1. 99 Good News Stories You Probably Didn't Hear About in 2019
The best end-of-the-year list you can treat yourself to. So many good – not marginally good, truly good – developments that are happening across the globe. Start exploring now
2. The Psychology of Climate Change Communication
Good stories are good, but the fact remains: The big picture isn’t great. Climate change remains the biggest challenge facing humanity and the results from the latest climate conference in Madrid are meager at best. It made me think of this paper from 2009 I read recently. Communicating climate change is hard, apparently, but there are proven strategies. This paper gives a good overview and offers concrete advice. Helpful to people who communicate professionally, but also to everyone else who has this one uncle who likes to explain to everyone how climate change isn’t real. Read it now.
Like what you see here? Get the Weekly Filet in your inbox, every Friday. The best recommendations from across the web, helping you make sense of the big issues of our time (with a healthy dose of serendipity and nerdiness).
3. Pregnant black women are treated as if they are incompetent
«What so many black women know is what I learned as I sat at the end of a hallway with a dead baby in my arms.» As a white man, I’m used to being treated with respect or at least some basic decency in most encounters in life. It’s often hard to imagine how it could be different, because why would it? Systemic inequality tends to obscure itself to those who are not affected. That’s why pieces like this personal account from writer Tressie McMillan Cottom are so important. If you’d like to read more from her, I recommend reading her book «Thick», of which this piece is an excerpt. Read it now
4. The Candidates: Elizabeth Warren
A profile of a politician like I’ve never heard it before. Michael Barbaro and the team at «The Daily» portray Elizabeth Warren in a wonderful, novel way and explain how she became the woman who is now running for president of the United States (and who would be, as she said yesterday, «the youngest woman ever inaugurated». Listen to it now
5. Scolling down the ocean and more insightful fun on Neal.fun
I try not to recommend things that everyone has seen already and this probably is one of those pieces. It’s so great, though, that I just want to make sure you’re not missing it. Scrolling has rarely been more exciting: The Deep Sea. Know it already? Have you seen some of the other cool projects Neal Agarwal has built? I particularly like the Baby Map, The Size of Space, and, on a lighter note, Share This Page.
What else?
Quote du jour: «Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist.» – George Carlin
In case you missed it: 11 books that inspired me in 2019
This Dual Axis Illusion will make your head spin.
Still looking for christmas presents? Here to help. Treat one of your friends or loved ones to a year of Weekly Filets. It's a gift that keeps on giving.
That’s it for this week. Have a nice weekend and see you next Friday.
– David 🎄