The weekend news drop and some long form articles for this snowy day
Why you can't find a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X game console Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox Series X are two of the most powerful game consoles ever built. They are also nearly impossible to get your hands on. (Yahoo Finance)
Rise and fall of the house of Bitcoin A Buenos Aires hacker haven produced some of Argentina’s most valuable crypto companies. Then it suddenly disappeared. (Rest of World)
The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Billionaire Arthur Hayes The BitMEX cofounder created a cryptocurrency exchange that has traded trillions. Now he’s wanted by U.S. authorities, and insiders wonder whether he and his partners are villains—or victims of a two-tiered justice system that favors big banks over brash outsiders. (Vanity Fair)
Apple Is the $2.3 Trillion Fortress That Tim Cook Built Trade war? Pfft. Trump? Please. Antitrust? Zuck’s prob. (Ditto privacy.) Revenue? Endless. Tim Cook has been counterpunching, broadening his influence over the mobile phone industry while marketing Apple’s commitment to privacy as the antidote to the practices of social media companies. (Businessweek)
Michael Hintze explains himself: Famed Hedge Fund Firm CQS Is Surviving — But Not Because of Its Hedge Funds A near-forensic appraisal of the entire firm’s operations meticulously combing through individual positions in every portfolio and reexamining all aspects of day-to-day decision-making. Ultimately, CQS reorganized teams, revamped portfolios, and put in place a new board executive committee and a senior partners’ group. (Institutional Investor)
Covid Brought Booze to Your Door—and Made Delivery Worth Billions Prohibition-era regulations stifled liquor e-commerce in the U.S. for decades. Pandemic lockdowns sparked demand almost overnight. (Businessweek)
The Thirty Tyrants: The deal that the American elite chose to make with China has a precedent in the history of Athens and Sparta The poisoned embrace between American elites and China began nearly 50 years ago when Henry Kissinger saw that opening relations between the two then-enemies would expose the growing rift between China and the more threatening Soviet Union. At the heart of the fallout between the two communist giants was the Soviet leadership’s rejection of Stalin, which the Chinese would see as the beginning of the end of the Soviet communist system—and thus it was a mistake they wouldn’t make. (Tablet)
Stories of Slavery, From Those Who Survived It The Federal Writers’ Project narratives provide an all-too-rare link to our past. (Atlantic)
How the Fossil Fuel Industry Convinced Americans to Love Gas Stoves And why they’re scared we might break up with their favorite appliance. (Mother Jones)
Big Oil Gets to Teach Climate Science in American Classrooms Fossil fuel companies are spending big money to make sure their message reaches kids. Science teachers are doing their best to make sure they learn the facts. (Bloomberg)
Trump Led An “All-Out Assault” On The EPA. Now Biden Has To Rebuild It. Under Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency knelt to the country’s biggest polluters and lost more than 800 employees. Staffers say they want accountability. (Buzzfeed)
Lie After Lie: Listen to How Trump Built His Alternate Reality A 38-minute video shows how Donald J. Trump’s persistent repetition of lies and calls to action over two months created an alternate reality that he won re-election. Mr. Trump’s words, which were echoed and amplified by the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, are a central focus of his second impeachment trial. (New York Times)
The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election A weird thing happened right after the Nov. 3 election: nothing. The nation was braced for chaos. Liberal groups had vowed to take to the streets, planning hundreds of protests across the country. Right-wing militias were girding for battle. In a poll before Election Day, 75% of Americans voiced concern about violence. Instead, an eerie quiet descended… (Time)
Tanner Van Vark TVV Part The REAL team provides backup while Tanner skirts impossible angles, plays Twister on hubbas and redefines the wallride game. Is it SOTY season already?