Weekend Reading

  • How to get yourself out of a funk
    On Tuesday, I woke up feeling a bit tired, uninspired, and just generally not in the mood to tackle my to-do list for the day. I understand myself well enough by now to know how to react to this situation (most of the time) but was curious about how other people deal with such episodes.
    For those of you suffering a bit of Cabin Fever thanks to all the snow…

  • Soderbergh’s thriller shot on iPhone premieres in Berlin
    Director Steven Soderbergh said on Wednesday he so enjoyed making his psychological thriller “Unsane” on an iPhone, he would find it hard to go back to conventional filmmaking.
    Interesting thoughts on the impact of smartphones.

  • How the sushi boom is fuelling tapeworm infections
    As eating raw fish has become more popular, gruesome tapeworm tales have emerged. But how worried should sashimi lovers be – and how else might we become infected? The good news, said A&E doctor Kenny Bahn, was that the patient who had turned up at the emergency department was not dying.
    YUMMY!

  • Adopting a more active lifestyle today could have benefits for your personality decades from now
    According to statistics published by the British Heart Foundation, we spend 76 days per year, on average, sitting. Indeed, the World Health Organisation describes physical inactivity as a “global public health problem” that contributes to millions of deaths each year.
    Reminding myself of this when I drag myself to the gym

  • My Abuser’s Gender Made Me Doubt My Experience
    Here are some things I know: It happened in September of my junior year at college. It happened on a Friday. I left the party and went home with a well-liked acquaintance. The next morning I met a friend for coffee. She laughed, and said she was proud of me for being so “wild.
    Abuse is abuse. But how it is presented does differ. Horrible.

  • Scotland on target to deliver biggest boom in social housing since the 1970s
    NEW RESEARCH HAS revealed that Scotland is on course to achieve its pledge of delivering the biggest boom in new social housing since the 1970s.
    Go Scotland!

  • This Woman Is Taking On Racism And Sexism In Italy — And Getting Death Threats For It
    Laura Boldrini didn’t worry much about the death threats until she received a bullet in the mail.
    This is fucking awful. All power to her.

  • As Medals Pile Up, Norway Worries: Are We Winning Too Much?
    Surpassing its own lofty expectations, Norway has delivered the greatest performance in the history of the Winter Games, winning a total of 39 medals, 14 of them gold.
    How lovely are the Norwegians?

  • Is the Answer to Phone Addiction a Worse Phone?
    I’ve gone gray, and it’s great. In an effort to break my smartphone addiction, I’ve joined a small group of people turning their phone screens to grayscale — cutting out the colors and going with a range of shades from white to black.
    Another article on ‘less smartphone’. Tempted to try this, but not THAT tempted. Pick up a book already, people!

  • We need an internet of unmonetisable enthusiasms
    The best podcast in the history of the world ever (right now, according to me, your mileage might vary) is the declaratively titled A History of Jazz. It’s informal subtitle – One Record At A Time – hints at its genius. This podcast is not in a hurry.
    Loving this so far.

  • Anatoli Bugorski, the Man Who Put His Head Inside a …
    A particle accelerator is a machine that propels charged particles at nearly light speed. Invented in the 1930s, it’s used to study all thing particle physics, and has led to discoveries of groundbreaking new particles like the Higgs boson.
    YIKES!

  • You’ll Need to Cool Off After a Bowl of Respiro del …
    Picture this. It’s a boiling hot summer day, and you just need to cool off. So you pop into a little shop and order yourself a cone of bright-pink ice cream (strawberry is so refreshing) without bothering to read the label first.
    I love ice cream but… nope! nope nope nope nope nope.

  • Your Guide to the King-Sized World of ‘Castle Rock’
    2017 was a banner year for Stephen King fans. From “Mr. Mercedes” to “Gerald’s Game” to the record-breaking success of It, King adaptations saw a major bump in quality.
    Fab stuff and interesting news about a new TV show (please be good!)

  • Review: Plus+ by Bethany Rutter
    For a few years now, I’ve had trouble finding a style icon I can relate to.
    Great article, inspiring stuff for everyone. Find your style icon!

  • With ‘Mudbound’ and ‘Black Panther,’ Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison has already made history
    A mere two months in, and it’s already been a career-boosting, history-making year for cinematographer Rachel Morrison.In January, she became the first woman ever nominated for a cinematography Oscar for her work on Dee Rees’ 1940s-set period drama, “Mudbound.
    MORE!!! ENCORE!

  • A Week Inside WeLive, the Utopian Apartment Complex That Wants to Disrupt City Living
    Do you ever get the feeling that you’re just slightly more alone than everyone else? Like when you’re scrolling through Instagram, and you get that sinking sensation that you’re missing out on some kind of deep human fulfillment? It’s not a specific pang of FOMO; it’s a broader suspicion.
    No. It’s not a Sci-fi movie. I don’t think.

  • How Tiny Red Dots Took Over Your Life
    As the ranks of tech-industry critics have expanded, it has become harder to tell what common ground they occupy.
    But my dots are all grey now!

  • Build Your Social Budget Like a Financial Budget
    Do you feel like your social life is out of control? Maybe you (or your kids) have events every evening, when all you want to do is spend a quiet night at home.
    File under: common sense that you sometimes need pointed out to you.

  • Amazon Agrees to Buy Smart-Doorbell Startup Ring
    Amazon.com Inc. has agreed to buy connected-doorbell startup Ring Inc. for about $1 billion, a person familiar with the matter said. The move helps Amazon expand further into the consumer market, including providing security for package deliveries.
    Hmmm what was that other thing Amazon were gonna do?

  • Amazon Will Deliver Packages Straight Into Your Living Room
    Amazon.com Inc. is going to start delivering packages not just to doorsteps, but inside homes as well.
    Ohhh yes, this! This isn’t scary/creepy AT ALL.

  • Palantir has secretly been using New Orleans to test its predictive policing technology
    In May and June 2013, when New Orleans’ murder rate was the sixth-highest in the United States, the Orleans Parish district attorney handed down two landmark racketeering indictments against dozens of men accused of membership in two violent Central City drug trafficking gangs, 3NG and the 110ers.
    No. It’s not a Sci-fi movie. Oh wait, THIS ONE WAS! Holy frick.

  • Yes, bacon really is killing us
    Decades’ worth of research proves that chemicals used to make bacon do cause cancer. So how did the meat industry convince us it was safe? There was a little cafe I used to go to that did the best bacon sandwiches. They came in a soft and pillowy white bap.
    Noooooooooooo

  • Furry Nation: Inside America’s most misunderstood subculture
    At conventions across America, thousands of people from all walks of life converge to celebrate a broad but oddly specific interest. They wear custom-made badges and fursuits that project a chosen animal identity: foxes and deers and every manner of mythical hybrid.
    Some of the costumes are amazing! Each to their own I say.