This short essay from 2010 has only become more relevant. The thesis: technological progress means that «increasing numbers of things we like will be transformed into things we like too much.» And the tricky part: As a species, we wouldn’t want to stop it. So, on an individual level, «we’ll increasingly be defined by what we say no to.»

After conquering our pockets, palms and ears, Apple is now going for the face. What do we make of it? This piece examines the wider impact, beyond raving reviews and derisive dismissals. Key bit: «Apple is taking us into the future, into a new era of computing. Some of us are running as fast as we can to get there, and others are being dragged, kicking and screaming. But we’re all going.»

The BBC’s new podcast Rare Earth takes a – don’t imagine this too literally – deep dive into everything we throw away, and asks: Why are we rubbish at tackling waste?

In the middle of the pandemic, a Spanish woman decided to retreat to a cave, all alone, and break the world record by staying there for five hundred days. When she reappeared after 508 days, she was upbeat and in good shape, «her grin was even wider than when she’d gone in.» That, however, was only half the story.

You’re born with a finite number of fucks to give. So your challenge in life is to give a fuck about the right things, and make sure you never run out of fucks to give. The unified theory of fucks comes with a life hack: the infinite fucks loop, if you will.

«If people are going to say nice things about me, I’d rather hear it» – well, you have a point there. I had heard of the idea before (from this wonderful episode of The Daily back in 2017), but have somehow forgotten about it: When you know you’re going to die soon, why not gather with all your loved ones while you’re still there? And make it a celebration of life instead of the mourning of death? Ok, it’s not without risks: «When I had my living funeral, I thought I had weeks or months to live. Now, I almost feel like I need to have another one, because I’ve lived so much longer.»

This post builds upon a recent column from the FT that showed how young women and young men are drifting further apart politically. Some interesting observations on why women are turning more liberal, and why this isn’t true for all countries.

«What is the dumbest possible idea we could have?» That’s the question at the origin of Liquid Death. Plain and simple water, sold in cans, marketed as the most badass beverage ever. But the story of this unlikely multimillion dollar business is actually quite a bit more interesting than I’d first thought. Great episode of the always great How I Built This podcast.

200 slides on the world’s effort to stop emitting greenhouse gases, from the big picture to nerdy details. No matter how much you know about the topic, you’ll learn something interesting. How about this: Global per capita greenhouse gas emissions actually peaked in 1973. Or this: Food waste causes just about the same amount of emissions as the entire country of India, the world’s third largest emitter.

«You never meet the same person twice, not even in the same person.» Gives you so much more to think about than Heraclitus’ original quote with the river. «If we have that central belief, then a relationship with another person can never be taken for granted.»