Kickoff For May 15, 2023
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Monday Kickoff, a collection of what I’ve found interesting, informative, and insightful on the web over the last seven days.
Let’s get this Monday started with these links:
The Designer Economy, wherein Yakov Feygin and Nils Gilman argue that what we need to slow the tide of economic inequality is a fiscal policy that focuses on constructing and reaching a specifically envisioned future.
The epic quest to build a permanent Moon base, wherein Richard Hollingham looks at what it will take to do just that, and some proposals for constructing a lunar settlement.
The man who repossesses multimillion-dollar airplanes, wherein we learn about Ken Hill, one of the few people in the United States who takes planes back from owners who don’t or can’t or won’t repay their loans on those craft.
Norton Space Props Was El Dorado for a Burgeoning Launch Industry, wherein Peter Timko explores a different kind of scrapyard in an industrial area near Los Angeles, a business which was gathered the remnants of the technology of the first Space Age and sold it to more than a few so-called New Space companies to help them get up and running.
How Tokyo Became an Anti-Car Paradise, wherein Daniel Knowles examines how one of the busiest, most populous cities in the world developed into a pedestrian-friendly metropolis — by design, not accident.
Beyond rich guys in rockets: Here’s what will democratize space tourism, wherein Glenn McDonald looks at the nascent space tourism industry, and whether or not it might one day be affordable to all.
We’ve always been distracted, or at least worried that we are, wherein Joe Stadolnik dips into the what’s new is old again file and looks at how anxieties around the loss of attention aren’t a 21st century phenomenon — they’ve been a problem through the ages.
Tripping for the Planet: Psychedelics and Climate Activism, wherein Amber X. Chen walks us through the history of using mind-altering substances, and examines the connection between the plants the bring us those substances and the climate crisis.
Yamagami Tetsuya’s Revenge, wherein we learn about how the conditions that drove the man who murdered a former Japanese prime minister came about, a tale of strange bedfellows, the creation of a regimented society, and the rise of fringe religious movements.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.