Nikhath Digest

Arts and Culture
A Case for Getting Far, Far Away / Christopher Solomon / The New York Times
“Give me the empty places, the abandoned places, the mountains where the sound of the wind through the ponderosas draws a shivery finger down your spine.” 

Sweatin’ with the Oldie / Bryan Curtis / Grantland
Outstanding profile of Richard Simmons, a far more complex and interesting character than I would have imagined.

Coca-Cola Small World Machines - Bringing India & Pakistan Together / YouTube
I feel a bit like a shill including a Coke ad, but the executional details in this 3-minute video are too good not to share.

Memorable First Lines of Journal Articles / Eric Schliesser / New APPS
Lots of fun in the comments.

List of Common Misconceptions / Wikipedia
A Twinkie’s shelf life is actually only 25 days? Napoleon wasn’t short?? Jesus was probably born in September??? 

Politics and World Affairs 
Join Wall Street. Save the World / Dylan Matthews / The Washington Post
A young computer programmer does the math and decides that the best way for him to make a difference is to make, and then give away, as much money as possible. Lots to chew on.

How the Obama Administration Talks to Black America / Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic
Powerful: “Some day historians will pore over [Obama’s] many speeches to black audiences…[and] find a discomfiting pattern of convenient race-talk.” 

The K-Pop Plastic Surgery Obsession / Zara Stone / The Atlantic
On the cultural, familial, and sometimes even professional forces that motivate one in five South Korean women to get cosmetic surgery.

Profiling Is Great…Except When You Do It To Me / Farhad Manjoo / Slate
“The deep irony of the IRS scandal is that people on the political right are being subjected to exactly the kind of profiling that they’ve long advocated in fighting terrorism and crime.”

Business and Economics
The Unexotic Underclass / CZ Nnaemeka / MIT Entrepreneurship Review
An indictment of the poverty of ambition betrayed by young entrepreneurs—some focused on selling luxuries to the rich, others focused on improving the lives of the “exotic” poor in places far away, but few focused on single mothers, veterans, and others with very real problems needing solutions. (via Varina)

Tours of Duty: the New Employer-Employee Compact / Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha, and Chris Yeh / Harvard Business Review
Really interesting article on how companies and workers can invest in each other, in an age when it’s increasingly likely that the relationship may only span a few years.

Plug Versus Pump / Steven Johnson / Medium
Interesting argument on electric cars, and why the lack of charging stations isn’t as big a problem as we think it is.

The Steve Jobs Emails That Show How To Win A Hard-Nosed Negotiation / Zachary Seward / Quartz
A series of emails between Jobs and James Murdoch. It doesn’t end well for Murdoch. 

Science and Technology
Narrative Transporation / Dave Nussbaum
Excellent piece on why narratives are so powerful in explaining science, or in persuasion more broadly. It’s probably not a mistake that there’s a nice personal narrative that frames the article itself.

An Open Letter to Science Students and Science Teachers / Carl Zimmer / National Geographic
A thoughtful piece on the trend of students, sometimes at the encouragement of their teachers, reaching out directly to scientists for help with their homework. “Getting a strong of words on your computer screen is not the same as learning, or as understanding.” 

The 11 Most Fascinating Charts From Mary Meeker’s Epic Slideshow of Internet Trends / Derek Thompson / The Atlantic 
Lots of interesting data and trends in this summary of Meeker’s annual opus.

Some Thoughts on Mobile / Chris Dixon
Short, interesting post on, among other things, how app stores may ultimately stifle good software.

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Arts and Culture
Why I Despise The Great Gatsby / Kathryn Schultz / New York 
A well written and enjoyable act of apostasy.

Men Of Words, Men Of Deeds / Samuel Freedman / The New York Times
A remarkable example of coaching, and leadership.

Thousands Under 90 
You deserve a prize.

Wine Tasting Is Bullshit. Here’s Why / Robert Gonzalez / io9
A public service announcement.

Our Social Dis-ease: Beyond the Smiles, the Seattle Freeze Is On / Julia Sommerfeld / The Seattle Times
“Soon after settling in Seattle, nearly everyone acquires a version of the people-here-are-sooo-nice story.” Then they encounter the Seattle Freeze.

Politics and World Affairs 
The Cartography of Bullshit / Siddhartha Mitter / Africa Is a Country
Worth including for the title alone, but the rest of it—an epic takedown of a poorly designed survey on global attitudes on racism, and the credulous blogger who reposted it—is outstanding as well.

