Guest post by Jeff Mosenkis of Innovations for Poverty Action.

We’re hitting the links a bit early this week for Thanksgiving.

• Canada has a unique system that allows groups of private citizens to sponsor refugees.
• Todd Schneider analyzed data from 1.1 billion New York taxi and Uber rides and mapped them.
• A new UN/World Bank report finds that closing the gender gap between male and female farmers in agricultural productivity could feed over 500,000 more people in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda.
• Noah Smith wonders why we keep teaching econ 101 the same way we always have, when empirical tests show many theory-based assertions such as raising minimum wage decreasing employment, don’t appear to be true in practice.
• Adam Davidson points out in the NYTimes Magazine, that we don’t have good data on most of what works in aid, and contrasts with other models where getting funding requires proof that what your’re doing works.
  • And on his Surprisingly Awesome podcast on how cement is the foundation of civilizations, also points out in passing that we don’t think about it much in the U.S., but any developing country head of state will know the top concrete suppliers in their country very well. And when disasters happen, many of the deaths in those countries are due not to the disaster itself, but to the shoddy concrete construction.
• The Tiny Spark podcast explores very interesting topics in development and is kicking off three episodes on smart holiday charitable giving.
• And a reminder if you’re hitting the road, find other podcasts we like at IPA’s Great Holiday Travel Podcast Playlist.

And Vice has the story of the German auto mechanic who commutes to be a king in Ghana several times a year.