Five Links - July 2023

Every month I share the 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…

Maps Distort How We See the World by Tomas Pueyo
Rendering our 3D world on 2D maps requires a lot of compromises. This is a crash course, with dozens of great illustrations, on what gets lost in translation.

Divide and Conquer: Mastering the Art of Spin-Outs
Founders see lots of opportunities, but they are limited in the bets they can take. Spinning out companies can allow good ideas to flourish, even when time and resources are limited.

Bonus (Listen): David Sinclair: Living to 120 on World of DaaS
A conversation with Harvard biologist David Sinclair about what it will take to extend lifespan to

The Vanishing: The erasure of Jews from American life by Jacob Savage
According to YouGov data, just 4% of elite academics under 30 are Jewish, compared to over 20% of boomers.

The U.S. Population Is Older Than It Has Ever Been by Dana Goldstein
The median age in the United States reached a record high of 38.9 in 2022, according to data from the Census Bureau. It’s a complicated crisis for the economy and for innovation.

My Friend, Stalin’s Daughter by Nicholas Thompson
Svetlana Alliluyeva (Stalin’s daughter) was a sensation when she defected to the U.S. in the late 60s, but her later years in the U.S. were more fraught. An unbelievable arc of 20th century life from the Kremlin to Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Can the Shingles Vaccine Prevent Dementia? By Alex Tabarrok
A new paper tracking a natural experiment with shingles vaccine recipients in Wales showed they had significantly lower rates of dementia than those that didn’t get the vaccine.

Bonus: On Wall Street, Lawyers Make More Than Bankers Now by Cara Lombardo
Not everyone will celebrate for the lawyers here, but this is part of a larger trend rewarding people for what they know, as opposed to who they know.

Bonus (Freaky): Australia's 'worst female serial killer' freed by Harry Baker
New research has revealed that the children of Kathleen Folbigg each had genetic mutations that could explain their deaths.

More reading links at https://twitter.com/AurenReads 

Graph of the Month:

We're approaching a huge inflection point in anti-aging research and technology. The goal is to live long enough to see it. 

Books:

Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson (must read)
HT: Jelena McWilliams

When the Heavens Went on Sale by Ashlee Vance


Tweet of the Month:

Auren Hoffman is CEO of SafeGraph (geospatial data on physical places) and GP at Flex Capital ($200M Series A and B VC firm). Engage on Twitter: @auren

and please share Five Links with your friends.