I Came to Haiti To Do Good… / Nora Schenkel / The New York Times
An uncomfortably honest account of a year spent doing development work in Haiti. 

What Charles Ramsay and Amanda Berry Knew / Amy Davidson / The New Yorker
A few weeks old, but still the best thing I’ve read about the Cleveland kidnappings. Empathy as a mode of journalism. 

Faltering Courts, Mired In Delays / William Glaberson / The New York Times
Also a few weeks old, but worth reading. Justice delayed, and all that. Get ready to get infuriated.

Business and Economics
Dirty Medicine / Katherine Eban / Fortune
Blockbuster investigation showing how the maker of generic pharma products—some of which you might take—brazenly lied, falsified data, and flouted the law and any sense of decency.

Find What You Love and Let It Kill You / James Rhodes / The Guardian
Career advice from a professional pianist, who borrows the title from Charles Bukowski. (via Priya)

Mr. Indispensable / Epicurean Dealmaker
“The real reason to strip Jamie Dimon of his Chairmanship is that he has done a shitty job at it.”

Ask a Banker: What’s It Like? / Matt Levine / National Public Radio
I really like this question and answer series from Planet Money. A good mix of wit and clear, straightforward explanation.

Science and Technology
U MAD??? Evgeny Morozov, the Internet, and the Failure of Invective / Maria Bustillos / The Awl
I’ve enjoyed reading some of Morozov’s work, but I think this critique of his work has a lot of merit.

Life Without Sleep / Jessa Gamble / Aeon
Long, well written article on the advances being made on technologies that reduce our need for sleep.

A Forgotten Pioneer of Vaccines / Richard Conniff / The New York Times
“The name Maurice Hilleman may not ring a bell. But today 95 percent of American children receive the M.M.R. — the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella that Dr. Hilleman invented, starting with the mumps strain he collected…from his daughter.”

A Cheat Sheet of Every Single Gmail Keyboard Shortcut / Kyle Wagner / Gizmodo
Pretty handy.

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Arts and Culture
My Roger Ebert Story / Will Leitch / Deadspin
Lovely appreciation of Roger Ebert, who lived an extraordinary life and who was a critic in the very best sense of the word.  

How The Chess Set Got Its Look And Feel / Jimmy Stamp / Smithsonian 
“Weil resized the set so that when the eight primary pieces are lined up at the beginning of play, their angle reflects the pitch of the Parthenon’s pediment.”

Artist Hong Yi Plays With Her Food / Christopher Jobson / Colossal 
An extremely creative and fun set of photos.

The End And Don King / Jay Caspian Kang / Grantland
The brilliant, prolix, and ethically dubious boxing promoter looks back on his life as he reaches the twilight of his career.

Politics and World Affairs 
Irrepressible Moscow / Paul Starobin / City Journal
Highly enjoyable, highly quotable article on Moscow: a city of “exuberant corruption,” of “remarkable resilience,” and of “flamboyant, jarring disharmonies.” Learned, charming, and brimming with beautiful language. 

On Same Sex Marriage / Jeremy Kessler / n+1
Outstanding analysis of what the Supreme Court’s decisions on the two gay marriage cases before it would mean—not just in legal terms, but also in civic and moral terms.

For The Supreme Court, Silence Can Be Golden / Cass Sunstein / Bloomberg
Another excellent legal analysis, this time explaining why the court sometimes opts not to rule on the constitutionality of important cases. “There are two reasons, involving humility, on the one hand, and prudence on the other.” 

Narratives Of War / Michael Howard / The Times Literary Supplement
Review of a book contrasting the clear lines in previous wars with the “kaleidoscopic” audiences of modern warfare. In these circumstances, narratives of war become necessary weapons in a military’s arsenal.  

Business and Economics
Ten Years Of News Corp. Income Data In Less Than A Minute / Gretchen Gavett / Harvard Business Review
Great visualization. Watch, with a few clicks, how News Corp transforms from a company where publishing matters to “a sports and entertainment company with a newspaper problem.”

What Are Some Of The Most Ridiculous Startup Ideas Which Eventually Became Successful? / Michael Wolfe / Quora
There’s a thin line between a stupid idea and a billion dollar idea.

