Complicated things, made visible.
Short articles that show you the shape of how systems work — money, policy, science, tech, culture.
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How Medicare actually prices a doctor's visit
A basic office visit code costs $28.48 under Medicare, not because of market rates, but because a committee assigns relative value units to time and risk.
Why 87% of active funds lose to the S&P 500 over 25 years
SPIVA data shows large-cap active funds underperform the index over long horizons, driven by fee compounding and manager turnover.
Buybacks leave shareholders with more after-tax wealth than dividends
A $1 buyback often leaves a shareholder with more after-tax wealth than a $1 dividend because capital gains taxes can be deferred.
money_ more in money →
Why 87% of active funds lose to the S&P 500 over 25 years
Buybacks leave shareholders with more after-tax wealth than dividends
A Roth Conversion Is Worth It When the Current Rate Is Lower
What a 0.4% expense ratio actually costs you over 30 years
policy_ more in policy →
How Medicare actually prices a doctor's visit
How to spot a gerrymander with one number
What it actually means when CBO says a bill costs $1.2 trillion
Why the FAA writes rules and the NTSB investigates crashes — and why they disagree
science_ more in science →
Why only 1 in 10 drugs entering Phase 1 makes it to market
Why CRISPR cuts DNA and base editing doesn't
What mRNA does between your shoulder and your immune system
Why an H100 GPU has 4 different kinds of memory
tech_ more in tech →
The 18,432-core difference between an H100 and a CPU is structural, not arbitrary
What happens between kubectl apply and a running container
Why a database sharded across 8 servers can be slower than 1
How HTTP/3 cuts connection latency by removing TCP handshakes
culture_ more in culture →
Why your "$80,000 scholarship" is mostly a discount, not a check
How a book publisher pays $50,000 for a book that earns $30,000
Supermarket profits come from the shelves, not the price tags
Why airlines are loyalty companies that happen to fly planes