Weekend Reading (and a plug)

Writing worth reading - 1st / 2nd August 2020

• Tech billionaire Peter Thiel is searching for new political allies. He’s found one in Kansas by Theodore Schleifer

  • “Despite his proud support for Trump in 2016, Thiel’s influence in Trump’s orbit has faded and he has reportedly soured on the president”

• Statement by Jeff Bezos to the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary by Jeff Bezos

  • “When I told my boss I was leaving, he took me on a long walk in Central Park. After a lot of listening, he finally said, “You know what, Jeff, I think this is a good idea, but it would be a better idea for somebody who didn’t already have a good job.””

• The Declining Power of the American Passport by Prashant Rao

  • “When we landed, however, immigration officials told me my colleagues were mistaken, and those rules did not apply to Indians. I was put on a flight back to Amman while my girlfriend, with her British passport, collected our bags”

• Reporters are leaving newsrooms for newsletters, their own ‘mini media empire’ by Jacob Bogage

  • “Put off by the social media algorithms that controlled news distribution, they wanted a platform that would allow each client to build a “mini media empire” around their mailing lists”

• Elon Musk, Blasting Off in Domestic Bliss by Maureen Dowd

  • “Mr. Musk said that “c has gotten quite worried about A.I. in the last few weeks. I think GPT-3” — the latest A.I. tool that has Silicon Valley buzzing — “has caused her to become quite concerned. And I’m like, ‘Welcome to me circa 10 years ago.’””

And a plug:

• Brilliantly Easy, Stupidly Difficult. A 9others podcast about the decisions we make and the lives we end up living.

  • Listen here.

• The Education of an Angel Investor. A series of mini-interviews to get to the bottom of why angel investors invest — find out their true motivations, tips and tactics behind the decisions they make.

  • Listen here.