An Acquisition Is Always A Failure / Jake Lodwick / PandoDaily
An entrepreneur’s perspective on his company being acquired by Barry Diller’s IAC.

Breaking Free Of The Cellphone Carrier Conspiracy / David Pogue / The New York Times
On T-Mobile’s strategy of moving away from “the Great Cellphone Subsidy Con.” I hadn’t given much thought to how outrageous cell phone pricing is until reading this article.

Science and Technology
What Makes Rain Smell So Good? / Joseph Stromberg / Smithsonian
And why thunderstorms have a smell of their own.

Nature’s Drone, Pretty And Deadly / Natalie Angier / The New York Times
An article on dragonflies, which “new research suggests…may well be the most brutally effective hunters in the animal kingdom.” Full of amazing facts.

Password Denied: When Will Apple Get Serious About Security / Tim Carmody / The Verge
Argues that Apple’s secrecy gets in the way of its ability to properly proper security through its iCloud services.

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Arts and Culture
20 Notes On The 20/20 Experience / Steven Hyden / Grantland
Enjoyable and insightful review of Justin Timberlake’s newest album, and the magic trick he has managed to pull off.

Authenticity / Santosh Vardhana / Rock It, Scientist!
Another excellent JT critique, this time contrasting him (unfavorably) with Kanye West. Long, but very good. (via Stephen)

An A From Nabokov / Edward Jay Epstein / New York Review Of Books
Lovely reminiscence of the author’s time as a course assistant to Nabokov at Cornell.

The Great Hog-Eating Confederacy / Christine Baumgarthuber / The New Inquiry
Fun, random investigation of the traditional Southern diet, and its two major components: pork and corn. This, from the comments, is my favorite bit: “Sugar in cornbread is a low down Yankee trick, and jalapenos are beneath discussion.”

Should You Use The Snooze Button? / ASAPScience / YouTube
A two-minute explanation. Short answer: no. I may try this next week.

Politics and World Affairs 
A Letter To Paul Wolfowitz / Andrew Bacevich / Harper’s
A powerful letter from the international relations professor and veteran—who lost his son in Iraq—to one of the foremost architects of the war. 

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind / Pitch Interactive
An excellent interactive tally and timeline “of every drone strike and victim in Pakistan.”

How To Pick A ‘Secular Pope’ For The UN / James Traub / iPolitics
Interesting argument, with some biting criticism of Ban Ki-Moon, including this: “Ban is more secretary than general, as they say in Turtle Bay.” 

Mrs. Warren Goes To Washington / David Bernstein / The Phoenix
Profile of a senator with the independence to aggressively pursue her campaign promises. Opens with a great scene of her eviscerating wholly unprepared lobbyists. 

Food Stamps Put Rhode Island Town On Monthly Boom-And-Bust Cycle / Eli Saslow / The Washington Post
A detailed portrait of the role that food stamps play in the economy of Woonsocket, RI, and the lives of its citizens. 

Business and Economics
Meet The Man Who Sold His Fate To Investors At $1 A Share / Joshua Davis / Wired
Taking the logic of markets to its extreme. I really hope this is an April Fool’s joke. (via Mohan)

How The Maker Of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing / Liz Day / ProPublica
Why you can’t simply review an IRS-prepared return showing what you owe, despite the fact that 98 percent of Californians who used a similar system would use it again.

Why The Rich Don’t Give To Charity / Ken Stern / The Atlantic
“Of the 50 largest individual gifts to public charities in 2012, 34 went to educational institutions. Not a single one of them went to a social-service organization or to a charity that principally serves the poor and dispossessed.”

A Bizspeak Blacklist / Bryan Garner / Harvard Business Review
A list of words and phrases to expunge from your vocabulary. Though I hope the author didn’t come up with the word “bizspeak…” (via Nick)

Science and Technology
The Brains Of The Human Kingdom / Frans de Waal / The Wall Street Journal
Outstanding article on how our own anthropocentrism has caused us to severely underestimate the intelligence of animals.

The Universe Is 13.82 Billion Years Old / Phil Plait / Slate
New evidence allows scientists to pinpoint the age of the universe, and also shows that the universe is lopsided, which “has profound implications.”

The Cloud Is Heavy And Design Isn’t Invisible / Frank Chimero
Argues that a lot of design obscures our understanding of the underlying technology, and therefore our appreciation of it.

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