Wednesday, June 29th, 2016

1

Who Took Your Lunch Money?

Let's start with this student loan money quote: "If states had continued to support public higher education at the rate they had in 1980, they would have invested at least an additional $500 billion in their university systems ... That's an amount roughly equal to the outstanding student debt now held by those who enrolled in public colleges and universities." And following a common theme these days, students who attend the richest schools usually end up graduating with the least debt. From the excellent folks over at The Center for Investigative Reporting: Who Got Rich Off The Student Debt Crisis? College is supposed to be a way to help people get ahead, but millions of Americans are graduating with a degree from I Owe U.

+ And it turns out that these high-priced degrees are more necessary than ever. Here's The Economist on The Revenge of the Nerds: "In 1972 a university-educated man aged 25-34 could expect to earn 22% more than a peer without a degree ... Today that premium has risen to 70%."

2

Same As It Ever Was

"I had one guy pull a fork on me to stab me once out here. I see people all the time hungry, sleeping outside, miserable. How can this be in a city this rich? It's about humanity. Shouldn't be this way." Several Bay Area media outlets are going deep on the homelessness problem in San Francisco. Here's the SF Chronicle on the efforts made -- and the long road ahead: SF homeless problem looks the same as it did 20 years ago

+ California Sunday Magazine: Young and Homeless.

+ CityLab: Why a running club for the homeless is heading to San Francisco.

4

The Kona Golden State

Since supporters got enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot in November, California voters will get to decide whether or not to make recreational marijuana legal.

+ And here's NPR with an update on Colorado's experiment where pot is still illegal if you're under 21: "Another startling trend also has developed: Arrest rates have risen dramatically for young blacks and Latinos." (If you think that's startling, you must be high...)

5

The Byte Stuff

"I was surprised at how aware and reactive it was. It seemed to be aware of my intentions and reacting instantly to my changes in flight and my missile deployment. It knew how to defeat the shot I was taking. It moved instantly between defensive and offensive actions as needed." PopSci on the AI that downed a human fighter pilot in a dogfight.

+ "We are just now grappling with the very real possibility that we might create a force more powerful than ourselves. Now is the time to ask ourselves -- how do we get ready?" John Battelle wonders: Are We Smart Enough To Control AI.

6

Payday Mayday

"I ruined a lot of lives. I know I made life harder for a lot of my customers." From The Intercept: Confessions of a Payday Lender: "I Felt Like a Modern-Day Gangster."

7

Case in Point

Raul Ramirez is about to be sentenced to three years in prison. His crime is quite similar to one committed in the Stanford case (except he didn't run, immediately admitted guilt, and apologized). Oh, one other similarity. The same judge is presiding.

8

Angel’s Arc

The other day when I referenced Angels in America, I learned that my nephew and niece (both in their 20s) had never even heard of it. So this is an intro for them from Slate: How Tony Kushner's play became the defining work of American art of the past 25 years.

+ The play was amazing, but the HBO version was also fantastic and is still available on demand at HBO and Amazon.

9

This Guy is Good

I'm one guy working alone to edit the entire Internet, and every now and then I need your help spreading the word. Do me a solid and Share NextDraft on Twitter, post a link to it on Facebook, or just forward this issue to a couple friends who need to up their dinner party conversation game. Your help makes a big difference. Gimme, Gimme. I need.

10

Bottom of the News

"Female lionesses may mate 100 times a day with a string of different partners." And as the BBC reports, that's just one more piece of evidence we have the wrong idea about males, females and sex.

+ That makes for a nice segue to Marie Claire's look inside an elite Hamptons sex party. (The closest I've come to this is watching a Rihanna video on a train to Montauk.)

+ Vacuuming harmonicas is sort of a thing.

+ The publisher reprinting Mein Kampf in America now says that the proceeds will be donated to Holocaust survivors. OK, then I guess we're even.