The Best Paragraph I've Read...

By Zac & Don

A podcast that discusses an interesting article or concept.... more

· Education

4.9

3232 ratings

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FAQs about The Best Paragraph I've Read...:

How many episodes does The Best Paragraph I've Read... have?

The podcast currently has 269 episodes available.

The Best Paragraph I've Read... episodes:

September 28, 2023 Elon Musk Part 1: Is He the Greatest Winner of Capitalism Ever? Does It Matter If He's Not Nice? What Should We Make of His Risk Tolerance, First Principles Thinking, Tormented Childhood?
The Best Paragraph I've Read:
"His heritage and breeding, along with the hardwiring of his
brain, made him at times, Callous and impulsive. It also led to an exceedingly high tolerance for risk. He could calculate it coldly and also embrace it feverishly. "Elon wants risk for its own sake," says Peter Thiel, who became his partner in the early days of PayPal. "He seems to enjoy it, indeed it times be addicted to it."
He became one of those people who feels most of alive when a hurricane is coming. "I was born for a storm, and calm does not suit me," Andrew Jackson one said. Likewise, with Musk. He developed a siege mentality that included an attraction, sometimes a craving, for storm and drama, both at work and in the romantic relationships he struggled and failed to maintain. He thrived on crises, deadlines and wild surges of work. When he faced tortuous challengesc, the strain would often keep him awake at night and make him vomit. But it also energized him. "He is a drama magnet," says Kimbal. "That's his compulsion, the theme of his life."
This paragraph comes from the new Elon Musk biography. The author is Walter Issacson. You can purchase the book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Elon-Musk-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1982181281
Zac and Don share their thoughts on the first half of the biography.
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52min
September 21, 2023 Taco Bell Innovations! Crunchwrap! Doritos Locos Taco! How Do They Keep Inventing Such Products? Is Taco Bell Cool? What's Its Role In Society?
The Best Paragraph I've Read:

