This week’s highlights: Predictable Disasters, Oil Meltdown, and Death of J. Crew
Issue 376
by David Wells – Nashville TN
Friday at Last –
It’s been a doozy of a week here in Nashville. A freak thunderstorm called a Derecho last Sunday afternoon (see First A ‘Derecho,’ Then A ‘Wake Low’) knocked power out for almost 140,000 Nashvillians, myself included. Between the Tornado, COVID-19 and this – I think you can officially say that Middle TN has had enough of 2020.
If you haven’t seen this video – “The Great Realization – A bed time story of how it started, and why hindsight’s 2020.” It’s a great reflection on this period of time, and an optimistic take on how the world could change after it all comes to an end.
Content I wrote this week –
It’s been a doozy of a week here in Nashville. A freak thunderstorm called a Derecho last Sunday afternoon (see First A ‘Derecho,’ Then A ‘Wake Low’) knocked power out for almost 140,000 Nashvillians, myself included. Between the Tornado, COVID-19 and this – I think you can officially say that Middle TN has had enough of 2020.
If you haven’t seen this video – “The Great Realization – A bed time story of how it started, and why hindsight’s 2020.” It’s a great reflection on this period of time, and an optimistic take on how the world could change after it all comes to an end.
Content I wrote this week –
- 10 Best Books to Build The Family Investment Office As the family investment office – i.e. the investing wing of the family office, is built out we wanted to highlight a few books that are excellent guides from other world class investment programs.
All the best,
David
Food for Thought
- HBR – Predictable Surprises: The Disasters You Should Have Seen Coming I’ve been chewing on this for awhile. While COVID was novel (i.e. new) it certainly was not unthinkable. This piece from HBR considers why we miss disasters hiding in plain sight.
- Q – The Eruption Of Instagram Island New Zealand’s White Island is otherworldly, an 800-acre fantasyland that has beckoned Hollywood filmmakers and everyday selfie-seekers alike. It is also an active volcano, a roiling catastrophe waiting to happen. This is the story of the day when the worst-case scenario became real—and of the race to save those who faced the blast.
- NYT – Why I’m Learning More With Distance Learning Than I Do in School I’m 13 years old. I don’t miss the other kids who talk out of turn, disrespect teachers and hit one another.
- Slate – How a Monthly Allowance Saved Our Marriage My wife and I have done this for years – can’t say enough good things about the practice
Business
- II – Inside the Biggest Oil Meltdown in History On April 20, chaos reigned in oil markets. Here’s what happened.
- NYT – How My Boss Monitors Me While I Work From Home As we shelter in place in the pandemic, more employers are using software to track our work — and us.
- Upslope Capital – Core Investment Tenets – 1 investors attempt to distill down everything he has learned about investing.
- NYT – The Future of Travel How the industry will change after the pandemic.
- Divinations – Inside the Clubhouse The surprisingly compelling audio app that has consumed my life
Culture/Tech/Science:
- WashPo – J. Crew taught men how to dress. Its bankruptcy leaves them on their own.
- PopSci – How Many Hours of Sleep Do You Actually Need? It depends on how well you want your brain to work.
- Wired – The Stockbrokers Of Magic: The Gathering Play for Keeps The market for the popular strategy game’s cards has started to resemble Wall Street, complete with speculation, arbitrage, and yes, insider trading.
- Deadline – ‘Trolls World Tour’: Universal PVOD Experiment Racks Up Near Estimated $100M To Date
- NYT – For Joanna Gaines, Home Is the Heart of a Food and Design Empire She and her husband, Chip, the co-stars of “Fixer Upper,” have married Texas tradition with modern taste to create a wildly popular brand