by crunching every bit and byte of hiring, firing, and promotion data accumulated since the company’s incorporation in 1998. Project Oxygen shocked everyone by concluding that, among the eight most important qualities of Google’s top employees, STEM expertise comes in dead last.
  4. NYT – It’s Time for Apple to Build a Less Addictive iPhone.  See Also – Is the Answer to Phone Addiction a Worse Phone?
  5. AOM – Alone: Lessons on Solitude From an Antarctic Explorer

Business/Economics:

  1. Ad.ES – Going Pro.  Brent Beshore is one of the brightest minds in private equity in my opinion.  Brent’s annual letter is always fascinating – and this details an inner look at the fund he just raised.
  2. The Atlantic – Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in America.  Corporate goliaths are taking over the U.S. economy. Yet small breweries are thriving. Why?
  3. WashPo – Liquor, home, hobbies and cars — an obsessively detailed look at sectors that are surviving the retail apocalypse
  4. Bloomberg – The American Sedan Is Dying. Long Live the SUV.  Detroit executives are killing off their slow-selling cars in favor of SUVs.
  5. WSJ – How to Succeed in Business? Do Less Most top performers in business have one thing in common: They accept fewer tasks and then obsess over getting them right. Note – Access may be limited due to the WSJ’s paywall.

Culture/Tech/Science:

  1. NewYorker – The “Butter-Chicken Lady” Who Made Indian Cooks Love The Instant Pot. I’m generally really skeptical of kitchen gadgets – but this Instant Pot sounds like a miracle machine?!
  2. Marketwatch – A Wall Street legend gave $75 million to philosophy majors and, yes, it’s a good investment As a philosophy minor – this is admittedly a bit self-serving ;)…Philosophy majors are more likely than other graduates to become CEOs.
  3. Curbed – 205-square-foot micro apartment contains everything you need
  4. TheGuardian – Why dolphins are deep thinkers – Credit SP – The more we study dolphins, the brighter they turn out to be.
  5. TheAtlantic – Brain Cells Share Information With Virus-Like Capsules The Arc gene, which is critical for animals’ ability to learn from experiences, has an incredible origin story.

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