Digital Nomads, legal psychedelics and a steroid-friendly Olympic alternative
Here's the best things I found on the internet this week!
What’s up everybody,
Happy Fourth of July! Hope you get a chance to pound some burgers and dogs today, or at least watch Joey Chesnut eating enough for all of us.
If you have spare time, here’s my weekly roundup of the best, most interesting and most entertaining content on the internet. I call them my “conversation starters,” and I think if you read or watch a couple now, you might just be the most interesting person at your family barbecue later. Enjoy!
What’s the coolest story or thing you found on the internet this week? Reply to this email and shoot me a link. Would love to hear from you!
Our Long Read of the Week is this fantastic deep dive into what happens to small cities when a swarm of digital nomads descend upon it. It pumps tons of money into the local economy, which should be a good thing, but their short-term stay leaves a permanent disruption within the ecosystem and screws over the permanent residents. More damningly, it turns vibrant neighborhoods into homogenous destinations.
I realize the Titan submersible story is old news by now, but this is the one and only story you NEED to read about it. During all the media attention, you probably saw the TV clips about the CEO showing off the quirkier features of the craft. Well the TV reporter who conducted that Titan interview wrote a beautiful, searching essay about his experience and the questions he kept turning over in his mind in the past few weeks. It answered a lot of questions I’ve had on the topic and asked a few more I’m still thinking about.
Before they were YouTube megastars “Rhett and Link,” these two guys were making creative local TV ads for the unbelievably named pharmacy “Butt Drugs.”
New research suggests that many Miami residents now speak an entirely new dialect of the English language, created by prolonged intermingling between native Spanish and English speakers. They “throw a photo” and “make a party.” It’s a fascinating example of how languages change and adapt over time.
The next drug legalization push is upon us. Psychedelics like ecstasy and mushrooms are now legal for medical use in Australia (for the low low price of $16,500), and similar bills have been proposed in states like California and Colorado. Treatment may lead to “empathetic feelings and enhanced connections with others.”
Speaking of wacky Australian ideas, one entrepreneur down under plans to host the world “Enhanced Games,” featuring Olympic-style events with no rules against steroids. Should we consider them as world records? And is it a health hazard, or is the IOC just using morality as a business tactic?
Airbnb revenues are plummeting, down nearly 50% in cities like Phoenix and Austin. This fantastic thread of graphs shows how the forced selling of Airbnb properties could have a hugely disruptive effect on the housing market.
Four scientists will live for the next year inside a giant, 3D-printed habitat simulating the surface of Mars. I’m no expert but I’ve seen The Martian, so I know that sounds like a pretty awful thing to volunteer to do.
Thanks for reading and sharing! I’m talking Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on Friday, talk to ya then!