The geopolitics of Elon Musk
China's economic long Covid, questions about the place in you live, the opposite of loneliness (#453)
This happens to be one of these weeks where I spent some time on the web, just to make sure you learn about what you shouldn't miss. Let's go.
Oh, and we have the second edition of my attempt to surface what versions of the future AI tools gravitate towards. This week, a haiku and an illustration on the future of food production.
1. Elon Musk’s Shadow Rule
An excellent, in-depth profile of Elon Musk. It tells the story of a determined, wildly successful man, deeply lonely, increasingly spiralling out of control – all while being in control of critical infrastructure with wide geopolitical ramifications.
2. The end of the Chinese financial miracle?
What is happening with China's economy? And where might it go from here? The David McWilliams provides a good big picture analysis. The key assumption: China has «economic long Covid».
Pocket Casts
3. The Big Here Quiz
Something to ponder and explore over the weekend: 30 questions to elevate your awareness (and literacy) of the greater place in which you live. Point North. How many people live in your watershed? Where does the pollution in your air come from?
4. The Opposite of Loneliness
«We don’t have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I could say that’s what I want in life. [...] It’s not quite love and it’s not quite community; it’s just this feeling that there are people, an abundance of people, who are in this together. Who are on your team.» A beautiful short essay, and heartbreaking to read that the author, 22 years old, died in an accident just a few days after writing it.
Marina Keegan
5. Slum photos were weaponised against the people they depict
It's a thin line between documenting suffering and injustice to raise awareness, and exploiting the people depicted in the images (the iconic image of the «Afghan Girl» is an infamous example). Sometimes, it's not a thin line: This historical essay describes how slum photography was explicitly used against the people it showed, to make their lives worse.
Sadie Levy Gale
What else?
- Fascinating: A hurdles sprint race from start to finish, in one single image.
- Most of the stars in the sky started emitting light long before you were born. What if each star could tell you what was happening on Earth when its light started racing towards our planet? Stories from the Night Sky.
- Travel around the world, virtually.
- Quite the bookstore (for people with very long arms, I suppose?)
- In my ears all week: Moving On, by Explosions in the Sky
The Future of...Food Production
Future crops take flight
Tech and nature blend as one
Feast evolves, sustains.
A gem from the archive
This alone gives you a weekend full of interesting reads. 174 answers to the 2014 Edge-question «What Scientific Idea Is Ready For Retirement?».
Thanks for reading. I wish you a nice weekend and hope to see you again next Friday!
— David 👋
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