RWL #278
some summer reading recommendations and more!
Greetings from the LHH! First real week of break - I got a couple of hours on the water - a kayak outing with my dad, and a paddleboard outing with Daughter #3 - and that always refreshes me. The bulk of my students start their internships tomorrow, so I will be checking in with them later in the week. I finished a couple of books last week that I want to recommend -
Tara Westover’s Educated.I know I am late to the game on this one, but I’m glad I finally made time for it. It’s a very powerful memoir of mental illness and family dysfunction. It highlights some of the things that are very important to me as an educator - kids who don’t come from a background of privilege do not automatically know how to make their way in the world, and that tends to lock them in to a cycle of poverty.
Cowen and Gross’s Talent. Short and fast read, this is an exploration of how to find talented people. It is focused especially on a particular kind of talented person - someone who is going to likely be an organizational founder. I think many of the exercises apply to people who work in highly undefined, uncharted areas. You aren’t going to use this book to find a talented tax accountant. But it is interesting for thinking about the kinds of people who lead entrepreneurial ventures in tech.
Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. Ishiguro is the author of The Remains of the Day, which was made into a movie starring Anthony Hopkins. This book is science fiction and quite different in some ways from Remains, but in others very similar. Ishiguro seems to be very interested in people who are in service roles and the sacrifices they make. He’s a brilliant write of dialogue and character development. This is a very sad story, but very powerful.
Daughter #2 and her roommates finally move out tomorrow after slightly more than two months of living with us. They are moving into a great new place just a couple of miles from here - we are all very excited.
No particular theme this week - I came across a bunch of interesting podcasts, and shared three below.
Pic above is from the backyard gardens at the LHH. We’ve had a generous amount of rain and sun and everything is so alive right now.
So with that, willing good for all of you, I present you with the links!
Read
What: WSJ, In China, New Evidence That Surgeons Became Executioners
Why: This is what a high-tech autocratic regime can do: using machine learning, these researchers searched through Chinese-language medical journals and found evidence that the Chinese were harvesting vital organs from prisoners sentenced to death. The organ harvest was done while the prisoner was still alive as a means of execution.
The modern United States has its flaws, but there’s no moral equality between the CCP and the US.
**
What: The Guardian, Top Gun for hire: why Hollywood is the US military’s best wingman
Why: Article talks about how the DOD works with filmmakers to ensure its “brand” is well-represented. Some interesting comments in the article about what does not get supported by DOD.
**
What: Fortune, The FDA could easily solve the baby formula shortage by allowing more imports from Europe
Why: The baby formula shortage does not affect me or my immediate family, but what a scary thing to think about. This article makes a good argument in favor of more reciprocity between the FDA and European regulators. Seriously - would you think twice about buying a medication at a German (or British or French) pharmacy? Then why not allow more reciprocity between regulators? The idea has merit for reducing the costs not only of baby formula, but other pharmaceuticals.
**
Watch
What: TEDx, How to master a life transition (18 min)
https://www.ted.com/talks/bruce_feiler_how_to_master_a_life_transition
Why: Feiler talks about “life quakes” and argues we all have 4-5 of them in our lives - major events that force massive change in our lives. How you cope with these changes matters.
**
Listen
What: Business Breakdowns Anduril: Building the Future of Defense (69 min)
https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/95062882/schimpf-building-the-future-of-defense?tab=blocks
Why: Another piece on the DOD. This one is a critique and interesting comment on how the DOD is trying to evolve its purchasing process in order to keep up with Chinese military innovation. I have previously recommended the excellent book Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare which explains how the US military is well equipped for the last war, and how we need to be far more innovative and update our platforms and technology to take advantage of things like drones and AI. This interview talks about one company that is trying to provide advanced solutions for the US military, and how the purchasing process that was developed after WWII is limiting and slowing innovation.
**
What: The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie: Faisal Saeed Al Mutar, Melissa Chen: Bringing Enlightenment Values to the Middle East (82 min)
Why: This is an interview with the founders of courageous co-founders of Ideas Beyond Borders (IBB), a nonprofit that translates books about pluralism, science, civil liberties, and critical thinking. They publish the translations of the classic texts of the enlightenment into languages of autocratic countries - Arabic, Chinese, etc. - where the government censors ideas about freedom, equality, pluralism, and other enlightenment values. They are brave young people and have a great story.
**
What: After Hours, Index investing and the future of airline mergers (36 min)
https://player.fm/series/after-hours-3009416/index-investing-and-the-future-of-airline-mergers
Why: I’m recommending the first half of this podcast during which they discuss some of the macroeconomic impacts of the dominance of index funds. Chances are, if you have a 401K or similar retirement fund, most of your money is invested in some sort of index fund, or blended fund of index funds. It is where almost all of my retirement money is and has been for more than 20 years. But do index funds serve our economy well? And is this where you want your money to be for the next 20 years? I’m starting to think about that because the economy seems to be poised to change - with interests rates poised to rise for the long term, with demographic change (Boomers are retiring, and our population growth is sufficient to fund social spending), and with pressures to de-globalize as China and Russia and other authoritarian governments continue to threaten the world order.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line at mark.bonica@unh.edu , or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
If you’re looking for a searchable archive, you can see my draft folder here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jwGLdjsb1WKtgH_2C-_3VvrYCtqLplFO?usp=sharing
Finally, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://markbonica.substack.com/welcome
See you next week!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Associate Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast:
http://healthleaderforge.org
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” – Pablo Picaso