Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web.
Kirk LaPointe, publisher and editor-in-chief:
Sorry, but coronavirus is not some other place’s problem. Many of us will get it. – The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/02/covid-vaccine/607000/
Economics superstar Thomas Piketty defined inequity in the modern age. Now he has a plan to transcend capitalism. – The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/03/09/thomas-piketty-goes-global
Let’s take a little fear out of artificial intelligence. A computer can’t think. – The American Scholar
https://theamericanscholar.org/no-ghost-in-the-machine/#.XmF4HJNKjVq
Hayley Woodin, reporter:
The New York Times’ new media columnist looks at how the landscape has changed, and how the Times’ is changing it: “It’s the tail that wags the dog, and it’s also the dog.” – NYT
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/business/media/ben-smith-journalism-news-publishers-local.html
Ahead of International Women’s Day, Time has released 100 digital covers with ‘women of the year.’ The project highlights women who were overshadowed over the last century (Time only switched ‘man of the year’ to ‘person of the year’ in 1999). It also considers how women found their own influence in a world of power imbalances. – Time
https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year
Mark Falkenberg, deputy managing editor:
Puffiness abounds outside our solar system, say scientists studying mysterious cotton-candy-like exoplanets orbiting distant stars. Astronomers suspect these weird, low-density planets, dubbed “super-puffs,” might be explained as normal-sized planets with big, fat rings. – CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/03/world/super-puff-cotton-candy-exoplanets-scn/index.html
This story about two Canadian whisky company founders who ran afoul of Idaho State Police over allegedly illegal sales in that state made me think of my grandmother-in-law, Doris Hamilton, who grew up in western Montana during Prohibition. Like many who came of age then in states touching the 49th parallel, she had a lifelong preference for Canadian whisky over U.S. liquor. – Whiskycast
https://whiskycast.com/whisky-industry-veterans-jailed-in-idaho-after-sting-operation/
Glen Korstrom, reporter:
There’s some interesting data and charts in this piece on the coronavirus and how it has shaken economies. – BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51706225
Good long read on how pandemics change history. – New Yorker
Intriguing look at how having divergent political preferences can break up partnerships. I’m not a huge rap fan but this was an interesting piece on Public Enemy and its frontman Flavor Flav sending a cease-and-desist letter to Bernie Sanders’ campaign. Flav alleges that Sanders was using Flav’s “unauthorized likeness, image, and trademarked clock” to promote a rally, even though Flav “has not endorsed any political candidate.” – Rolling Stone
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/public-enemy-flavor-flav-bernie-sanders-960272/
