This week’s highlights: Why You Should Own a Flip Phone, RV’s and the Economy, and Quincy Jones’ Take on Life.
Fifteen on Friday – 04/06/18 – Issue 279
Happy Friday,
Each quarter, Woodmont publishes our take on the goings-on in the markets and broader economy. On Wednesday, we published our reflections on the first quarter of 2018 entitled “March Madness: In More Ways than One.” It is well worth five minutes of your time (only 5 pages). You can access it here.
All the best,
David
Food for Thought:
- TheGuardian – I’ve decided to reclaim my life – by using an old Nokia phone. “My wife and I have two young children. On a good night, we’re lucky to get a couple of hours together. More often than not, you’ll find us on the couch, in silence, each staring into a phone. And yet, one night not so long ago, a handful of my enslaved brain cells sparked unexpectedly to life. I looked up from Twitter. “Is this how it all ends?” I wondered out loud. “Is this what we’ll do for the rest of our lives?”
- NYT – The ISIS Files: When Terrorists Run City Hall. “We unearthed thousands of internal documents that help explain how the Islamic State stayed in power so long.”
- Time – It’s Time to Tell Your Kids It Doesn’t Matter Where They Go To College
- NYT – Redemption of a Lost Prodigy – Credit SF – As a teenager, he was an elite violinist, a rare talent. Then, something happened. Fifty years later, he has found a refuge in a City Island boatyard.
- WashPo – 40 comedies from the past 40 years that changed the way we talk – Credit SF – Some movies have a way of infiltrating our everyday conversations.
Business/Economics:
- Stratechery – The End of Windows
- WSJ – The Future of America’s Economy Looks a Lot Like Elkhart, Indiana. The capital of RV manufacturing, which once had the worst unemployment rate in the U.S., is now facing labor shortages and rising home prices and wages.
- NYT – With Changing Students and Times, Colleges Are Going Back to School. The ‘business of higher education’ for several decades has been driven by runaway cost inflation and excessive construction of new facilities. Now, some educational institutions are facing strategic challenges as students weigh the real cost/benefit of a degree when it is accompanied by hefty student loans.
- Imprimis – How to Meet the Strategic Challenge Posed by China0
- VanityFair – Inside The Strange Odyssey Of Hedge-Fund King Eddie Lampert. In 2003, many were skeptical when Lampert married Sears to Kmart. Now, with hundreds of stores closed and thousands thrown out of work, Lampert defends his strategies in his first in-depth interview in 15 years.
Culture/Tech/Science:
- GQ – Quincy Jones Has a Story About That. Definitely a little PG-13 in places – but this is a fascinating piece. “Frank Sinatra. Michael Jackson. Ray Charles. Malcolm X. Elon Musk. Truman Capote. Buzz Aldrin. Prince. Tupac. Even Leni Riefenstahl. Quincy Jones has run with them all. Chris Heath stays up late with the 84-year-old music legend who has a tale to go with every famous name.”
- NYT – Hunting — and Haunted by — a Serial Killer Three days before she died, Michelle McNamara typed some notes in a cryptic to-do list on her laptop.
- DD – Dogs of the World and Their Countries of Origin. A neat map tracing the geographic origin of your favorite breed.
- GQ – The Masters Merchandise Is Like Supreme for Dads. For seven days a year at Augusta National Golf Club, golf fans descend upon the Masters Golf Shop to score rare hats, polos, and some unnecessary memorabilia.
- WashPo – 2018 NHL Stanley Cup playoff odds: Predators, Golden Knights and Bruins the early favorites. Go Preds!