What separates the economic boom from the ongoing housing crisis? A short drive. (Plus, weekend reads).
Cranes fill the skyline, hipsters sip on-tap artisanal iced coffee from frosted mason jars, Teslas and Ubers vie for a chance to merge into sluggish traffic, unicorns roam the streets, and Sunday open houses can require valets to handle the crowds of potential buyers (I really saw this last weekend). The signs of the economic boom are everywhere in San Francisco. But the story of the other America is only a short roadtrip away. “The nation’s biggest housing winners and losers live only 80 miles apart.” WaPo’s Emily Badger heads to Stockton to get a glimpse of life in San Francisco’s long shadow.
+ “In almost all countries, cities have all the economic mass and most of the population, and people are moving to cities by the hundreds of millions.” Six maps that will make you rethink the world. (The more the Internet enables us to work remotely, the more we’re all moving to the same places.)
+ LA Times: Urban population growth and demand for food could spark global unrest.
+ “Today, a job has become less an indicator of where you are going, and more an indicator of where you come from.” These days, the best economics class you can take is geography.
Three Yards and a Cloud of Smoke
The NFL is so massive that even its live draft telecast gets huge ratings. And last night, viewers saw a very unusual turn of events. One of college football’s highest rated players, Laremy Tunsil, tweeted a video of himself smoking pot through a bong-enabled gas mask. He says his account was hacked, and that the video was old. Meanwhile, there were more damaging images on Instagram as Tunsil fell to the 13 overall pick (and lost millions). Hacked accounts, social media playing out on live TV. Welcome to the future of live events … and marijuana paraphernalia.
+ Cal’s Jared Goff was the number one overall pick. (Go Bears). I went to Cal, and I went to high school with Jared’s parents, which I’m pretty sure entitles me to a piece of the signing bonus.
+ Nike basically drafted everyone.
Weekend Reads
“With the sole guidance of books, Juan Carlos introduced the most critical changes to the congregation: Shabbat, dietary restrictions, and circumcision.” From California Sunday Magazine’s Graciela Mochkofsky: René and Juan Carlos set out to convert their Colombian megachurch to Orthodox Judaism. This is what happened.
+ “He was a brilliant programmer and a vicious cartel boss, who became a prized U.S. government asset.” The Atavist Magazine presents a seven-part story (all of which are now available): The Mastermind.
+ Vox looks at more than 60 studies that tell a consistent story: Why you shouldn’t exercise to lose weight. (But nothing burns calories faster than reading about exercise.)
+ PopSci: Can your genes make you kill?
California Reamin’
Smashed cars, hundreds of protesters, twenty arrests, and a lot of expletives. Buzzfeed on the night Donald Trump came to California.
+ Don’t blame Californians for our over-enthusiasm. We almost never get to participate in these primaries. (Which is absurd.)
No Strain, No Gain
“Hamdi Ulukaya’s only experience in the dairy business was that his mother made delicious strained yogurt in his hometown in Turkey.” That turned out to be enough to lead to a business that does about $1 billion in sales every year. And now, the owner of Chobani is giving ten percent of his company to his employees.
Seacrest Out (Of Money)
Everyone wants to talk about the tech bubble. But maybe we have a reality TV bubble. Consider this: Core Media — the company behind American Idol — just declared bankruptcy.
WeSmirk
“Workshops were communities of creativity and innovation where dreams, passions, and projects could intertwine.” Am I talking about a modern open floor plan of a shared office in Soma or Soho? Nope. Check out the innovative coworking spaces of 15th-century Italy. So we can’t take credit for the layout. But that thing where everyone in the open plan office is wearing headphones and silently staring at a screen … that’s all us, baby!
Where’d Everyone Go?
Don’t let this spoil your weekend, but “a typical person is more than five times as likely to die in an extinction event as in a car crash.” (All the more reason to avoid being a typical person.)
Cordless
So you want to cut the cord? It could be a good idea, especially if you don’t care that much about certain live sporting events. But depending on what you want to watch, it could end up being more expensive.
Bottom of the News
Buzzfeed takes a fun look at Coachella, the Instagram version vs the real version. Almost all music festivals are streamed somewhere online. The best way to watch a big outdoor event like this is from your couch.
+ Syndicated via Kottke: A trip to the Northernmost town on Earth.
+ That time the Large Hadron Collider was shut down by a weasel.
+ InFocus has the 2016 Audubon Photography Awards.
