#AcademicRunPlaylist - 10/3/25

Author

Ben Waber
October 03, 2025

My medium sized black dog who has a white stripe from his chest to his belly and my large golden-ish dog on a worn, wooden, grey deck with a few deck chairs. My black dog is rolling over to expose his belly, while my larger dog is just getting up from laying down in the sun.

I had a good end to the week hanging out with these guys and listening to talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was an interesting talk by Binghao Huang on flexible tactile skin for dexterous manipulation at the GRASP Lab https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol9fWgILFz4

Next was a BLS-less review of the state of the US economy by Gregory Brown at the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYxyDnNMYs

Next was a great panel on high-growth entrepreneurship in developing countries with Christopher Woodruff, Eghosa Omoigui, Denis Medvedev, and Paul Gompers at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv-Pv0zPiBc

Last was "Kindred" by Rebecca Wragg Sykes. This book is an excellent mix of scientific rigor and engaging prose, walking through different aspects of the state of scientific knowledge around Neanderthals to provide a holistic picture of their biology, social practices, and relationships with Homo sapiens. While the popular view of Neanderthals has been changing for some time, Wragg Sykes demonstrates the thin line between many Neanderthal practices and those of modern humans, with the implications of the anatomical differences that do exist becoming that much more intriguing. You're not going to get a big reveal about their extinction - we simply don't know exactly what happened - but there is good exploration of competing theories. Highly recommend https://www.rebeccawraggsykes.com/kindred