Hello there, reader. It’s Sunday again, and that means you’re looking at a brand new issue of Kat’s Kable in your inbox. As always - ten great things to read. I’m getting back in the groove pretty nicely, and I’m feeling pretty good about it. What do you think? Lemme know!
1. On The Death of Daydreaming - After Babel (Jon Haidt’s newsletter)
This is a guest post by Christine Rosen, and she talks about how we’re now in possession of smartphones, magic devices that have all but eliminated boredom. I guess we all know this - but this was a well written piece and it’s made me keep my phone down and just sit around this past week, whether it’s on public transit, after a run, or even at home.
2. Why Does Switzerland Have So Many Bunkers? - The Dial
I didn’t realize this - but Switzerland has the most nuclear shelters and bunkers per capita in the world. The country has a population of 9 million - and the shelters all put together can house the entire population in the event of a crisis. These bunkers are an artifact of the cold war era.
3. Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports - Pitchfork
“Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible. Today we revisit a 1978 ambient masterpiece that helped launch the genre through its technological savvy and its soft heart.”
I really, really love this album - I have lots of fond memories of my time in grad school when I’d run a warm bath, add some epsom salt, run this album and just relax completely for a good hour or so. I loved this review of the album - so well put together.
4. The Barbican - Fatih Arslan’s blog
The Barbican is an… estate? a township? a locality that was built in London between 1965 and 1976. It’s a wonderful example of brutalist architecture, and it’s a sort of enclave in the city that has everything you might need. I want to visit it someday, but this post with lots of photographs is possibly the next best thing.
5. Where the Horses Swim - The Dial
Whoa, beautiful. Horse racing came to Barbados in 1845, and it’s become an integral part of the island’s culture now. Horses are not only trained on land, but also in the ocean! There’s not a lot of text here but sooo many good pictures.
6. The Illusion of Knowledge - Howard Marks on the Oak Tree Capital website
Nice post by Howard Marks about how forecasting just doesn’t work when it comes to our complex globally interconnected economic systems. I’m not sure if everyone will agree with his points or even the overall premise, but thought provoking essay nonetheless.
7. The rise and fall of the Hanseatic League - Works in Progress
Wow! I had no idea about the Hanseatic League. It was a coalition of shipping merchants that lasted for almost 500 years, and despite being more of a “corporation”, it did a lot more - it even fought a war! The league started after about 600AD when Europe had hit a rock bottom - end of the Roman empire, the mini ice age, and a significant drop in population. As things looked up, commerce became very important, new technology was developed, and the Hanseatic League, consisting of traders and trading families from Lower Germany, started to play a critical role in keeping the commerce flowing.
8. How to Create Luck - Swyx’s blog
A lot of people of late have talked about creating your own luck by “increasing the surface area of opportunities” in your life - while I agree that it sounds pretty tech bro-y, it’s also actually true. If you want to create luck, you need to first create opportunities. Sometimes that means putting yourself out there, sometimes it means a shift in perspective, but the fact of the matter is that luck can be guided and you can be more active about it. This post defines some nice frameworks to guide thoughts on this.
9. The Canary - The Washington Post
This is a long read, but (a) it’s by Michael Lewis and (b) it’s just straight-up awesome. The essay starts off by talking about the “Sammies” - an award that calls out extraordinary deeds inside the US Federal government. It then moves to chronicle the life of Chris Mark - who led the development of critical safety standards in coal mines which directly led to 2016 being the first year in history that there were no roof fall fatalities in the US. Amazing. His story is amazing.
10. The $1,000 Wheelchair - New Mobility
Inspiring story of Zack Nelson (who runs the popular YouTube channel JerryRigEverything) and his wife Cambry, who are on a mission to make $999 manual wheelchairs in America. They’re doing a few unique things - cutting out middlemen (including insurance and “seating clinics”) and automating a significant part of the process. Cambry herself is disabled, so the story has a personal connect too.
