The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of Danish Blend coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:
• Maybe you should have bought an electric car: We run the numbers on EVs versus gas cars in an era of skyrocketing oil prices. The Iran war has turned the EV skeptics’ math upside down. The Iran War is illustrating the cost of anti-EV nonsense. (Noahpinion)
• How Apple became Apple: The definitive oral history of the company’s earliest days: As Apple turns 50, the founders and early employees tell the story in their own words. The true story of how Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and other bright young tech hobbyists of the 1970s joined forces to ignite a revolution. The mythology gets a reality check—and the reality is more interesting. (Fast Company) see also From the Pages of PC Magazine: How We Covered Apple’s Greatest Hits and Misses: As Apple turns 50, we look back at the boldest (and most questionable) hardware to ever pass through the PC Labs. (PC Magazine)
• Vanguard Investors Cleaned Up: Morningstar’s data shows Vanguard fund holders outperformed nearly everyone else, again. Low costs and discipline beat cleverness every time. (Morningstar)
• Private capital: what are the risks? The FT takes a hard look at private capital’s growing footprint and the systemic risks hiding behind the illiquidity premium. Blackstone’s scale makes this everyone’s problem. As investors seek to retrieve their money, the $22tn industry rejects comparisons with 2008. Regulators aren’t so sure. (Financial Times)
• How American Camouflage Conquered the World: The story of how MultiCam went from a military contract to a global fashion statement. America’s soft power now comes in woodland pattern. The world-famous MultiCam pattern was designed for the military by two Brooklyn hipsters. Now everyone—from babies to ICE agents—is suited up for battle. (Wired)
• Is the Smartphone Theory of Everything Wrong?: Derek Thompson challenges the popular idea that smartphones explain every social ill among young people. The data is more nuanced than the narrative. A Comprehensive Investigation. Many people believe that the nexus of smartphones, Internet, and social media is to blame for every modern catastrophe. Here’s 5,000 words on who’s right and who’s wrong. (Derek Thompson)
• When are bones no longer a person? A strange tale of King Cnut’s femur, ancient DNA, religious belief on bodies and souls, and a debate over what constitutes a person after death. A haunting philosophical essay on the ethics of human remains, identity, and when the dead stop being people. The kind of piece that stays with you. (The Garden of Forking Paths)
• Iran’s Wealth Is Parked on London’s Billionaires’ Row: Years of Western sanctions haven’t prevented money flows out of Tehran: ‘They probably learned from the Russian oligarchs’ (Wall Street Journal)
• Everything With Trump’s Name, Likeness and Signature: As anyone who has ever seen his buildings knows, Donald Trump has always liked to see his name displayed prominently. It’s become a hallmark of his presidency, to the point that the Treasury Department announced on Thursday that President Trump’s signature will appear on U.S. dollars later this year, a first for a sitting U.S. president. (New York Times)
• The Curious Case Of Sidd Finch: The greatest April Fools’ prank in sports journalism history—George Plimpton’s story of a Mets pitcher who could throw 168 mph. A perfect read for the day.He’s a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. Impressively liberated from our opulent life-style, Sidd’s deciding about yoga—and his future in baseball. (Sports Illustrated)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Songyee Yoon, founder and managing partner of Principal Venture Partners, an AI-focused investment firm established in 2024, and since 2025 a member of the board of directors of HP Inc.
When final Gulf oil shipments will arrive around the world, as diesel and petrol prices surge 27% since Iran’s blockade began
Source: Mirror
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