It was a beautiful idea, born out of solidarity. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen…Rich countries behaved worse than anyone’s worst nightmares.» A postmortem of the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access initiative — the largely failed effort to coordinate vaccine supply worldwide and ensure some sort of vaccine equity. Read it now

I had never heard of the term «moral injury» before, but it makes perfect sense. «The traumas of the past year have left some people wrestling with an awful question: Am I still a good person?» Read on

If you’re not on TikTok, you’ve probably never heard of him. If you are, it’s almost impossible not to know him. Within a year, Khaby went from being an unemployed factory worker to internet icon with more than 70 million followers. All thanks to a simple gesture (🙌, upside down). Who is he? Read now

How do you persuade people to do things you want them to do? Few people know better than psychologist Robert Cialdini, a pioneer in the science of persuasion and author of the 1984 classic Influence. In this conversation, we explains the six basic tactics — and why he added a seventh for the latest version of his book. Start listening now.

It really is quite unfortunate that one of the planet’s most precious lines of defence against climate change is (mostly) located in a country currently governed by one of the shittiest human beings on said planet. A pointed analysis of how Jair Bolsonaro is holding the Amazon hostage for personal gain. Read it now

An episode from Vox’s Unexplainable podcast about something you absolutely don’t need to know, but definitely will want to know because it’s so fascinating: Why it’s nearly impossible to measure the exact height of the world’s highest mountain — and why there are at least three mountains on earth that, depending on how you measure, are higher than Mount Everest. Start listening now

Years ago, I read that for every human on earth, there are more than a million ants. A fact I can’t forget even if I tried. Now I learned something new: Ants — today’s epitome of collaboration — used to live and forage alone. However, since this newsletter is not called Fun facts to win a pub quiz with, don’t stop here and go read this beautiful personal essay that is both about ants and not at all about ants. Read it now

You often encounter this false dichotomy of either seeing the world through the lens of progress («Everything is getting better!») or the lens of deficits («So many things are still far from good!»). In this mission statement, Max Roser, founder of Our World In Data, explains how those lenses are inextricably linked. «If you care about problems you need to study progress. If you want to make progress you need to study problems.» Read it now

The world needs less success stories full of survivorship bias and hindsight bias, and more honest accounts of the struggle, of ambivalence and anxieties. Like this conversation with Alex Lieberman, who founded one of the most successful newsletter businesses and recently sold it for $75 million. Listen to it now

A thought-provoking essay on time. What it is, what it isn’t, and what it does to us. Made me pause and think often, especially here: «Perfection is a manmade concept; nature is irregular.» Now’s the time to read it