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THE PROFILE DOSSIER: On Wednesday, premium members received The Profile Dossier, a comprehensive deep-dive on a prominent individual. It featured Kyle Maynard, the man pushing the limits of human potential. Become a premium member & read it below.

The Profile

The Profile Dossier: Kyle Maynard, The Man Pushing the Limits of Human Potential

Kyle Maynard is a wrestler, CrossFit instructor, gym owner, MMA fighter, weightlifter, and mountaineer. Given that Maynard enjoys extreme sports, it may be surprising for you to hear that he has a rare condition known as congenital amputation, which means that he was born with arms that end at the elbows and legs that end near the knees…

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4 days ago · 4 likes · 2 comments · Polina Pompliano

PROFILES.

— The last sane man on Wall Street [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The game creator who accidentally went viral
— The beloved Disney star that’s all grown up
— The Instagrammers cloning their pets
— The movie star reflecting on a volatile career

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The last sane man on Wall Street: Nathan Anderson, the founder of Hindeburg Research, is an activist short seller. He has smoked out scammy cannabis operations. He has investigated alleged ties between a Colombian drug cartel and the owners of a glass company profiting from Miami’s pandemic building boom. Hindenburg registered five of the top-ten short calls of 2020. But in a market that’s becoming more and more frothy, could Anderson’s short-selling strategy backfire? (New York Magazine)

“We can find compelling stories all day long, things that we think are totally fucked up. But it’s a lot harder to get investors to think that it matters.”

The game creator who accidentally went viral: British-raised New York resident Josh Wardle, who used to work at Reddit and is now a software engineer at Brooklyn art collective Mschf, originally built Wordle last year for his partner, a word puzzle enthusiast, for them to play together. He only shared it with family and a few friends, but in the blink of an eye, all hell broke loose. Over the space of weeks, the game grew from fewer than 1,000 to 2 million players. Here’s a Q&A with the man who created the game we can’t stop playing. (TechCrunch)

“What I built [at the start] is the game that everyone is playing today. It was definitely not the intention when I started.”

The beloved Disney star that’s all grown up: If you’re a millennial, you most certainly remember watching “Lizzie McGuire” after school. In the 20-plus years since she became a tween Disney icon, Hilary Duff has gradually learned not to take herself, or the Internet, too seriously. She even has a little pep talk she gives herself when moments from her past pop up, as they often do: “I have such a great life that I have to be like, ‘Oh, that’s funny.’ Or, ‘Oh, that was a rough period. But I made it through,’” she says. (Bustle)

“I think I was just playing myself. And I really related to that girl. She was me, and I was her, and that was that.”

The Instagrammers cloning their pets: Well this one’s a doozy. People who make content — and cash — off of their pets on Instagram have a problem on their hands when their pets die. One solution? Many Instagram influencers are turning to services that clone pets for $35,000 to $50,000. “Someone could clone their pet and replace the original. The world doesn’t have to know. They may never know,” says Melain Rodriguez, client service manager at cloning company ViaGen. (Input Magazine)

“I get a lot of crap about cloning. People say I have zombie dogs, or they call me a crazy rich girl. It was hurtful to me at first.”

The movie star reflecting on a volatile career: Actor Ben Affleck will turn 50 this year, and he’s approaching this milestone with a degree of self-reflection, if not dread. After a tumultuous decade in his career and his personal life — marked by great highs and deep lows — Affleck says he is at peace these days. Here’s how he’s approaching this next season of life. (LA Times)

“I’ve got to live with myself, my life and my choices and how that makes me feel. And I’m just glad I figured that out.”

✨ This installment of The Profile is free for everyone. If you would like to get full access to all of the recommendations, including today’s audio and video sections, sign up below.

AUDIO TO HEAR.

Will Storr on how to play the status game: Given the choice, more people would opt for a prestigious job title than a higher salary. “We have evolved to crave status on a fundamental level,” says journalist Will Storr. “Status is like an essential nutrient for the mind.” In this episode, Storr explains why status is so important, and why you should choose your friends carefully. (Link available to premium members.)

Sarah Silverman on turning away from the mirror: We’ve become a pretty self-absorbed society. In this interview, comedian and actress Sarah Silverman shares a piece of advice her therapist gave her: “Look in the mirror less.” Silverman found it profound because when we look in the mirror, we don’t see what other people see. “We cognitively distort what we see in the mirror so much,” she says. Introspection is great — until it becomes detrimental. (Link available to premium members.)

Fred Haise and Jim Lovell on surviving Apollo 13: Fifty years ago, roughly 200,000 miles away from Earth, James Swigert, Fred Haise, and Jim Lovell were the crew members of Apollo 13. When Swigert flipped one switch for a routine churn of the liquid oxygen tanks, oxygen tank number two exploded, which led to a chain reaction that left the crew in a dire situation. Swigert then says the famous phrase: "Houston, we have a problem.” In this podcast, Lovell and Haise recount their fateful Apollo 13 mission, what it took to survive, and how it’s affected their outlook on life going forward. (Link available to premium members.)

VIDEOS TO SEE.

Stephen King on his writing process: Author Stephen King doesn't outline his novels before he begins the writing process. He typically draws inspiration from a real-life situation and asks himself, "What if X had happened instead?" Little by little, he begins to add in and develop characters as he explores the situation. "A lot of the things sort of come together and work together — and you let them," he says. "You don't try to manage these people and push them around. You just sort of let them be who they're going to be." (Link available to premium members.)

Matt Mullenweg the future of open source: Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg says open source is the most adaptable form of technology. It can evolve much faster than proprietary software. “I think it’s inevitable over a long enough time frame that all crucial technology either has an open-source option or the open-source option becomes a natural monopoly,” he says. (Link available to premium members.)