Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Picture a startup founder. Chances are you went straight for a Mark Zuckerberg-type: male, white, nerdy and, above all, young. Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004, three years after the collapse of the dotcom bubble, at the age of 20. Twelve years later, the company he founded is worth $270bn, and the tech world is in…
Shown through the window, Ralph Case makes a call at the Stark County for Trump Headquarters in Canton, Ohio. (Andrew Spear/For The Washington Post) CANTON, Ohio — A week ago in Middle America, a father and son piled into an old red Pontiac and hit the road for a weekend outing. “Dad, can I say,…
Let us now address the greatest American mystery at the moment: what motivates the supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump? I call it a “mystery” because the working-class white people who make up the bulk of Trump’s fan base show up in amazing numbers for the candidate, filling stadiums and airport hangars, but their…
Bernie Sanders’ victory in Michigan Tuesday may have terrified Democratic Party elites and liberal pragmatists all over, but it reflects something much more fateful than a serve or a curveball in these primary games. It suggests that more Americans than just 20-somethings are awakening to a reality much harder and darker than anything this election alone…
While the fate of the presidential campaign that talks about the issue more than any other remains uncertain, this much is clear: Despite the general public’s mounting anxiety and awareness, the economic inequality that’s done so much to change American society over the past 40 years has not abated. It may, in fact, be getting worse. For this reason…
For about five minutes after the collapse of the global economy in 2008, the public’s anger was focused enough to cause a temporary cutback in the abuse of corporate jet perks by rich executives. Clearly, those days are over. The FT has published a long investigative story today about the use of corporate jets for…
On San Francisco’s Quantified Self-Delusion Sociology is a frustrating subject to have mastery in. Few people will ever read a book by an actual Sociologist on any subject, so cocksure is everyone that they have Society all mapped out. Then there are people like me who after reading literally thousands of books have come to…
The global super rich continued to splash out on super-yachts and luxury goods last year, despite a decline in their overall wealth in the wake of financial market turmoil. According to the latest wealth report from estate agents Knight Frank, published on Wednesday, sales of super-yachts – boats longer than 24 metres – soared 40%…
Mike Baird, the premier of New South Wales, can’t have been prepared for this. Two months ago he was probably the most popular politician in Australia, presenting a wet Liberal surfer persona that gelled with the state’s better nature. There were travel concessions for asylum seekers. There was an earthy social media presence. Talking to…
In October 2015, Wil Wheaton, well-known for his brief turn as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation and as a celebrity blogger, created a stir when he declared that he had turned down an offer to write for the Huffington Post. He refused, according to him, because they had declined to pay for…