Welcome to Bespoke Brunch Reads — a linkfest of the favorite things we read over the past week. The links are mostly market related, but there are some other interesting subjects covered as well. We hope you enjoy the food for thought as a supplement to the research we provide you during the week.

Science

Redrawing the Map: How the World’s Climate Zones Are Shifting by Nicola Jones (Yale Environment 360)

A review of shifting boundaries for temperate or fertile regions around the world. Some of the shift is driven by our own impact on the broader climate through fossil fuel emissions and other factors but those aren’t the only reasons that arid regions are expanding. [Link]

Toxin or treatment? by Jennifer Couzin-Frankel (Science)

New treatments for extreme allergies are focused on gradually exposing children to very small amounts of allergen, gradually ramping up doses to build a tolerance and cure their allergy. [Link]

History

Joachim Ronneberg: Norwegian who thwarted Nazi nuclear plan dies (BBC)

In 1943 a daring team of saboteurs orchestrated the most under-appreciated mission of the Second World War, blowing up a key Nazi installation that could have allowed progress on a nuclear bomb. Its last member and a long-time advocate of peace has died. [Link]

Weird News

The Unsolved Murder of An Unusual Billionaire (Bloomberg)

A penetrating investigation of the death of one of Canada’s richest men, whose philanthropy and idiosyncrasies drew attention but nothing even approaching the ire that could motivate his murder and that of his wife. [Link; soft paywall]

Disney World’s Big Secret: It’s a Favorite Spot to Scatter Family Ashes by Erich Schwartzel (WSJ)

Roughly once per month, guests scatter the ashes of loved ones somewhere in Walt Disney World or Disneyland, in a combination of touching gesture and extremely weird tie-in of consumerism to last rites. DIS [Link; paywall]

Flops

This Bank Lost 50% Of Its Value And Taught Us All A Lesson We Forgot by The Dividend Guy (Seeking Alpha)