This week’s highlights:  Logos are Back, 50 Million Vacant Apartments, and HoneyCrisp Apples

Fifteen on Friday – 11/09/18 – Issue 308

Happy Friday Everyone,

David

Food for Thought:

1. NYT – What Gives the Logo Its Legs  Conspicuous consumption ebbs and flows with economic cycles, as such, this was interesting to read.  “Logomania is an obsession with no end in sight.”
2. GQ – My Life Cleanse: One Month Inside L.A.’s Cult of Betterness. Be careful in choosing your guru…
3. Vox – Why is art so expensive? The $63 billion, “winner-take-all” global art market, explained.
4. TheAtlantic – American Meritocracy Is Killing Youth Sports   Expensive travel leagues siphon off talented young athletes from well-off families—and leave everyone else behind.
5. Vanity Fair – Michael B. Jordan’s Technicolor Dreams.  Inspired by Wakanda and his Newark upbringing, the Black Panther star is building a singular career, equal parts Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise, and Louis B. Mayer.

Business/Economics:

1. Bloomberg – A Fifth of China’s Homes Are Empty. That’s 50 Million Apartments
2. Stratechery – Apple’s Social Network
3. NYT – So Much for the Starter House.  With inventory tight, home prices high and interest rates rising, many homeowners are giving up on the idea of trading up from the first home they bought.
4. TVG – Why I Might Turn Down A Perfectly Good Engagement.  A thoughtful reflection on the practice of advice.
5. NYT – Tech C.E.O.s Are in Love With Their Principal Doomsayer.  The futurist philosopher Yuval Noah Harari thinks Silicon Valley is an engine of dystopian ruin. So why do the digital elite adore him so?

Culture/Tech/Science:

1. Bloomberg – The Curse of the Honeycrisp Apple  Everyone’s favorite apple is leaving Northeastern orchards out on a limb.
2. TheWalrus – How I Saved My Kids From Sugar – Credit Farnam Street – The overconsumption of sugar has became a normal part of our culture. A recipe for fighting back.
3. Medium – What I Learned From Making Hot Sauce at Scale.  I set out to create the first line of all-natural, deeply flavorful Chinese condiments. Getting there was harder than I anticipated.
4. FBCG – Predictable Yet Not Inevitable: Archetypes of Potential Conflicts in the Family Enterprise
5. Tonic – This Is What Happens to Your Body When You Give Up Meat.  The more subtle effects of going vegetarian.