Taco Bell’s food-innovation staff, which includes sixty developers, focusses on big questions: How do you make a Cheez-It snack cracker big enough to be a tostada? What are the ideal Cheez-It dimensions to guarantee that the tostada won’t crack inconveniently when bitten into? Or consider the Doritos Locos Taco: What safeguards can be implemented to prevent the orange Doritos dust from staining a consumer’s hands or clothing? Can fourteen Flamin’ Hot Fritos corn chips be
added to the middle of a burrito and retain their crunch? Can a taco shell be made out of a waffle, or a folded slab of chicken Milanese? These are all problems of architecture and scalability; fast food is assembly, not cooking.
This paragraph comes from The New Yorker. The article is titled: "Taco Bell's Innovation Kitchen, The Front Line In the Stunt-Food Wars." The author is Antonia Hitchens. You can read the full article here:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/04/24/taco-bells-innovation-kitchen-the-front-line-in-the-stunt-food-wars
Zac and Don discuss the innovations of Taco Bell. They discuss the science and engineering behind the development of the Crunchwrap and Doritos Locos Taco. They also discuss how Taco Bell has impacted their lives.
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42min
September 14, 2023 Ignoring Conventional Wisdom! Should We Rethink: Donating Used Clothes, Replanting Trees from Wildfire, Drinking Water? Which Idea Needs to be Rethought First?
The Best Paragraph I've Read:
"Consider: only between 10 and 30 percent of second-hand donations to charity shops are actually resold in store. The rest disappears into a machine you don’t see: a vast sorting apparatus in which donated goods are graded and then resold on to commercial partners, often for export to the Global South.
The problem is that, with the onslaught of fast fashion, these donations are too often now another means of trash disposal—and the system can’t cope. Consider: around 62 million tons of clothing is manufactured worldwide every year, amounting to somewhere between 80 and 150 billion garments to clothe 8 billion people.
We rarely see the networks of people involved in processing, reselling, and eventually reusing the things we donate—vast networks that encircle the globe like a ball of yarn, conveying our unwanted things to people in places like Afghanistan or Togo or Bangladesh. Like anything we put in the bin, they are sent “away.” In this case not thrown, but given."
This paragraph comes from GQ. The article is titled: "What Really Happens to the Clothes You Donate." The author is: Oliver Franklin-Wallis. You can read the full article here:
https://www.gq.com/story/oliver-franklin-wallis-wasteland-excerpt#:~:text=Consider%3A%20only%20between%2010%20and,export%20to%20the%20Global%20South.
Zac and Don discuss conventional thinking and wonder which generally accepted idea should be ignored. In addition to ignoring the conventional thinking of donating used clothes, they also wonder if we should not replant trees that have been burned in forest fire, and if we are already drinking too much water.
You can read the replanting trees and drink water articles here:
Replanting Trees
https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/sequoias-national-park-18261745.php
Drinking Water
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/08/drinking-water-hydration-amount-importance/674926/
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37min
August 31, 2023 Michigan Football's 1997 Championship Team! Co-author Mark Snyder Discusses His New Book, Lloyd Carr, Charles Woodson, Into Thin Air, & Other Stories from Michigan's Last Championship Season.
The Best Paragraph I've Read:
Comes from a new book titled Mountain Top: The Inside Story of Michigan's 1997 National Title Climb. The authors are Nick Baumgardner & Mark Snyder.
You can purchase the book here.
Zac and Don are joined by co-author Mark Snyder. They discuss Michigan's 1997 championship football season. Marks shares some of his favorite coach and player anecdotes. They discuss the process of writing the book. They also wonder whether it's easier to win in college football today or back in the 90's.
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52min
August 24, 2023 Shopping Returns! Do Americans Return too Many Things? Where Does the Stuff Go? Are Stores too Generous With Return Policies? Should We Feel Bad About the Carbon Footprint?
The Best Paragraph I've Read:
Steady growth in Internet shopping has been accompanied
by steady growth in returns of all kinds. A forest’s worth of artificial
Christmas trees goes back every January. Bags of green plastic Easter grass go back every spring. Returns of large-screen TVs surge immediately following the Super Bowl. People who buy portable generators during weather emergencies use them until the emergencies have ended, and then those go back, too. A friend of mine returned so many digital books to Audible that the company now makes her call or e-mail if she wants to return another. People who’ve been invited to
fancy parties sometimes buy expensive outfits or accessories, then return them the next day, caviar stains and all—a practice known as “wardrobing.” Brick-and-mortar shoppers also return purchases. “Petco takes back dead fish,”Demer said. “Home Depot and Lowe’s let you return dead plants, for a year. You just have to be shameless enough to stand in line with the thing you killed.” It almost goes without saying that Americans are the world’s leading refund seekers; consumers in Japan seldom return anything.
This paragraph comes from the New Yorker. The article is titled: "What Happens to All the Stuff We Return?" The article is written by David Owen. You can read the full article here:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/21/the-hidden-cost-of-free-returns
Zac and Don discuss the world of retail and online shopping returns. They reflect on some of the returns they have made. They marvel at how how cheap certain goods remain even when the cost of returns are built in.
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46min
August 10, 2023 Should Schools Sue Facebook, Google, Snap, & TikTok? How Does Social Media Impact the School Day? Burner Phones & Invisible Messages! Can Even the "Good" Parents Win? Solutions? Sara Wendland Joins!
The Best Paragraph I've Read:
Plaintiffs’ lawyers are pitching school boards throughout the country to file lawsuits against social-media companies on allegations that their apps cause classroom disciplinary problems and mental-health issues,
diverting resources from education.
Nearly 200 school districts so far have joined the litigation against the parent companies of Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube. The suits have been consolidated in the U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., along with hundreds of suits by families alleging harms to their children from social media.
The lawsuits face a test later this year when a judge is expected to consider a motion by the tech companies to dismiss the cases on
grounds that the conduct allegedly causing the harm is protected under the internet liability shield known as Section 230.
School districts say teachers and administrators waste valuable time responding to cyberbullying and other disciplinary problems,
adding new training and school policies around social-media use, and counseling youths whose addiction to online apps is leading to anxiety, depression or suicidal thoughts.
This paragraph comes from the Wall Street Journal. The article is titled: "Schools Sue Social-Media Platforms Over Alleged Harms to Students." The article is written by Sara Randazzo and Ryan Tracy. You can read the full article here:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/schools-sue-social-media-platforms-over-alleged-harms-to-students-ebca91a5
Middle School Principal Sara Wendland joins Zac and Don to discuss the issue of social media in schools. They share their thoughts about the proposed lawsuit. They also talk about their jobs in schools and how social media impacts their day and school climate.
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1h 2min
August 04, 2023 Weddings & the Planners Who Make them Happen! Why Do Weddings Seem Stressful? Why Are they So Expensive? Is It Ok If You're Sad When It's Over?
The Best Paragraph I've Read:
It’s not the wedding professionals’ fault that weddings are expensive. The fact is that weddings are luxuries, not necessities. It costs a lot to make something look nice; it costs even more to make it feel nice—to make sure all your guests are comfortable, and well fed, and entertained. A wedding is not a photograph of a wedding. A wedding—a good wedding—is immersive theater, a living, breathing work of art.
This paragraph comes from The Atlantic. The article is titled: "The Fake Poor Bride." The author is Xochitl Gonzalez. You can read the full article here:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/07/luxury-wedding-planners-industrial-complex-cost/674169/
Zac and Don discuss the world of weddings and wedding planners. They admire the expense and considerations needed when planning a wedding. They also discuss the fallout on the day after a wedding.
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34min
July 27, 2023 The Case Against Travel! Is Being A Tourist Bad? Should People Stop Traveling? Does Traveling Change A Person or the Place More?
The Best Paragraph I've Read:

