Alarmist you said?
Plus: All the great news the headlines missed in 2025 (#557)
This is David, your reliably human web crawler, and you're reading the Weekly Filet. The newsletter for curious minds who love when something makes them go «Huh, I never thought of it this way!». Thank you for reading along.
1. The Americans Who Saw All This Coming – but Were Ignored and Maligned
Of course, we all know that a new year won't magically make things better. But hey, was it really too much to ask for to at least let us hold that irrational hope for a day or two? What a first week this has been. I had earmarked this excellent piece in reaction to the USA's attack on Venezuela. And now that is already old news and I'm watching the video of a woman being killed by ICE agents in broad daylight. This piece is an appreciation of the people – mostly women, mostly non-whites – who knew what's up. And an attempt at explaining why so many would not listen.
Toby Buckle
2. Use this magic bullet to shoot yourself in the foot
«The world’s gonna end in fascists and ashes, and the only people still smiling are the ones trying to sell you something.» It begins with this and only gets stronger from there. A wake-up call that despair is not an option. «Dealing with the state of world by despairing is kind of like dealing with a breakup by drinking—you’re allowed to do it for like, a day.» An essay on the false comfort of fatalism and the toxic view that seeing problems as solvable means denying that they are serious. «Why do we have to make it seem like being on the right side of history is such a bummer?»
Adam Mastroianni
3. All the news the headlines missed in 2025.
Yes, in many ways, 2025 was a terrible year. And, «you can’t fact-check people out of a feeling», as Angus Hervey writes. Still, his annual collection of overlooked achievements and positive developments does an excellent job of telling the other part of the story of 2025 that is also true. «These things happen slowly, invisibly, accrued by decades of incremental gains. Cathedral-building, not crisis. There are no villains, no victims, no dramatic turning points.»
Angus Hervey
4. What exactly was climate change again?
Lean forward, not back, to stay in control. Activist Luisa Neubauer uses skiing as a metaphor throughout this essay as she reflects on fighting a fight that has lost the spotlight. In German, but Google Translate is your friend.
Von Luisa Neubauer
5. The French City Striving to Stamp Out Sexism
A close look at how Nantes is transforming itself to become a more equitable place for women and girls, from schoolyards and street names, to urban design and gender-sensitive budgeting.
Peter Yeung
Dataguessr of the week
Update your knowledge of the world. One quiz at a time. This week:
What else?
Instant-gratification links that make you go wow! or aha! the moment you click.
- When you mistype a word but make a fancier word that's a typeau (hat tip)
- This looks like an excellent gift for your worst enemy.
- On the difference between niceness and kindness.
- If you were one of the 251 people born this minute, where would you land? Play the birth lottery.
- Progress in charts: On every continent, food supplies have grown faster than the population.
- The best science images of 2025
- Where is BED? A hilarious reenactment of a Facebook Marketplace interaction.
Books for curious minds
Some new ones as I read them, some older ones that continue to inform how I look at the world and myself.
Elizabeth Kolbert has a unique talent for finding and telling stories that turn the climate crisis from something big and abstract into a tangible reality. Her new book is a collection of stories she wrote for The New Yorker. Even though I had read quite a few of them before, I enjoyed reading them again in this new context. Buy it here.
A gem from the archive
David Bauer
The Weekly Filet archive offers more than 200 hand-picked links since 2011, like this one. You can search by interests, explore collections or shuffle for a gem.
That's it for this week. Thanks for reading. I wish you a nice weekend and hope to see you again next Friday!
— David
More ways to learn and take inspiration from
Check my 📚 digital bookshelf, with sections of 🌡️ books that help you make sense of the climate crisis, ⛵ books that make you a better product manager, 🪄 books that help you make sense of AI, and 🧒 books that help you as a parent. And from collecting the best links on the web for close to 15 years, my thematic collections: The Art of Thinking (Differently), The Stuff Our Modern World Runs On, Bingeworthy Podcasts, and more.
Little useful apps from me, for you
🌍 You Don't Know Africa, a simple game that has already humbled millions of people. 💯 Choose Impact, an online tool to compare job opportunities. 🧭 Priority Compass, a tool for individuals, teams and organisations to focus your energy on what really matters. 🪄 How I Use AI, a collection of use cases, ready to use and adapt. 💬 Climate Questions, a playful conversation starter. And ⏱️ One Minute Challenge, a little meaningful distraction to refocus.