Destruction and Corruption: The Lessons from Sheelah Kolhatkar's "Black Edge"

Across the political spectrum, there was enormous outrage over the the widespread fraud and pay-to-play structures going on in Wall Street that led to the collapse of the economy and the bailing out of the big banks.  What I think most people to umbrage tow was the fact that, except for a few cases, the bankers themselves did not face any kind of prosecution for their financial malfeasance.  Lives were ruined and they got to walk away from it with billions in salaries, stock options, and bonuses.  The question is, if there is so much fraud on Wall Street, why haven't there been more major prosecutions?

This book, Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street,  tackles that question by examining the the hunt by federal investigators and prosecutors to bring down one of the most notorious hedge fund managers in the industry, Steven Cohen.  The first half of the book charts the rise of Cohen through the ranks of Wall Street to the founding of his own hedge fund, SAC Capital Advisors, through the lucrative shorting of pharmaceutical stocks where one of his advisors acquired illegal inside information to make the trade.  The second half of the book follows federal investigators and prosecutors as they fine SAC Capital and try to bring Steven Cohen himself to justice.

There are a couple of things I learned from reading this book that I think are worth taking a note of.

Tell All Your Friends, but for God's Sake, Don't Freak Them Out!: The Lessons of Derek Thompson's "Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction"

There is a common complaint that most if not all of us have made after seeing a movie, watching a TV show, or listening to a piece of music: "How did this become popular?"  I know I have that feeling every time I come across something having to do with Pokémon. Even as a kid I did not understand its appeal.  Nor do I understand how its appeal can spawn one of the most recent and most hyped fads in recent memory, the Pokémon Go! mobile app that swept through the country last year.  But could there be something to popularity?  Is there a secret recipe for making a hit in art & media today?  

Enter Derek Thompson's book, Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction published by Penguin Press in 2017.   According to the biography on this book's jacket flap, Mr. Thompson "is a senior editor at The Atlantic magazine, where he writes about economics and the media."  He's also been named on Inc. magazine's and Forbes's 30 under 30 lists, so clearly this author is someone to watch in the future.  This book is built upon several articles Mr. Thompson wrote for The Atlantic in 2013, 2014, and 2016.  Mr. Thompson's premise is what was just described above: how does a hit become a hit?  What is the secret sauce?

I would recommend you read this book for yourself to find out, but here are some of the key insights I took away from reading this book this past week.