We often set aside articles that are longer, deserve a re-read, are broader in scope…or just for fun - for weekend reading. Below are some from this week - pour yourself a hot cup of coffee & enjoy...

• 50 Facts From 1H 2025: Steve Ballmer receives roughly $1 billion in Microsoft dividends annually; Mag7 added $11 trillion in market cap (Jan 2023 – Jan 2025) the equivalent of all UK, French, and German stock market caps combined (The Idea Farm)

• For the first time since COVID, more than half of Fortune 100 companies have mandated workers fully return to work as hybrid options wither (Fortune)

• Housing Solutions: Canadian non-profit, Canada HomeShare, matches Boomers and Seniors with university students or adults 55+. It started in 2018 as the Toronto HomeShare Pilot Project funded by the City of Toronto and it’s a rare example of a pilot project growing to be a national one.

• Everyone’s the hero of their own story: How to comprehend the incomprehensible. (Useful Fictions)

• A Funny Thing About Dave Barry - Memoir Review (TFP)

• 44 books curious minds wished they’d discovered sooner: 44 books curious minds (Weekly Filet)

• What if the Big Bang wasn’t the beginning? Our research suggests it may have taken place inside a black hole: The Big Bang is often described as the explosive birth of the universe – a singular moment when space, time and matter sprang into existence. But what if this was not the beginning at all? What if our universe emerged from something else – something more familiar and radical at the same time? (The Conversation)

• Hardly Workin’ The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on life support, and consumer scam complaints are surging as a result. The Trump administration wants to pull the plug. (American Prospect)

• The Death of the Middle-Class Musician: It’s easier than ever to make music, and harder than ever to make a living from it. (The Walrus)

• ICE Lawyers Are Hiding Their Names in Immigration Court: ICE attorneys fighting to deport immigrants are able to obscure their identities — no masks required. (The Intercept)

• Why Texas’ floods are a warning for the rest of the country (Politico)

• How GLP-1s Are Breaking Life Insurance: Patients look healthy on paper. Two years later, they’re high-risk again. (GLP-1 Digest)

• Toronto has failed to keep up with the rest of the world on Public Transit (Source: Substack)
  

• Fertility rates are declining everywhere (Source: McKinsey)
  

What are you reading or listening to?