👋 Hi friends,
Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.
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☀️ Image of the week, above: A recent sunset here in Hong Kong, seen from a ferry.
I’m happy to resume weekly delivery of Newley’s Notes after a brief break. If you’ve taken time off this summer, I hope your getaway was restful. If you haven’t yet, I hope you’re able to get some downtime. Onward!
Here are 10 items worth your time this week:
1) 🧪 A remarkable development yesterday in the trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes: she may argue she was being abused psychologically, emotionally and sexually by then Theranos President Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani.
2) 😔 RIP Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts.
3) 👉 As the twentieth anniversary of September 11th approaches, a moving longread: “What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind.”
4) 🚶♀️Why great thinkers are serious about walking.
5) 💬 A look at why Google has failed to build a successful messaging app.
6) 🧬 A list of the 50 best sci-fi and fantasy books of the last decade.
7) ❓Did mega-bestselling thriller author Dan Brown write, under a pen name, a humorous 1995 dating guide called “187 Men to Avoid”?
8) 🇨🇷 What’s the secret to Costa Ricans’ longevity?
9) 🎧 Podcast of the week: sociologist Stephanie Jaros on the always-excellent Cool Tools.
10) 💯 I love this gallery of beautiful old cassette tapes.
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🦴 Dog-related video of the week:
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📖 What I’ve been reading
I’m nearly finished with the riveting “Blood and Oil: Mohammed bin Salman’s Ruthless Quest for Global Power,” the 2020 book by Bradley Hope (co-author of the smash hit “Billion Dollar Whale”) and my WSJ colleague Justin Scheck. If you care about the Middle East, geopolitics, oil and energy, or just how power is wielded, you have to read this book.
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💡 Quote of the week:
“You don’t have a right to the cards you believe you should have been dealt with. You have an obligation to play the hell out of the ones you’re holding.” – Cheryl Strayed
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👊 Fist bump from Hong Kong,
Newley