The good news of 2024 you missed
And how to be a «hopeful skeptic» (#509)
This is David, your decidedly human web crawler, and you're reading the Weekly Filet, the newsletter for curious minds. As every Friday, my recommendations to help you make sense of what’s happening, and imagine what could be.
1. 86 Stories of Progress from 2024
«A lot of things went wrong for a lot of people this year, but for millions of others, life got better - even if their stories didn't make the headlines.» – It's always easy to cherry-pick some minor good news in a year that was dominated by bad news. But what «Fix The News» does every year is different. A collection of genuinely good news and developments, highly relevant and impactful on a large scale, but mostly overlooked.
Angus Hervey
2. Notre-Dame Rises From the Ashes
I was surprised at how interesting (and at times: moving) this episode of «The Daily» was. The New York Times' chief architecture critic on the miracle of restoring Notre-Dame a mere five years after it almost got destroyed forever.
More about Michael Kimmelman
3. The Narrator
Banias is an 8-year-old kid living in Gaza. And she has a story to tell — many stories, in fact. Such a beautiful piece of audio journalism, raw, human, full of moments of connection.
4. Instead of Being Cynical, Try Becoming Skeptical
Two quotes from this essay to keep in mind:
- «Cynicism is a lack of faith in people; skepticism is a lack of faith in our assumptions.»
- «You can be a hopeful skeptic, combining a love of humanity with a precise, curious mind.»
Jamil Zaki
5. The German Model is Failing
«Germany’s postwar model has reached its breaking point.» Two months before the election, and referring to Angela Merkel's memoir, a level-headed assessment of where Germany stands and how it got here. «Germany has long outsourced its security to the United States, its energy needs to Russia and its export-led growth to China. Merkel doubled down on all three of these bets. Since she left office, all three have gone belly up.»
Yascha Mounk
What else?
Instant-gratification links that make you go wow! or aha! the moment you click.
- Interesting fact I learned this week: There are five countries in the world that begin with Mal-, and for each it has a different origin. Can you name all five?
- These birds by artist Thomas Deininger are quite something.
- If this page doesn't make you want to buy and hold this notebook...
- «Sorry for the delayed response. It's been a crazy week.»
- 🔭 Space Telescope Advent Calendar
- Monument Valley 3 is out and it's gorgeous.
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. More on my digital bookshelf.
On the fascinating and scary complexities of the modern supply chain. The author follows the journey of a single product, which turns the vast topic into a compelling story. Buy it here.
A gem from the archive
The Weekly Filet archive offers more than 2500 hand-picked links since 2011, like this one. You can search by interests, explore collections, shuffle for a gem or check out my all-time favs.
That's it for this week, and maybe for this year. I might do a Best of 2024 edition next week, I haven't decided yet. Either way, the next regular issue will be out January 3rd, when the Weekly Filet enters year 15 since I started it. Exciting!
Happy holidays!
— David