Five Things: Tina Turner, Vienna Housing, Anti-Addiction Drug, Luxury Goods, Authenticity and AI
You want to read this email. It will make your Sunday much better.
It’s Sunday Morning and this is the latest edition of Five Things!✌🏻
Hi, my name is Nico and I’m a very curious person who likes reading great journalism, well argued opinion pieces and lengthy articles full of research. Every Sunday I put together an email with links to five articles which I find really interesting. The selection of the articles is based on my current interests. I sincerely hope that you find these articles as worthwile your time as I did. I don’t wan’t to ruin your Sunday. 🤓
This weekend is Pentecost and truly nobody in Germany knows why we have yet another religious holiday or what it is about, but we all enjoy having Monday off.
It’s really interesting to see how Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT is doing a European tour right now, taking the time to give interviews with various news outlets and talking to politicians about the regulation of AI. I’m not sure he’ll enjoy the outcome, but it makes sense to get into a dialogue and talk about how artificial intelligence will most likely evolve and how this will change our societies and our economies. I think he learned a bit from Mark Zuckerberg, who rather arrogantly ignored everyone and just did his thing. This week the EU struck back and fined Meta 1.2 billion € for violating European data privacy laws. So regulating AI will be an interesting political endeavour in the next few months and years.
In completely unrelated news, a soccer team from Munich won the German league title today and I couldn’t care less. But please keep your fingers crossed this afternoon when the glorious Hamburger SV needs to win the last game of the season and No.2 Heidenheim (wherever that town may be) needs to lose in order for HSV to directly advance up to the 1. Bundesliga again. This is what counts. Not the eleventh league title in a row.
Have a great Sunday and enjoy Five Things! ✌🏻
The Untouchable Tina Turner
To be honest, when I first noticed Tina Turner, I was not a fan. It was the mid-80s and I resented most of the music that was in the charts then. Later I discovered the early Tina Turner, produced by Phil Spector, and that music got me hooked. River Deep - Mountain High is one of my absolute favorite songs. It’s so full of energy, just like she was. Tina Turner must have been one truly amazing person. RIP. (New Yorker)
Lessons From a Renters’ Utopia
Like no other big city in Europe, Vienna has been investing in public housing through the last century and thereby has created a city that is very liveable for many people with amazingly low rent. Our oldest daughter goes to university in Vienna and she spends roughly half for her room compared to Hamburg. (The New York Times)
Did Scientists Accidentally Invent an Anti-addiction Drug?
Apart from the obvious contradiction that you have to take a drug to stop being addicted, this is a really interesting development, which can help people live better and more balanced lives. (The Atlantic)
The surprising reason luxury goods are booming
Luxury is becoming pop culture nowadays and social media helped creating this trend. While the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, luxury booms and it’s the middle-class buying it. (Vox)
Rethinking Authenticity in the Era of Generative AI
This is really something to think about. Will GenerativeAI will be a boost for creativity, or will everything just look and feel fake in the future? Or both? (Undark)
That’s it. Have an amazing Sunday!