That's Interesting
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What we’re reading: Bad Blood
24th September, 2018Fascinating insight into Theranos from the investigative journalist who broke the story.
“In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood testing significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at more than $9 billion, putting Holmes’s worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn’t work.”
External Link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/549478/bad-blood-by-john-carreyrou/9781524731656/ -
Older workers account for most of the US job growth since 2000
24th September, 2018Blog article from the St. Louis Fed shows the composition of US job growth since 2000, with almost all of the growth since 2000 attributable to people over the age of 55.
External Link: https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2018/september/staff-pick-older-workers-account-almost-all-job-growth-2000?utm_source=BlogList&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=BlogAlert -
The spectacular power of Big Lens
24th September, 2018A long article but it provides an interesting insight into the eyewear industry and the two dominant companies within it that are in the process of merging.
Essilor is a prescription lens business that manufactures a large share of the worlds prescription lenses and Luxottica is known by many consumers through its retail brand Sunglass Hut.
External Link: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/may/10/the-invisible-power-of-big-glasses-eyewear-industry-essilor-luxottica -
Neil and Liam Finn on KCRW
03rd September, 2018“They’ve been playing music together for many, many years, but father/son duo Neil and Liam Finn waited until the time was right to record a proper album together. We air a live session with the New Zealand favorites, hosted by Chris Douridas, on the release date for Lightsleeper.”
External Link: https://www.kcrw.com/music/shows/morning-becomes-eclectic/neil-and-liam-finn -
Leonardo da Vinci’s Earliest Notebooks Now Digitized
03rd September, 2018“Famous worldwide as the painter of such masterpieces as the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) is also renowned for his notebooks in which he recorded his thoughts and inventions. Five of these fascinating notebooks, bound into three small volumes, have been in our collection since 1876 when they were bequeathed to the Museum by John Forster.”
External Link: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/explore-leonardo-da-vinci-codex-forster-i#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=-725%2C-1%2C2925%2C1990 -
Tajik teacher makes hydroelectric station from soviet scrap
06th August, 201820-minute film about Raïmberdi Mamatumarov, a teacher and Biologist in Tajikistan who built a hydroelectric station out of soviet scraps.
External Link: https://aeon.co/videos/resilience-and-ingenuity-a-tajik-teachers-hydroelectric-station-made-from-soviet-scraps?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=51dce15314-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_06_13_11_38&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-51dce15314-70346693 -
PBS: Don’t let the obsession with precision obscure the beauty of imperfection
06th August, 2018Simon Winchester on the idea of precision.
External Link: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/dont-let-the-obsession-with-precision-obscure-the-beauty-of-imperfection -
St Louis Fed: How Did South Korea’s Economy Develop So Quickly?
30th July, 2018A look at how the South Korean economy industrialised, taking it from an agriculture-based economy in the 1960’s to become the 11th largest economy in the world in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016.
External Link: https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2018/july/staff-pick-how-south-korea-economy-develop-quickly?utm_source=BlogList&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=BlogAlert -
The writing of “Riders on the Storm”
30th July, 2018The Doors’ Ray Manzarek Walks You Through the Writing of the Band’s Iconic Song, “Riders on the Storm”
External Link: http://www.openculture.com/2018/07/doors-ray-manzarek-walks-writing-bands-iconic-song-riders-storm.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29 -
When Oracles Err: Planet Money Podcast
30th July, 2018Planet Money talks to Michael Batnick, author of Big Mistakes: The Best Investors and Their Worst Investments, about the mistakes made by famous investors and the lessons that can be learned from those mistakes.
External Link: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/07/26/632865910/when-oracles-err