Weekend Reading, Watching, and Listening Recommendations (January 15, 2021)

How Apple and Google Formed One of Tech’s Most Powerful Partnerships; Steve Levitt talks to Paul Romer; Commuting is bad for your health; Drone Privacy Laws Around the World

1. Read: China’s Radical New Vision Of Globalisation [by James Crabtree via Noema magazine]

2. Read: The Beautiful, Dumb Dream of McDonald’s Peace Theory: In the rich, lazy, and happy 1990s, Americans imagined a world that could be just like them. [via Foreign Policy]

3. Read: Toyota's game-changing solid-state battery en route for 2021 debut. A trip of 500 km on one charge. A recharge from zero to full in 10 minutes. All with minimal safety concerns. The solid-state battery being introduced by Toyota promises to be a game changer not just for electric vehicles but for an entire industry.

4. Listen: Too Much Of A Good Thing: The Cautionary Tale of Biotech Crops: Some of the most popular agricultural biotech products are running into problems. We look at what happens when farmers use too much of a good thing. [via NPR Short Wave]

5. Listen: Steve Levitt talks to Paul Romer. An exhilarating conversation between two very smart economists.

6. Watch: How Apple and Google Formed One of Tech’s Most Powerful Partnerships [via the Wall Street Journal]

7. Watch: It's not you. Commuting is bad for your health.

   8. Mapped: Drone Privacy Laws Around the World