Five Links for May 2025
Every month, the five most mind-expanding links to read/watch/listen. If you find these interesting, please do share with your friends.
Here are five links worth reading…
Data analysis of nearly 900 publications by 545 Nobel Prize winners reveals some striking patterns. One highlight: US dominance of Nobel prizes peaked in the 1980s-90s.
The Force That Drives Korea by
The modern division between North and South Korea follows the same geographic patterns that have shaped the region for thousands of years.
'I am not who you think I am': how a deep-cover KGB spy recruited his own son by Shaun Walker
The extraordinary true story of how "Peter Herrmann" learned at 16 that his father was actually a Czech KGB illegal named Dalibor Valoušek, who then recruited him as a second-generation spy codenamed "the Inheritor.”
ultimate employee: the one that is truly proactive
only 1% of employees are truly proactive. be one of those.
Bonus (Listen): Founders Fund’s Trae Stephens - Hard Tech & Modern Defense Strategy (World of DaaS)
An amazing conversation with Trae Stephens on founding Anduril, building defense tech in the 21st century, and challenging the biggest defense companies in the world.
How I Used AI to Save My Life in 77 Prompts: A Debrief by Bethany Crystal
A primer on how to use AI for in-depth, iterative problem solving– in this case, parsing medical information to determine if a (lifesaving) ER trip was necessary.
How to Get Hired by Derek Sivers
A zero conventional wisdom guide to getting a job you want.
Bonus (Deep Dive): Forsaking Industrialism: The Most Expensive Thing You Didn't Buy by
A deeply researched contrarian argument that tariffs don’t go nearly far enough towards what’s needed to revive American industry.
Bonus (Suspicious): Surprise Will of Late Zappos CEO Adds New Twist for His Fortune by Angel Au-Yeung and Katherine Sayre
After years of legal battles, someone finally found a will for Tony Hsieh’s estate…in the possession of a dead guy with Alzheimer’s.
More reading links at https://twitter.com/AurenReads
Recommended book of the month:
Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
HT: Russ Roberts
Recommended TV/movies:
The Bear (yes, finally watched it. and great show to pair with Unreasonable Hospitality book above)
HT: Russ Roberts, Anne Milgram
Graph of the Month:
need to move society from "low-conviction, strongly-held" to "high-conviction, loosely-held"
Auren Hoffman is CEO of NQB8, Chairman of SafeGraph (geospatial data on physical places), and GP at Flex Capital ($200M VC firm). Engage on X: @auren
and please share Five Links with your friends and allies.