What we are reading – for laughs, for serious thought and discussion, and just because

She’s right: This is the Fourth Grader who Asked Obama to put a Woman on the $20 Bill, from BuzzFeed News

Technology: Musk Plots Energy Storage fix Where Utility Industry Failed, from Bloomberg

Humor: Cookie Monster, Life Coach – on YouTube

Health: A 2-Minute Walk May Counter the Harms of Sitting – Even a few minutes per hour of moving instead of remaining in a chair might substantially reduce the risk of premature death.

Language: 20 Common Phrases Even the Smartest People Misuse, from The Muse

Comedy: Penn Jillette’s Big Dumb American Crush on Howard Johnson’s, from Eater

How to Be Emotionally Intelligent – What makes a leader? Knowledge, smarts and vision, but also the ability to identify and monitor emotions and manage relationships. From the NY Times

Comedy: The Man Who Makes the World’s Funniest People Even Funnier. As comedies become increasingly improvisational, they need an editor like Brent White to sew them together. From the NY Times- Quote: “Sometimes you just create a joke out of nothing.”

How Music Hijacks Our Perception of Time, from Nautilus – Quote: “The Royal Automobile Club deemed Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyrie the most dangerous music to listen to while driving.”

What Is Your Purpose? We need to forge new ways to seriously discuss the deepest questions in life with modern tools. This is a start. From the NY Times

What we are reading this month – hope you find something interesting about which you did not know (which will make for an interesting discussion when you tell others)

Exploring Why Some People Get Fitter Than Others: A new study in rats adds to a growing body of data about how and why bodies respond so differently to exercise.

The Brain’s Empathy Gap – Can mapping neural pathways help us make friends with our enemies? Quote: “Here, as in Ireland, otherwise-reasonable people could not bring themselves to consider the opposing side’s perspective, and as a result could not muster compassion for their suffering.”

The Best and Worst Fonts to Use on Your Résumé.

A Racy Silicon Valley Lawsuit, and More Subtle Questions About Sex Discrimination. Women can find themselves caught in a double standard at work, needing to promote themselves and yet not appear too pushy. As David Streitfeld, who is covering the trial for The New York Times, wrote, men at the venture firm essentially told Ms. Pao: “Speak up — but don’t talk too much. Light up the room — but don’t overshadow others. Be confident and critical — but not cocky or negative.”

Conan O’Brien’s history-making Cuba mission: ‘Make them laugh’ – LA Times.

Lake Michigan is So Clear Right Now its Shipwrecks Are Visible From the Air | Smart News | Smithsonian.

Karen, an App That Knows You All Too Well – An interactive app from the British art group Blast Theory is part story, part game and leaves its users feeling distinctly uncomfortable.

What Part of ‘No, Totally’ Don’t You Understand? (how “no” means “yes”)

Formula 1 aerodynamics will make grocery stores more efficient.

Start-Up Blends Old-Fashioned Matchmaking and Algorithms. Like most start-up founders, Ms. Kay and Ms. Tessler saw a problem in a market they knew well, one that wasn’t caused by a lack of technology, but by too much. The problem was cost-effective dating and the market was love. After starting a group dating company, the founders shifted course with the help of user feedback.

Charm Offensive. Millennials Are Horrible at Being Charming Online – Slate.com

Allan Turing and the Apple. Some have said that the Apple logo is a tribute to Alan Turning, as he took a bite of an Apple when he committed suicide.