Simple questions, improved conversations.

The need to talk about ourselves can be harnessed for good. Jeff Haden reveals the details of a Harvard study that could dramatically increase how likeable you are, without having to say much at all.

Karl Miller

Inc.

Harvard researchers say this mindset matters most: follow the rule of 3 questions to be more likable

People spend more, take risks — and demand more of politicians.

 “The situation is so unfamiliar that economists are turning to history for a sense of what to expect. The record suggests that, after periods of massive non-financial disruption such as wars and pandemics, GDP does bounce back. It offers three further lessons. First, while people are keen to go out and spend, uncertainty lingers. Second, crises encourage people and businesses to try new ways of doing things, upending the structure of the economy. Third, as 'Les Misérables' shows, political upheaval often follows, with unpredictable economic consequences.”

The Economist Audio

The Economist

What history tells you about post-pandemic booms

The world is not so simple.

It takes an enormous amount of work to simplify tasks but no effort at all to do the opposite. Andreas Kluth examines how a new paper supports this by revealing that people consistently overlook opportunities to improve things by subtracting. Is there anything we can do to change something so ingrained in our psyche?

Malk Williams

Bloomberg

Science shows why simplifying is hard and complicating is easy

Why are qualified professionals living in their childhood bedrooms?

There’s a reason that some of the most popular TV series of the moment heavily feature the topic of younger generations living off family wealth. Simon Kuper examines what the combination of downward mobility and widespread inheritance is doing to the current generation of the middle class.

Michael Bott

Financial Times

How the middle class became downwardly mobile

The gulf between haves and have-nots is only growing.

The pandemic has intensified the global North-South divide. Wealthy western states are starting to move towards herd immunity whilst poorer countries wait for vaccines. Simon Frankel Pratt and Jamie Levin explore how the small number of countries producing their own immunisations are changing the geopolitical stratosphere — and signs that those without vaccines are exposed to diplomatic coercion are already starting to show.

Jonathan Booth

Foreign Policy

Vaccines will shape the new geopolitical order

Have you been craving human interaction?

You might have heard of a gut microbiome, but there is also a social equivalent: an ecosystem of relationships and everyday interactions that shape our emotional wellbeing. Experts believe the pandemic has left many of these social biomes malnourished, but as Moya Sarner reveals, there are many ways that we can invigorate them back to health.

Emma Powell

The Guardian

The social biome: how to build nourishing friendships — and banish loneliness

America and China must work harder to avoid war over Taiwan.

“War would be a catastrophe, and not only because of the bloodshed in Taiwan and the risk of escalation between two nuclear powers. One reason is economic. The island lies at the heart of the semiconductor industry. TSMC, the world’s most valuable chipmaker, etches 84% of the most advanced chips. Were production at TSMC to stop, so would the global electronics industry, at incalculable cost. The firm’s technology and know-how are perhaps a decade ahead of its rivals’, and it will take many years of work before either America or China can hope to catch up.”

The most dangerous place on Earth

Is this the beginning of the end for cash?  

Backers see it as a way to reach the unbanked. But any system could give the government a record of every dollar you spend. Some countries are already testing it, and influential figures in the US are warming to the idea. Gregory Barber explores whether digital currency is a great answer for the dwindling use of cash or just another way for governments to reduce privacy.

Marni Penning

WIRED

As digital currency’s popularity rises, so do privacy fears

1.5% of working-age people have lasting symptoms.

"Employers, for their part, must rethink how to accommodate workers with a disability that flares up in unpredictable bouts. Governments can help, with incentives that encourage sufferers to stay in work and employers to cater to their condition. If governments miss the boat, millions of young and mid-career workers could permanently drop out of the labour force."

Health care and workplaces must adjust for long COVID

The proven economic power of memes.

Something that started as a joke now has a market value of more than $40 billion. Joanna Ossinger explores the stratospheric rise of Dogecoin, revealing why despite its humble beginnings as something made for fun, the coin’s success may be a concern to investors.

Bloomberg Businessweek

It’s hard to take Dogecoin seriously, but the Doge doesn’t care

Their importance to almost all modern technologies cannot be overstated.

Countries are increasingly competing for rare earths in Greenland and beyond. But what are they? Christina Lu talks to experts and offers us a definition, explaining why they are so important both ecologically and geopolitically. In this comprehensive outline, she also examines how China’s current monopoly of the field could shape the future of the economy and technological developments.

Betsy Foldes Meiman

Why rare earths are the key to just about everything

Was he a tyrant or a reformer?

Two hundred years after Napoleon Bonaparte's death, the same debate rages on. Tony Barber reveals how today’s arguments over his legacy in France are a perfect reflection of the country’s present culture wars.

