This week’s highlights:  Rockefeller’s Art Collection, Tech 10 Years into the Future, The Making of Ed Sheeran’s Biggest Track.

Fifteen on Friday – 12/22/17 – Issue 266

Happy Holidays Everyone!   A quick public service announcement – this will be the final Fifteen on Friday of 2017 – we will return the first weekend in January.

Until then, I hope you enjoy time with friends and family – and maybe find some time to read something interesting.

All the best,
David

Food for Thought:

1. VF – David Rockefeller and the Largest Art Auction of All Time  In March, David Rockefeller, the last surviving grandchild of robber baron John D. Rockefeller, died at the age of 101. As Christie’s prepares to auction his massive and prestigious collection, Vanity Fair looks into the collection’s origins.
2. NYT – My Year of No Shopping.  Author and Nashvillian Ann Patchett reflects on a year outside the consumer culture.
3. LifeHacker – Teach Kids to Nickname the Fears That Won’t Go Away.  
4. WashPo – The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas toy for kids, or a mind game for adults?
5. NYM – For the Good of Society — and Traffic! — Delete Your Map App

Business/Economics:

1. TBP – Interview with Jeff Sherman of Doubleline
2. A16Z – 10 Year Futures (vs. What’s Happening Now).  Andreessen Horowitz’ Benedict Evans reflects on mobile, Google / Apple / Facebook / Amazon, innovation, machine learning, computer vision, autonomous cars, mixed reality and crypto-currencies – and more, in this keynote delivered at the most recent annual a16z Summit.
3. CF – How To Read Financial News
4. The Games They Will Play.  Now that tax reform has officially passed, here are a number of law professors discussing all the different ways to leverage the loopholes in the bill.
5. Bloomberg – Subprime Auto Defaults Are Soaring, and PE Firms Have No Way Out – Credit DH – 

Culture/Tech/Science:

1. NYT – ‘Shape of You’: Making 2017’s Biggest Track.  Ed Sheeran and the other writers/producers discuss How Shape of You came to be in the studio – arguably one of the biggest pop hits of 2017 and the most streamed song ever on Spotify.
2. RoadandTrack – The Only McLaren F1 Technician in North America.  In a secret location in a windowless warehouse, Kevin Hines of McLaren Philadelphia is the only person in the US certified to work on your F1.
3. Medium – This Is Exactly How You Should Train Yourself To Be Smarter
4. NYT – Christie’s Just Set Another Auction Record, for Handbag Sales
5. RollingStone – Magic Leap: Founder of Secretive Start-Up Unveils Mixed-Reality Goggles.  Magic Leap is arguably the most successful startup that the average person has not heard of.  Having raised billions, ML disclosed a little more this week about its hopefully ground-breaking mixed-reality goggles.