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Welcome to the Kotke Ride Home for Monday, February 7th, 2022.

I'm Jackson Bird today.

Micromorts, the unit of measurement that predicts your risk of death.

How effective are they and how could we make them more effective,

especially with regards to the pandemic. Plus, why Washington State is

building highway overpasses for cougars. And two rappers who have been added to the Super Bowl

halftime show lineup and will be making history with their performances. Here are some of the cool

things from the news today.

Let's talk about death and statistics. Two great ways to start a podcast. So this morning,

one of my favorite authors, Kurt Anderson, tweeted a newsletter from one of my favorite podcast

hosts Stephen Johnson. Johnson is a writer who hosts

many shows and podcasts, but my favorite is American Innovations from Wondery. And it covers the

history of inventions, things like air conditioning and auto tune and electric television,

in a kind of narrative way with characters and everything. I love it.

Johnson's newsletter, adjacent possible, is similar. He describes it as, quote, exploring where

good ideas come from, and how to keep them from turning against us, end quote. And in last week's

...