YouTube’s algorithm recommended to me a 25-minute documentary about the 2010 Flash Crash. It was such an interesting case from the perspective of the crash’s main architect (and the personnel themselves) that I thought I’d share it with the public.
A search didn’t seem to find a thread on the topic, although in the Investment Literature thread, works in the field are discussed from the perspective of factual/textbook-like literature. In this thread, I think we could share recommendations and discuss works related to the field, from documentaries to movies, literature, and news articles.
Have any forum members come across exceptionally excellent recommendations?
I could start by throwing out a few recent recommendations:
- The Bad Blood book about Theranos’ rise to become a unicorn in the startup world and the subsequent collapse behind the scenes. This investigative journalism-based startup thriller is hard to put down. I believe it was among Bill Gates’ top book recommendations a few years ago. For audiobook lovers, a version is available on most services, and for the lazier ones, HBO’s The Inventor documentary is a pretty decent depiction of what happened (though it doesn’t compare to the book). A Hollywood film adaptation is also reportedly in the works.
- Hulu’s WeWork documentary was just released a week or two ago. As a documentary, it’s not groundbreaking, but it’s a very educational story, for better or worse, about the startup world and the absurd valuation multiples of the tech boom. Adam Neumann’s sales skills and cult-like reputation also somewhat resemble the hype surrounding Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes.
In terms of literature, Nassim Taleb’s Fooled by Randomness, alongside The Black Swan, is quite familiar material, but worth mentioning if, and since, several others here probably appreciate these contemplative, semi-educational entertainment works combining economics, mathematics, behavioral sciences, and philosophy. The link leads to an audiobook uploaded to YouTube in 2017, so it requires no effort if you want to check it out.
Currently on my reading list are, among others, James Gleick’s Chaos (chaos theory), The Smartest Guys in the Room (case Enron), Super Crunchers, and The Man Who Solved the Market (Jim Simmons a’la Medallion Fund). Unfortunately, audiobooks for these are not available on basic Storytells and similar services, so I’ll have to find a new, easy, and user-friendly way to listen.