Kate Krontiris

Nikhath Digest: May 21 - 27

nikhathdigest:

Arts and Culture
Hampshire College 2012 Commencement Speech / Eugene Mirman / YouTube
Some very funny moments in this 12-minute address by the comedian Eugene Mirman; my favorite involves a chain of “environmentally friendly critical-thinking stores”

2012 Graduation Speech to Graduating Harvard MBA Students / Deepak Malhotra / YouTube
An hour long, but worth it: Malhotra, a renowned negotiations professor, offers genuinely interesting, unexpected, and useful advice, like “Quit early, quit often”

The Yankee Commandante / David Grann / New Yorker
Genius storyteller David Grann goes long on William Morgan, an American whose role in the Cuban Revolution and friendship with Castro was the subject of much intrigue

Isaac’s Live Lip-Dub Proposal / Isaac Lamb / Vimeo
Hard not to break into a huge grin watching this joyous and creative six-minute proposal

Found Art: Serbian Groom Trolls for Bride / Kelly Klaasmeyer / Glasstire
On the other end of the proposal spectrum: “Please look below at all the magic of my home that I have decorated with taste, perhaps just for YOU”

Listen to Radiohead’s Kid A in Glorious 8-Bit / Marcus Gilmer / AV Club
Holds up surprisingly well; also fun to think about what exploits the accompanying video game would involve


Politics, Policy, and World Affairs
FDIC Rule Change Ends Too Big to Fail / Barry Ritzholtz / Big Picture
The writer imagines a clever, tongue-in-cheek, proposal notable for its simplicity

The Philanthropic Complex / Curtis White / Jacobin
A broadside against the philanthropy community: “They are not in the revolution business. They are in risk management”

Lunch with the FT: Paul Krugman / Martin Wolf / Financial Times
Krugman comes across almost exactly the way you would imagine

Who’s Afraid of Economic Data? / Josh Barro / Forbes
Yikes: “Yesterday, the Republican-controlled House voted to abolish the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey,” which collects data that is vital to policymaking

The Myth of Majority-Minority America / Matthew Yglesias / Slate
The writer, whose one Cuban grandfather makes him officially Hispanic, throws some cold water on last week’s news of an impending majority-minority country


Business and Economics
Taxinomics: a Night in the Life of a Cabbie / Jennifer Gonnerman / New York
It’s a lousy lifestyle and line of work—you can work 70-plus hours a week and make $20,000 a year—but there are some funny stories as well 

In Defense of Private Equity: Japan / Noah Smith / Noahpinion
Interesting: Smith asks what an economy would look like without private equity, and uses the example of Japan to argue that the positives of PE outweigh the negatives 

The Hunch, the Pounce, and the Kill / Azam Ahmed / New York Times
Meet Boaz Weinstein, the hedge fund manager who bet big against the London Whale, and won

How Tim Cook Is Changing Apple / Adam Lashinsky / Fortune
More friendly, open, and responsible, but also more corporate; logical steps or the beginning of the end of Apple’s unique culture?  

Here’s the Inside Story of What Happened on the Facebook IPO / Henry Blodget / Business Insider
Poor forecasting, unfairly shared information, and more—nobody emerges looking good in this story


Science and Technology
What Is the Most Computer Illiterate Thing You Have Witnessed? / Peppe22 / Reddit
Some pretty hilarious and unbelievable stories in here…

A Dive Into the Digital Deep / Andrew Blum / Wall Street Journal
Short article on the undersea cables that make high-speed internet access possible around the world

What Gamblers and Weather Forecasters Can Teach Us About Risk / Alison George / Slate
A look at what people with high “risk intelligence can teach us,” and an online assessment to test yourself (via Bo)

Why We Lie / Dan Ariely / Wall Street Journal
Argues that the little lies most of us tell are more damaging than the big lies that the Madoffs of the world tell—and shares research on the best way to make people act more honestly

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To receive this in your inbox each week, email venkatesan@gmail.com

Shining a Light from Crown Heights

Crown Heights, Brooklyn, is a fascinating place.  It’s a home for people from all over the world, a budding node of gentrification, and a culinary smorgasboard.  It also has pressing gun violence problems, and more houses of worship per block than many other places I’ve been in the world.

The Crown Heights Community Mediation Center was opened 14 years ago, after a period of violence and turbulence in the neighborhood, and has been figuring out creative solutions to neighborhood-level challenges ever since. 

Recently, the Center attracted federal funds to launch an anti-gun violence initiative, called “Save Our Streets Crown Heights.”  The model uses a public health approach to stemming the tide of violence, sending “violence interrupters” — credible community messengers, many of whom have themselves served prison time for gun offenses — to the scene of bubbling conflicts.  An interrupter will hear through his networks that a young man in the neighborhood is about to seek vengeance for a wrong, and will head directly to speak with the young man, help him evaluate the decisions he’s making, and hopefully convince him not to match violence to his anger.  The program runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — so it’s a labor of love and is starting to change the picture of violence in the neighborhood.

Finally, this small center has gotten some big press for its efforts — what follows are a series of links to find out more about the initiative, the center, the neighborhood, and its residents.  Enjoy!

“Crown Heights Counting on Security” / Wall Street Journal 
Full feature on the SOS program and it’s impact on the neighborhood thus far

“Violence Interrupters” / USA Today
A photo series of the Crown Heights team of interrupters 

“Community Group in Crown Heights Hopes to Reduce Gun Violence” / Pavement Pieces
A short video focusing on one of the interrupters and the impact of losing a young person to gun violence 

“Mind the Gap in Crown Heights” / Radio Rookies, WNYC Radio
5-minute spot produced by four young women from Crown Heights, discovering the diversity of the neighborhood 

The Banker’s Lament: Quitting Wall Street

This week’s New York Magazine Intelligencer has a really fascinating infographic about why finance workers are quitting their jobs on Wall Street.  Who knew that more people are quitting their jobs now than at any point since 2008?  Not me.

Why are they leaving?  Well, almost half say their life is “spiritually hollow.”  Another 34 percent is exhausted from the pace of work and absence of play, and the rest either want to run their own shops or are just bored with what they do.  While most of them do not regret having made the choice to work in finance (88 percent!), a full 37 percent say that there is no dollar amount that would convince them to stay.  Another 30 percent say that only $100,000 or more would convince them to stick around.

Equally interesting is the business opportunity that some clever ex-corporates have identified therein …  The data for this infographic was sourced from Escape the City, a firm that seems to match “corporate professionals who want to do something different” with companies that want to hire them to do … different stuff.  There are 66,709 professionals using the site — having pivoted from hedge fund management and corporate solicitation to beach lodge management in Mozambique and operations management for conservancy efforts in the Florida gulf.  One featured professional is now clearing land mines in Cambodia.  Escape the City claims that Google, Apple, and Groupon are among the companies that recruit on their site.  This lead me to wonder: are those individuals exiting the grind of finance simply landing in the health swamp of technology?  Are we recycling our human capital from one capital-rich industry to another, or are these professionals really doing something different?

And when will we start to allocate human capital more effectively in society as a whole?

We still need good teachers, as far as I know.

LOVING Leah King’s New Music

Brooklyn-based performance artist Leah King recently released some incredible new tracks, just ahead of her upcoming Europe tour.  She’s leaning electronic, but has one of the most powerful and subtle voices I’ve ever heard.  Makes for a soulful and fresh mix.

Listen to her new sounds here.