Weekly Filet #278: Today, explained by the financial crisis. And more.
1. After the Fall (London Review of Books)
A sharp analysis of how the financial crisis of 2008 and the recession that followed have laid the groundwork for Trump, Brexit and the rise of nationalism in general. Features an interesting quote by Napoleon that's worth keeping in mind: that to understand a person, you must understand what the world looked like when he was twenty.
2. Trial runs for fascism are in full flow (The Irish Times)
«To grasp what is going on in the world right now, we need to reflect on two things. One is that we are in a phase of trial runs. The other is that what is being trialled is fascism – a word that should be used carefully but not shirked when it is so clearly on the horizon.»
3. 200 Years of U.S. Immigration Looks Like the Rings of a Tree (National Geographic)
It's simple visualisation, but it introduces a helpful new metaphor to the migration discourse – new at least to me.
4. Algorithms to Live By (Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths)
One of my favourite books that I've read recently. With all the negative connotations algorithms have been in the news with lately, it's worth remembering what they actually are: sets of rules for computing things. Things that might be quite useful. When to stop looking for your ideal home, how to schedule Todos, when to introduce randomness to your decisions.
5. Below the Surface
The city of Amsterdam drained one of its canals, catalogued every single thing they found and put them all online.
On a final note: Due to imminent, supposedly rather joyful changes in my personal life, this might very well be the last Weekly Filet for a while. In the meantime, I'll keep saving publicly whatever I find interesting on Refind, if you'd like to follow along. If you desperately need a newsletter to fill the void, subscribe to Julian's. It's been consistently the best among those I read over the past couple of months (only in German though – blame him).