Weekend Reading #125

This is the hundred-and-twenty-fifth weekly edition of our newsletter, Weekend Reading, sent out on Saturday 3rd July 2021.

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What we're thinking.

This week saw a truly monumental moment in South Africa’s 27-year-old democracy when former President, Jacob Zuma, was sentenced to 15 months in prison by the constitutional court for being in contempt of court. It was the culmination of years of cat and mouse between Zuma and the courts and is a huge victory for the rule of law in the country. Could it be South Africa’s Lula moment? Be under no illusion, South Africa as a country has massive challenges and the prospects still look bleak. The country is undergoing another crippling covid wave as once again poor governance (to say the least) has resulted in an almost non-existent vaccine rollout. But this judgement is an outcome which will boost the morale of business and decision makers and in the context of a long hard struggle to get the country back on track, it is most welcome.

We have been studying and learning about the biotech space for a while but have a long way to go yet and hold no positions in our fund. This week’s announcement from Intellia Therapeutics and partner, Regeneron, (along with a subsequent capital raise) was truly ground-breaking. They announced that a study used gene editing to reduce transthyretin, a key biomarker in the rare disease transthyretin amyloidosis, resulting in a better and less invasive outcome for the patients involved than traditional treatment. CEO, John Leonard, calls it a “one and done” treatment which has big implications if they can get FDA approval. The FDA in the US has been reticent to even allow gene-based trials at all. For more on Intellia’s co-founder and "Beyonce of science”, Jennifer Doudna, this 2020 article of a day in her life is really cool. DC

The collective nervous breakdown that shows itself by the record number of crashes at the tour de France, Müller missing when alone in front of the England goal and the unlikely lineup of the 8 remaining teams, as well as odd results and events all over, are just very public manifestations of the fact that shutting the world down for over a year has consequences for the collective state of mind. In that world, it may be helpful to hold on to some practices to restore balance. Interestingly, mindfulness presentation, great against stress, does not really help that much. One path to consider is gratitude. This Guardian article, or Book III of Lucretius' On the nature of things are good primers for a discipline that has been recognised as beneficial as part of the development of gratitude research in positive psychology. LM

...and I’ve been thinking a little about how, surely, even the Germans can’t blame Müller’s miss and their nation’s defeat on COVID-19?! EJP

What we're reading.

Stand-up comedy is completely and utterly fascinating. And, when you think about it, pretty insane. Not only is it funny (or meant to be, obviously) but it’s also mind boggling when you consider what these individuals put themselves through to do the thing they love. It takes a certain type of crazed individual to choose a career where you have to make a room of random strangers laugh for an hour every night to continue to make a living. One of the most crazed – and wonderful – stand-up comedians of all time is Jerry Seinfeld. He’s my top comedic dog. His recent book, Is This Anything?, digs into what he had to go through to become the giant of the comedy world that he is today. For this book, Seinfeld selected his favourite material, organised decade by decade, and he wrote it out for the reader as if he was on the mic. Each page takes a brilliant, weird, beautifully crafted observation and sets out how Seinfeld turned it into a joke. The book also tells the story of Seinfeld’s 50-year long career, and you get to witness the evolution of one of the great showmen of our time and gain new insights into the unforgiving art of writing stand-up comedy. A brilliant read for just before bed. You'll go to bed happy and laughing. EJP

Rex Woodbury has been a great recent find and this tweet illustrates so simply what the power behind brands like Netflix and Peloton - low churn amongst customers. Peloton, a stock we have recently been doing a lot of research on, experiences incredibly low churn rates even in the face of despite its recent publicity issues. As can been seen from the chart below, Netflix smashes its competition including Disney with a churn of 2-3% but Peloton (not in the chart) weighs in at 0.31%, an incredible achievement. Some may speculate it has to do with the high sunk cost of the bikes (around $2000) but either way that is a powerful brand.

Another recent find is a chap named Edwin Dorsey who writes a newsletter called “The Bear Cave” which is dedicated to the world of short selling. He recently posted a link to this superb article on the story of hedge fund manager, Dan Loeb which tells his tale pretty much from the beginning. DC

‘The Invention of China’ by Bill Hayton is a fascinating read that explores how China’s 5,000 year history has been crafted into a narrative by the government in order to justify its perspective and project it’s power across a wide range geopolitical issues such as the conflict over the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Taiwanese sovereignty and even the situation in Xinjiang. It is academic in its nature and does not outright criticise China for this distortion of historical events, but merely makes comment on the very notion of the nation-state and the role government is expected to play. It is well worth a read for anyone with an interest in current affairs, particularly on the Asian frontier as by understanding the historical narrative, it allows you to much clearer understand current policy decisions and how/why they have been brought about. HS

Cricket is one of those games that is a mystery to outsiders and a complex web of permutations that drives conversations for hours for those in the know. To make those conversations even more engaging, there is now data. This article in Wired calls it T20 cricket’s Moneyball moment, telling the story of how the use of data from decades of cricket matches on a ball by ball, player by player level is turning this already esoteric (debatable, but true for most people!) sport into a gold mine for analysis, commentary and even more complex debates. Data is truly turning into the new oil. EL

What we're watching.

For those old enough to remember the anime series Samurai X from probably a couple of decades ago (95 episodes made between 1996 and 1998), being able to see a real-life film adaptation is a huge delight. Netflix has managed to get its hands on all four Rurouni Kenshin films which, for obvious reasons including being 100% in Japanese, didn’t make it to the screens in the UK as they were released over the past decade or so. The films (start here) circle around the adventures Himura Kenshin, a former assassin (known in his previous life as Battosai the killer – or Battosai the slasher, in some translations) in the fight against the Tokugawa shogunate which ultimately brought about the Meiji reformation. Having vowed to never kill again, he wanders across Japan until events that threaten the post-war peace call upon his skills, which he employs with a sword that has its cutting edge reversed - and doesn’t kill. EL

It feels like a constant struggle to find something new and worth watching on Netflix but this week, I finally stumbled across something that I really enjoyed watching. Columbiana is 2011 action thriller starring Zoe Saldana (most notably known for her leading female role in Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy) as Cataleya, a young Columbian girl who after seeing the tragic murder of her parents first-hand, goes on to become a deadly assassin with a vengeance to take down those who had wronged her. Whilst the reviews for the film have been very mixed, my impression was that was captivating from start to finish with more than enough action-packed scenes. I must admit that the plot is somewhat predictable, but it is perfect for light watching when you just want to kick back and relax. HS

I’d seen links to the Lex Fridman podcast a few times in recent months but never actually sat down and watched one. This week I watched the Youtube version of his chat with Harvard professor of genetics, David Sinclair. Sinclair has a particular focus on anti-ageing and is co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research at Harvard Medical School. This conversation was phenomenal and covered everything from reversing the ageing process (including some incredible results from mice studies), diet, exercise regimes and also a brief interlude on the philosophical idea of what knowledge of immortality may bring to the way we live our lives. It is a window into some of the real discoveries going on as we speak which could change the way we live. As an aside, watching a podcast rather than listening was a completely different experience. I find that while doing something like running or walking, it's easy to listen and process. But when I’m sat at my desk, listening is more difficult as there are so many other shiny objects to distract me. Watching instead did the trick. Worth a try if you are struggling to focus on the content and succumbing to multitasking. DC

What we're listening to.

One thing I’ve been listening to a lot over the last couple of weeks has been the BBC World Service. It’s the perfect accompaniment to almost anything, a sort of non-stop 24-hour podcast that pipes in news and views from all over the world. It also reminds me of travelling a decade or two ago, in a time pre smart phone and widespread, high-speed internet when the only radio station you could get overseas was either long wave Radio 4 or the World Service. That may make me sound pretty old, but I don’t care because a dose of nostalgia makes me feel pretty good. I highly recommend turning onto the World Service at any random time of day or digging into their archive of audio documentaries. Check out Hacking Hollywood which tells the story of the Sony hack when the so called “Lazarus Group hackers” caused mayhem in Hollywood and for Sony Pictures Entertainment, or the Business Matters podcast which covers one of the world’s biggest news stories in depth daily. Brilliant audio content that, if you’re lucky enough, may also take you back in time. EJP

Someone I’ve been paying close attention to recently is a chap named Jim Bianco, who is a “boomer” who is also involved in crypto. This podcast with the Bankless team is the best podcast I’ve listened to in a while. He marries the real world to the world of crypto beautifully – particularly DeFi and what its prospects may be. He is not ideological which is a nice change! He covers banks, regulation, a really good soliloquy on inflation and much, much more. I highly recommend taking the time to listen to this if you are interested in what the future of finance is going to look like but also what the risks and realities are along the way. DC

I'm not sure if I've ever met anyone who doesn't enjoy Malcolm Gladwell's podcast, Revisionist History. In fact, I'm not sure if anyone I know doesn't like his writing and the man himself. I’ve always bought upon their release and enjoyed Gladwell's books. They have all in one way or another, at the very least, made me think a little differently about the world. His podcast, which is essentially a chapter of his book in audio form, is a quicker way to get your Gladwell fix as you go about your day. The show is always fun, it's beautifully produced, and I even really like the theme tune! Gladwell has just launched his sixth season of the show and, if you have never had the pleasure, I invite you to reach back into the archive and enjoy it right from the beginning. The first show of the sixth series, I Love You Waymo, is classic Gladwell as he explores the topic of driverless cars, setting out to test how safe driverless cars really are. As ever, his conclusions aren't what you'd expect. EJP

Edward PlayfairJuly 5, 2021