Here is my selection of some articles that I found interesting. They will make for good reading this weekend or any other time really. 

• Do Big Advertisers even matter to the platforms? John Battelle makes a good case the P&G and Unilever need Google and Facebook more than the evil ad twins need them. I agree with John here.
• The Queen of Less: A conversation with Jil Sander, a celebrated designer (and former fashion editor) who turned minimalism into high-fashion. As a fan of her work, this interview gave me a good insight into her thinking.
• Blockchain isn’t as radical as you want it to be: A socio-political critique of the technology idea that is sweeping Silicon Valley and creating a financial bubble, well since the last bubble. I wish more contrarian pieces were this passionate, sans anger and drama.
• Putin’s Long Game: The recent indictments by U.S. Special Counsel show that Russians have a plan – it is to take tools of capitalism and turn them again capitalism itself. This piece is from January 2017 and gives a proper context on how Vladimir Putin’s game plan.
• Made in the U.S.D.A: Another piece from the past, where Michael Lewis takes a look at the current US administration’s systematic dismantling of the Department of Agriculture and the work of its scientists. The long-term damage of anti-science thinking cannot be underscored. I worry about that more than anything else.
• The Affluencers: Instagram has been a huge disruption for the fashion industry. A few Instagrammers have a huge influence, as New York magazine points out. Fun story to read, if you want to understand the cultural importance of Instagram.
• How a couple fought back against Google and became its bigger nightmare: Shivaun and Adam Raff, after 12 years of fighting had been vindicated. Google, EU Commissioners decided, had abused its market dominance to ruin their comparison shopping service, Foundem. The Internet version of the David vs Goliath story, this is an excellent read.