If you're overwhelmed, this is for you
Plus: Solarpunk, the toxic pull of the manosphere, and why we must teach AI to forget. (#555)
This is issue 555 of the Weekly Filet – five hundred and fifty-five, indeed. I've been doing this for a while. This is David, your regular human web crawler and overwhelmed father of two. As always, I'm here to help you make sense of what’s happening, and imagine what could be. Glad you're here.
1. You’re Not a Bad Parent, You’re Overwhelmed
These past few weeks have been among the most challenging I've experienced with our kids, like, ever. After one too many moments when I felt like the worst version imaginable of myself as a father, I stumbled upon this new episode from Trevor Noah's podcast. What a breath of fresh air! A wonderful conversation with clinical psychologist and parenting expert Dr. Becky. Full of new insights, apt reminders, and anecdotes that are so relatable you can't help but laugh. So, if you have kids in your life, this two-hour conversation is a gift you deserve. It delivers a complete recharge of your ability to be empathetic towards tantrum-throwing kids, and to be kind with yourself.
Pocket Casts
2. Why Solarpunk is already happening in Africa
Most hopeful climate stories these days are about solar. This one is about «how Africa is building the future by skipping the past.» While development experts spent 50 years debating how to extend 20th-century infrastructure to rural Africa, something more interesting happened: Africa built the 21st-century version instead. Modular. Distributed. Digital. Powered by the sun, subsidised by the carbon it avoids.
Skander Garroum
3. Want to donate to charity? Here are 10 guidelines for giving effectively.
A helpful guide for making sure that donating money doesn't just feel good, but has the best and biggest possible impact.
Dylan Matthews
4. To grow, we must forget… but now AI remembers everything
A smart essay on why our omnipresent AI companions must be designed for conscious forgetting. Because, «when memory becomes fixed, identity becomes recursive, locked to a cached version of yourself. [...] Infinite memory doesn’t just remember our past; it nudges us to repeat it.»
Amy Chivavibul
5. The toxic pull of the manosphere
A team of data journalists conducted an experiment to test how TikTok pulls young men into the – quite literally – dark corners of the manosphere. They simulated five users' journey from an unsuspecting feed to one dominated by videos promoting hate and self-harm, all triggered by a slight interest in fitness videos. The original is in German, but Google Translate is your friend.
SRF Data
If you understand German, I highly recommend you listen to the podcast series «Alpha Boys» this experiment is part of.
What else?
Instant-gratification links that make you go wow! or aha! the moment you click.
- The 2025 Kottke Holiday Gift Guide, the best there is.
- 200 sounds, collected all across Switzerland, turned into music.
- Photos: the Magical Solitude of the Nordic Winter.
- Bored with your Spotify Wrapped? The 100 Best Songs of 2025, as selected by Rolling Stone magazine.
- Winners of the Drone Photo Awards.
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.
Part cultural history of eating, part guide for eating healthily. I like the first principles approach, and the simple, no-nonsense advice: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Buy it here.
A gem from the archive
David Bauer
The Weekly Filet archive offers more than 2500 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
📊 Dataguessr, a playful way to update your knowledge of the world. 🌍 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.
🎁 Buy a gift membership for a friend