Thursday morning news drop
The Big One: Getting Ready for North America’s Next Major Quake We know we need to prepare for natural disasters. So why do we shrug off the threat? (Walrus)
QAnon's Deadly Price Church-loving surf instructor Matthew Taylor Coleman fell into online conspiracy theories, then allegedly admitted to killing his kids to save the world. How did no one see it coming? (Rolling Stone)
Canada has biodiversity targets. Now it needs accountability As the UN Convention on Biological Diversity creates new targets, the federal government must take action or risk another dismal report card (Narwhal)
How a team of musicologists and computer scientists completed Beethoven’s unfinished 10th Symphony When Ludwig van Beethoven died in 1827, he had started work on his 10th Symphony but, due to deteriorating health, wasn’t able to make much headway: All he left behind were some musical sketches. His notes teased at some magnificent reward. Now, thanks to the work of a team of music historians, musicologists, composers and computer scientists, Beethoven’s vision will come to life. (The Conversation)
The Passion of Questlove The drummer, D.J. and producer is everywhere and loved by everyone. But few understand what drives him: an obsession with spreading the joys of Black music. (NY Times)
The thorny truth about socially responsible investing Think you’re investing ethically? You might be surprised. It’s good that investors are trying to pay attention to where money flows. What isn’t so good: Plenty of people think they’re investing in ways that match their values when in reality, they aren’t. It’s really easy to slap the ESG label onto an investment product, likely increase fees on it a little bit, and call it a day. (Vox)
S&P 500: Pay to Play? A new working paper attempts to figure out why some companies make it into the blue-chip stock market index. (Financial Times)
Strata insurance hikes: nothingburger or crisis? Strata insurance hikes have been in the news for a couple years now, with stories of devastating insurance hikes causing individual projects to rapidly hike strata fees. The cause of the crisis have been speculated on for just as long. Is it badly maintained buildings? Irresponsible owners? Shoddy construction? Climate change? Greedy insurance companies? There’ve been lots of theories and speculation but little evidence in most of the coverage of this issue. (House Hunt Victoria)
What’s wrong with America’s consumer-price index? Experts underestimated inflation last year. Now they seem to be overstating it (Economist)
