This week’s highlights:  The Corruption of Scholarship, Inside WhatsApp, and Schizophrenia and the Immune System

Fifteen on Friday – 10/05/18 – Issue 304

Food for Thought:

1. Areo – Academic Grievance Studies and the Corruption of Scholarship  Something has gone wrong in the university—especially in certain fields within the humanities.
2. Vanity Fair – Meet the Cultural Illuminati Guarding France’s Most Sacrosanct Asset: The French Language  The sanctity—and relevance—of the French language lies in the hands of the intrepid members of the Académie Française, a centuries-old cloak-and-dagger society working to preserve France’s mother tongue.
3. NYT – A Penthouse Made for Instagram  Spotless walls, a “millennial pink” sofa, a spa-style bathtub that’s waiting to be filled with flowers — and every inch of its 2,400 square feet is free from the clutter of everyday life.
4. NYP – Mom files federal lawsuit after son doesn’t make high school soccer team.  Meet the quintessential ‘lawnmower’ parent
5. Jalopnik – Cop Pulls Tesla Model 3 Driver Over For ‘Computer’ Mounted On Dashboard

Business/Economics:

1. HBR – How to Retain and Engage Your B Players
2. ProvPo – Stop It – Why IRR alone is an insufficient method for evaluating returns.
3. Forbes – WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton Gives The Inside Story On #DeleteFacebook And Why He Left $850 Million Behind
4. Economist – Makers of very expensive cars want to be luxury-goods firms  But they still have many of the trappings of the depressed car industry
5. II – What Billy Beane and Jim Simons Have in Common  Investors clamor for transparency — but sometimes, a lack of it works to their advantage.

Culture/Tech/Science: