Devon Zuegel
Women are overmedicated because drug dosage trials are done on men
The majority of over-the-counter drugs have never been tested on women. Until 2014, most clinical trials were not required to include women in their research, and most chose not to because they saw women’s reproductive cycle as a “counfounding factor” in their results — nevermind the fact that excluded 50% of the population from their research.
Know What You Are Selling
Restaurants famously have low margins, but Nick Kokonas transformed the cashflow and risk profile of his restaurants by rethinking what they were selling as performances rather than just food. This made them realize they could sell tickets instead of having people pay after the meal, which allowed them to plan ahead and cut costs, all the while increasing their margins. While I’m not personally involved in the restaurant business (in fact I almost didn’t listen to this episode because I thought the topic would be boring!), this interview was a great reminder that there is still so much opportunity to figure things out and make things better for everyone, even in an industry as old as the restaurant business.
Place and Non-Place
This blog sparked my obsession with the question “Why does the world rarely build wonderful neighborhoods anymore?”, a problem which I’ve since devoted my career to. This post helped me realize what it was about certain places that make me just adore them, while others I can’t get away from fast enough.
Growth Ponzi Scheme
Municipal accounting counts infrastructure as an asset, but it is actually a liability due to maintenance and replacement costs. This series of posts made me realize that we’re in for an impending urban crisis if we don’t reform the way our towns and cities account for infrastructure.
Meditations on Moloch
This post helped me see that when bad things happen, it doesn’t necessarily mean that anyone wanted it to happen. Systemic structures can drive individuals to make choices that are collectively harmful, even when they are rational from an individual perspective. Put another way, it’s a fancy way of saying “Don't hate the player, hate the game”.