Napoleon’s legend is alive and as divisive as ever

She became only the second woman to win the award as a director.

Xan Brooks explores Chloé Zhao’s journey from Beijing to Hollywood and how her experiences, from spending her formative years in foreign countries to being drawn to the films of the American-West, found their way into the spirit of her award-winning film.

Sharon Bott

‘I’ve always been an outsider’: Chloé Zhao’s roundabout route to the Oscars red carpet

Science and thought can change everything.

“The awareness of one’s own deepest roots, is a kind of superpower.” Guido Tonelli, a physics professor, explores the unparalleled significance of our imaginations. In this thought-provoking reflection of their power, he argues that the way in which imagination combines science and other practices provides an essential narrative of our understanding of the past, present and future.

Nautilus

Our most effective weapon is imagination

New tech is doing little to solve old problems.

Smart cities haven’t brought the tangible improvements that many hoped they would. Instead, it is clear that technology companies are taking on more infrastructure responsibilities that governments have long fulfilled, but will this intensify the current urban inequalities of our towns? Jennifer Clark examines the growing concerns surrounding technology-driven involvement in shaping cities and reveals the key to improving our urban landscapes.

Sarah Naughton

MIT Technology Review

What cities need now

By asking companies for evidence of big eco-claims.

Billions of dollars flow through projects that claim to be sustainable, but who decides the standard? Daniel Michaels explores how the European Union’s Green Taxonomy aims to make it as clear for companies to report on their climate-friendly metrics as their finances.

The Wall Street Journal

What makes an investment 'green'? The EU wants an answer

Another innovative way to make a good living.

26-year-old MeganPlays has found success developing video games — and making videos of herself playing them. Jennifer Zabasajja and Olga Kharif explore how the influencer’s effective content creation plan and analysis of videotape trends has seen her cash in on millions of dollars.

Roblox Queen MeganPlays is making millions with a blocky digital empire

Why AI is the opposite of artificial.

Kate Crawford’s new book, "Atlas of AI," is an exploration into the history of artificial intelligence and its impact on our physical world, examining how this has morphed into modern fixed categorical systems that work towards imposing inequalities. In this interview with Karen Hao, she explains why we need to acknowledge both the politics and the physical impact that AI has on the planet.

Andi Arndt

Stop talking about AI ethics — it’s time to talk about power

The cost of maintaining the status quo is higher than drastic policy change.

Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan has been subject to many debates. But will he regret it? As social commentators draw on the US President's past experiences to understand his justification, some see a better yet unexpected analogy: France’s withdrawal from Indochina in 1954. Nicolas Blarel and Sumit Ganguly explore how both events surprisingly parallel each other.

Michael Satow

What Biden should learn from Indochina

Welcome to the world of AutoTech.

The switch to electric is not the only aspect reshaping the automobile business. Self-driving cars have done over 2 million miles of test-driving, and there are already robot taxis in some parts of the world. Daniel Yergin explores why the era of petrol cars is coming to an end, and how this industry will likely become one of the biggest sources of competition between the US and China.

Ron Butler

How electric, self-driving cars and ride-hailing will transform the car industry

The hidden dangers of the trading app.

Three friends in California fell into online trading and emboldened by dreams, early wins and a circle of online cohorts, it seemed like they couldn’t lose. In this insight into the troubling side of investing-made-easy software, Rachel Louise Ensign explores how comradery, margin loans and the addictive video-game-like thrill of Robinhood made them unaware of the looming debt that was only a bad bet away.

Robin Miles

Robinhood, three friends and the fortune that got away

Secret codes. Legal threats. Betrayal. Mcflurries.

One couple built a device to fix McDonald’s ice cream machines, so why the fast-food giant freeze them out? Andy Greenberg explores the dramatic events surrounding the couple's quest that reveals how a lucrative business model with a secret menu is likely to blame for the ever-broken machinery.

Sean Crisden

They hacked McDonald’s ice cream machines — and started a cold war

Is Goop the new Scientology?

For many, Gwyneth Paltrow’s 'wellness' giant is essentially a floating church freighted with expensive non-solutions. And yet, there’s no shortage of believers. Marina Hyde analyses the powerfully religious and even exploitative aspects of the luxury brand the actress has created in her own image.

Gwyneth’s Ark: sailing towards wellness but never quite getting there

The trillion-dollar question on everyone's lips.

It was "one of the best performing financial assets of 2020, soaring from $7,000 per Bitcoin to $54,000" in 2021. As a result, many long-term doubters are going back on their word, but others remain convinced it is still heading for disaster. Eva Szalay talks to finance professionals inside and outside the cryptomarket to understand the coin's true investment potential.

