1. The coronavirus’s constantly evolving nature is a stark reminder that the entire world is in this crisis together
This pandemic keeps challenging our ability to think in complex systems. A lot of the coverage on vaccinations is currently framed as a race: Which countries are fastest, which ones are lagging behind? This article serves as a good reminder to think about the big picture, instead: Speed is essential and saves lives, yes. However, the race is won when everyone has reached the finish line, not when «your» country has crossed it. «The failure to address vaccine allocation based on health and epidemiological needs, rather than national interest, is now promising to have a dire impact on the world’s ability to achieve rapid, global control of COVID.» Read it now.
2. How to be lucky
A short and helpful guide on how to look for the unexpected and find serendipity. Luck might strike randomly, but you can create conditions under which you’re more likely to benefit from it. A bit like maximising your chances for serendipitously discovering great content by subscribing to a newsletter that always finds gems on the web. 😇 Read the guide now.
3. I Slowed Down to Walk the Earth, but the World Sped Up
This week, I remembered this project I first heard of years ago: the Out of Eden Walk. Reporter Paul Salopek is on a 21'000-mile walk across the world in the footsteps of our forebears, from Ethiopia to Patagonia. He started in 2013, currently the pandemic has more or less grounded him in the Himalayas. His latest dispatch is a reflection on this moment in time. Read more.
4. To Understand This Era, You Need to Think in Systems
In this podcast episode, you’ll understand new things about Covid, science, disinformation, herd behaviours and authoritarianism, but the biggest insights are on the meta-level: Ezra Klein takes you inside the mind of one of the great generalist thinkers of our time, Zeynep Tufekci. Listen to it now.
5. Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West
In light of recent events in Russia, I was looking for context. I found it in a book by Catherine Belton, which, as one review judged, «will surely now become the definitive account of the rise of Putin and Putinism». I’m blown away by the depth and breadth of the reporting. Highly recommended. Check it out.
What else?
Interesting thought experiment: If you could snap your fingers and have everyone in the world understand one idea, what would it be?
Swiss revenge: Making fun of Apple Watch, in the form of a watch, for the price of a car.
Rule of thumb: To every topic, there is a linguistic angle, and it usually offers an interesting new perspective. This time: Burma/Myanmar.
Speaking of perspective: How Rich Am I?
Enter a city, get a beautiful representation of all its roads.