Hello lovely email friends. There’s been a welcome improvement in the weather here, so suddenly lots of things are getting done. Many people would spend lottery winnings on a massive house, whereas I think I’d buy a modest home and a maybe a warehouse in which to work on things independently of favourable weather. For now though, the sun is shining and things are getting done!
☸️ How will the next Dalai Lama be chosen? It would be fun to think that you’ll just get a phone-call, Postcode Lottery style, to tell you it’s fallen to you. The reality is more nuanced, as you might expect, and also much more politically charged. This spiritual reincarnation will have political consequences for America, China and India.
🫂 The self is not singular but a fluid network of identities: Alright, sit down for this one, and don’t be operating heavy machinery. Ready? Okay: an emerging theory of selfhood suggests you cannot be reduced to a body, a mind or a particular social role. The self is more complex than these strands alone.
📞 The everyday racism of offshore call centres: A Filipino call-centre worker of four years describes experiencing racism in nearly every shift. Around 1.3 million Filipinos work in call centres: a leading driver of the Philippine economy. Some stuck around and grew immune to verbal abuse over time. Others just quit before their second shift.
💸 Buy now, pay later is growing beyond retail: Thanks to Afterpay and Klarna, it’s easier than ever to buy in instalments. Now, the model is coming for necessities. such as healthcare and rent.
🎤 How many artists overshadow their band after going solo? Here is a question that demands crunching the data, which is exactly what The Pudding has done.
🇺🇸 Europe Wants Americans Back: American tourists are stereotypically thought of as loud, boorish, and tacky. They’re also sorely missed. This article deconstructs the cliché of the ugly American tourist.
♻️ Just how did Greenpeace drown Downing Street in plastic waste? A striking campaign campaign from Greenpeace sees a dummy Boris Johnson, not the tautology it first appears to be, behind his Downing Street plinth speaking passionately about curbing plastic pollution. With exponentially increasing pace and volume, a cascade of plastic waste rains down becoming a tidal wave that engulfs the street. It certainly grabs attention, but how was it made?
🏢 Japan’s karoshi culture was a warning. We didn’t listen: For decades, Japan has grappled with the problem of people overworking themselves to death. Now, it’s a global issue.
👐 Teaching Kids Kindness Prepares Them for Success: Kids are exquisitely attuned to gaps between what grown-ups say and what grown-ups do. When you ask children what their parents want for them, 81 percent say their parents value achievement over caring. However much we praise kindness and caring, we’re not actually showing our kids that we value these traits. See also: Generosity.
🎛 How Japanese Technology Shaped Dance Music: Japanese musical hardware such as synthesizers, drum machines and DJ gear has exerted a huge influence on dance music. This excellent feature explores how this island nation come to dominate music production and playback. See also: Land of the Rising Sound.
🛸 Washington’s Embrace of UFOs and the Retreat From Science: A collection of well-funded UFO obsessives are using their Capitol Hill connections to launder some outré, and potentially dangerous, ideas.