A tourist is a temporarily leisured person who voluntarily visits a place away from home for the purpose of experiencing a change. This definition is taken from the opening of "Hosts and Guests," the classic academic volume on the anthropology of tourism. The last phrase is crucial: touristic travel exists for the sake of change. But what, exactly, gets changed? Here is a telling observation from the concluding chapter of the same book: "Tourists are less likely to borrow from their hosts than their hosts are from them, thus precipitating a chain of change in the host community." We go to experience a change, but end up inflicting change on others.

This paragraph comes from an essay in the New Yorker, titled: "The Case Against Travel." The essay is written by Agnes Callard. You can read the full essay here:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/the-case-against-travel

Zac and Don reflect upon the arguments made against travel. They also reflect upon their recent summer travels and how that fits within the case against travel.
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39min
July 13, 2023 The Water Crisis Out West! Who's at Fault? Alfalfa? Cheese? Almonds? 1st Pioneers? People Continuing to Move West? Is there Actually a Crisis? Why Aren't Water Prices Higher? Is Desalination the Key?
The Best Paragraph I've Read:
The idea of building a desalination plant in Mexico has been discussed in Arizona for years. But now, a $5 billion project proposed by an Israeli company is under serious consideration, an indication of how worries about water shortages are rattling policymakers in Arizona and across the American West. On June 1, the state announced that the Phoenix area, the fastest-growing region in the country, doesn’t have enough groundwater to support all the future housing that has already been approved. Cities and developers that want to build additional projects beyond what has already been allowed would have to find new sources of water.
This paragraph comes from the New York Times, in an article titled: "Arizona, Low on Water, Weighs Taking It From the Sea. In Mexico. The article is written by Christopher Flavelle. You can read the full article here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/10/climate/arizona-desalination-water-climate.html
The following article from Vox.com is also discussed:
Let's Talk About the Biggest Cause of the West's water crisis.
Zac and Don discuss water scarcity in America's west. They wonder if desalinization technology is the ultimate solution for everything. They also wonder what role water prices need to play. They also wonder how much we should care about the water intensive crop of alfalfa.
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43min
June 29, 2023 Happy 4th of July! What Makes America Great? Our ADA Act? Big Retail? Year Round Fruit? Our Enormous Amount of Space? Free Bathrooms? Central Air? Our Highways & Public Libraries? & More Ideas!
The Best Paragraph I've Read:
Listen, the US is a big dumpster fire. At least, it's easy to feel that way with the constant horrible news — and any and all apathy and distress we feel is valid.
But we often tend to forget about the good things about America. So, when Reddit user u/hippiechick725 asked, "What's the best thing about the US?" and a bunch of people from other countries or those who have traveled a lot chimed in, it was actually a really needed reminder of the things Americans can appreciate about the US. So, in case you need a little bit of perspective and positivity, read on to hear what people think the US is actually killing the game at.
This paragraph comes from an article in BuzzFeed titled: "America Gets A Lot Of Hate, But You Can't Deny That These 35 Things About It Are Actually So Top Tier." The article is written by Hannah Marder. You can read the full article here:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahmarder/good-things-about-america
Zac and Don consider the BuzzFeed list of things that make America great. They discuss everything from Costco, year round fruit, regional food, national parks, the ADA Act, Entertainment, being nice and more.
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58min

FAQs about The Best Paragraph I've Read...:

How many episodes does The Best Paragraph I've Read... have?

The podcast currently has 269 episodes available.

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