Bitcoin: too good to miss or a bubble ready to burst?

Research is breathing new life into an age-old argument.

The link between free will and moral responsibility has been around since the conception of philosophy. There are hundreds of case studies attempting to manipulate people’s belief in free will to determine whether it will affect the way they act. And as Jim Davies — a professor at Carleton University's Department of Cognitive Science — uncovers, new insights into this research reveal some surprising outcomes, which suggests a third side to the ethical free will argument.

Simon Mattacks

Do we have free will? Maybe it doesn't matter

Is worrying about fucking up your kids, fucking up your kids?

Mark O’Connell reflects on his parenting anxieties. In this humorous exploration of the many aspects of parenting behaviour, he considers the paradoxical flaw of worrying about the way you raise your kids.

1843

Is neurotic parenting worse than bad parenting?

Life is set to become dangerous for women in the country.

"The fate of women after American and other NATO forces exit is especially worrisome. As Farahnaz Forotan’s experience illustrates, women’s rights and girls’ education are not high on the Taliban’s list of priorities."

DailyChatter

Afghanistan: Walking backwards

Just how many people lament having kids?

It's a common human experience, yet in an era of baby worship, the idea that some parents could regret having children is undeniably taboo. So Jenna Abetz and Julia Moore, who are researchers interested in identity and parenthood, wanted to understand better how a parent may experience this emotion. To their surprise, they received a wealth of answers on a popular, anonymous social media site that indicated a range of complexities surrounding parental decisions.

Psyche

It should be OK for parents to express regret about having children

The new leader of Tibet will inherit a wealth of problems.

"China recently appointed a seasoned veteran to run the military in Tibet, reported the South China Morning Post. Lieutenant General Wang Kai’s mission is to maintain order in Tibet while also guarding the country’s borders with India and Vietnam. Chinese and Indian troops have recently clashed in the region."

Tibet: Dharmic democracy

But, what are his real motivations?

VanwaTech provides IT support for networks of white nationalists and conspiracy theorists banned by the likes of AWS. The company fills an undeniable function in keeping hate groups and conspiracists online. William Turton and Joshua Brustein explore.

A 23-year-old coder kept QAnon online when no one else would

The troubles with confidence in times of a pandemic.

The resurgence of COVID in India warns us against hasty celebration. Gideon Rachman argues that the country's troubles provide the world with a reminder that were are part of an interconnected global crisis. But, what’s the best plan of action for countries that begin to notice an improvement in their national situation?

Narendra Modi and the perils of COVID hubris

How to understand those who struggle to be a person.

Avoidant personality disorder concerns more than just social isolation. Here, clinical psychologists Kristine Dahl Sørensen and Marit Råbu reflect on their research project, which aimed to better understand the common psychiatric disorder by talking directly to those who suffer from it.

Some people feel so utterly alone, it’s as if they don’t exist

Substack and the complicated state of the journalism industry.

Journalists are stepping away from magazines and papers for greener pastures. Alan Jacobs argues that the rise in services such as Substack and Bandcamp, which are supported by the likes of Stripe and Kickstarter, should be seen as a new take on a century-old Roman Catholic influenced economic system proposal.

Chris Brinkley

The Hedgehog Review

A new guild system

Future eureka moments won't need a breakthrough.

States of high consciousness are generally linked to religious practices of prayer and meditation. But research has shown that creative epiphanies and the following states of happiness are similar to these spiritual experiences, with geniuses such as Einstein reporting similar states during his famous discovery. However, Tal Dotan Ben-Soussanis — the director of the Research Institute for Neuroscience, Education and Didactics — reveals that it is now possible to experience these states of elation in the most mundane moments of our lives.

Spirituality is a brain state we can all reach, religious or not

Kick start your day with a 15-min audio story that challenges and inspires your mind. Listen to expert voices across Technology, Business, Psychology and Health — bringing you new perspectives, insights and ideas. Released every Monday to Friday, we’ll help you practice curiosity and open-mindedness as part of your daily routine.

Today's pick: The proven economic power of memes. Something that started as a joke now has a market value of more than $40 billion. Joanna Ossinger explores the stratospheric rise of Dogecoin, revealing why despite its humble beginnings as something made for fun, the coin’s success may be a concern to investors.

Your daily mind stretch

It’s hard to take Dogecoin seriously, but the Doge doesn’t care 

What you should ask to gain real understanding.

How do you get a sense of whether you fit into a company’s culture during an interview? Karen Eber, CEO of Eber Leadership, provides ten detailed questions that will ensure a true insight into the way a prospective workplace works.

