#AcademicRunPlaylist - 10/10/25

I really felt the first bite of fall today, and while bundling up I listened to talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was an interesting talk by François Blot on neuronal diversity at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sh42bCFHqY

Next was the last day of the National Bureau of Economic Research economics of executive compensation conference. I highly recommend the whole day, and I especially liked the talk by John Barry on human capital, competition, and mobility in the managerial labor market https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRH-JcKKeCc

Last was "Vietnam: A New History" by Christopher Goscha. Goscha does a good job centering Vietnam itself in this history, rather than the various international powers that have interacted with it over the centuries. He does kind of speedrun the pre-colonial period, and I wasn't the biggest fan of the chapter organization - it goes more or less chronologically but see-saws between topics, hurtling back 50+ years in new sections. Still, given Vietnam's importance in global history and its growing role on the international stage, this book gives a good base to jump off from. Highly recommend https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/christopher-goscha/vietnam/9780465094370/