* Elon Musk’s secret sauce, and what makes him such an effective human being. I wonder about the extent to which his methods and philosophies are teachable to others.
* Philanthropy Should Be Controversial.
* “Police violence in Alabama:” note: “there’s no law that allows cops to beat or shock you because they don’t like your attitude.” Why do cops not realize this, or still behave this way if they do? Cops beat people for the sake of it. They are sometimes out of control and a virtually unchecked power unto themselves.
* Fresh Climate Data Confirms 2015 Is Hotter Than Any Other Year in Human History.
* Charities Givewell.org would like to see.
* A history of men’s boots and shoes, and why modern ones are so good; the piece is fascinating but in a way that’s hard to describe effectively.
* “Many Say High Deductibles Make Their Health Law Insurance All but Useless;” alternately, one could read this as “At the margin, revealed preferences show that people don’t want as much healthcare as many eggheads imagined.” The reporter of course chooses not to explore this possibility.
* “Saudi Arabia, an ISIS that has made it.” In political discussions I often point out that Saudi Arabia’s tone, values, and policies are diametrically opposed to the ones espoused by the American and European governments that often support it.
* California’s DOT Admits [the obvious:] That More Roads Mean More Traffic.
* Why car dealers are reluctant to sell electric cars, a bit of ill news.
* Dream of New Kind of Credit Union Is Extinguished by Bureaucracy.
* What happens to countries that vote for socialists.
* Why is the maternal mortality rate going up in the United States? Paging Healthy Start Initiative grantees.
* Why Chris Blattman worries that experimental social science is headed in the wrong direction. This is important for nonprofit and public agencies and echoes, lightly, some points we’ve made in, for example, “Studying Programs is Hard to Do: Why It’s Difficult to Write a Compelling Evaluation.”
* Is There a Future for the Professions?
* “Leaving it behind: How to rescue people from deep poverty—and why the best methods work.” This is less America-centric than most pieces we link to but is interesting, or should be interesting, to all.
* “Think Systems When You Write You Prepare Your Proposal, and a Tale From the Medical Trenches.”