Nancy Wu

Fast Company

10 questions to ask in a job interview that will really expose a company’s culture

Martin Wolf on why there are lessons that need to be learnt.

Nothing would be more foolish than policymakers in rich countries turning away from global challenges. Here, the renowned economics commentator examines the consequences of advanced economies recovering from the pandemic relatively intact, whilst developing countries will likely suffer a long-term hit.

Economic recovery masks the dangers of a divided world

A surge in COVID cases spells trouble for the country's politicians.

"The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Ford, a conservative, has criticized Trudeau, a liberal, for not helping the province more. Trudeau has accused Ford of passing the buck. The Globe and Mail editorial board accused both sides of lacking the imagination to think of some way to get help to people quickly."

Jan Cramer

Canada: Politics and plague

She found success in mistakes.

Her invention became one of the most popular office supplies of the 20th century. And yet today, she’s largely been forgotten. Zachary Crockett explores the inspirational life of Bette Nesmith Graham, the inventor of Liquid Paper. At a time when women were discouraged from pursuing business ventures, the single-mom from Texas used her product marketing talent to grow her business organically and retired a multimillionaire with an incredibly progressive workplace legacy.

The Hustle

The secretary who turned Liquid Paper into a multimillion-dollar business

Why being yourself is paradoxical.

Research shows that being authentic is not a modern-day concern, so why is it still a commonly used buzzword? Joseph E. Davis — a research professor of sociology — examines how the past forty years have transformed our uniqueness into something more superficial.

When your authenticity is an act, something’s gone wrong

Shutting down refugee camps could lead to unrest.

"Doctors Without Borders appealed to the Kenyan government and UN to listen closely to the needs of camp residents during the closure process. Kenya’s announcement has already thrown the camps’ businesses into chaos, for example, African Arguments explained."

Kenya: Eviction notice

Why US suburbs are winning whilst cities are losing.

The American demographic has been drastically changed. Arian Campo-Flores, Paul Overberg, Joseph De Avila and Elizabeth Findell examine how new census data indicates a dramatic shift in mobility. Young residents working from home are abandoning expensive cities in favour of vacation destinations. But what will this shift mean for the future of the country?

The pandemic changed where Americans live

Trump’s right-hand man could betray him.

The 45th President is facing legal threats from many directions. The biggest is a three-year criminal investigation by Cyrus Vance — the Manhattan district attorney — that has led to a focus on possible banking and insurance fraud at the Trump Organization. Allen Weisselberg, the company’s long-serving chief financial officer, is seen as the skeleton key to the business's finances. Joshua Chaffin analyses what it would take for his lifetime of loyalty to be swayed.

Emily Woo Zeller

A family affair: can prosecutors flip Donald Trump’s ‘eyes and ears’?

A Facebook’s oversight board member explains the ban.

Was Facebook right to indefinitely ban the 45th President from its platform after January’s Capitol riot? Here, Alan Rusbridger — a member of the company’s oversight board — offers us a unique insight into how the board made a decision on what continues to be one of the most divisive issues we have seen this year.

The inside story of how we reached the Facebook-Trump verdict

The security of the state is at an all-time low.

Constant violence has had disastrous effects on the average Nigerian’s everyday life. Neil Munshi explores why a combination of population growth, rampant unemployment and incapable security forces has made banditry a booming industry in a struggling economy. In this comprehensive insight, he analyses whether anything can be done to tackle the country's most serious security threat.

Why ‘the kidnapping industry is thriving’ in Nigeria

“The uncanny valley is alive with the sound of music.”

Experts are using AI to pick apart classic recordings from the 50s and 60s, isolate the instruments, and stitch them back together in crisp, bold ways. Jesse Jarnow reveals how after decades of slow advancement, deep learning has now sent the sonic invention into overdrive, and it is set to provide the audio landscape with endless possibilities.

Mark Deakins

How audio pros ‘upmix’ vintage tracks and give them new life

The enriching experience of raising an extroverted toddler.

The outgoing nature of Mark O’Connell’s two-year-old daughter has peaked during lockdown. Her desire to talk to new people has led to a lot of chit-chat with a varied cross-section of people. In this insight into the trials of an introverted parent, he reflects on how being constantly driven out of your comfort zone has been a surprisingly enriching experience.

My three-year-old has taught me the value of talking to strangers

Why did the Russians exile those true to their cause?

The failures of the communist project are often overlooked. Bini Adamczak guides us through the era that saw Soviet Russians deport German and Austrian communist emigrants back to Nazi Germany, months before the beginning of World War II. In this striking look into the Hitler-Stalin pact, we discover what happened to these deportees on their return.

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