Not your ordinary «What to watch next» list. How about a supernatural drama from Senegal? A South Korean zombie thriller series, a documentary on surfing from Gaza, an Anime series from the Philippines? Reality TV from Brazil, and then some? Pick something to watch

I used to try (and fail at) a fun little challenge: When meeting new people, try to go for as long as possible without asking them what they do for work. This short piece describes something similar, equally worth trying: When introducing yourself, say what you do, not what your job title is. Which reminds me of what my website once said about what I do: Putting words in order.

Take a guess: How many countries in the world have policies in place that are compatible with the Paris agreement, i.e. are doing their part in keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees? I’ll save you the click: It’s one, The Gambia. That’s it. Everyone else is falling short. Have a look

Big cover essay on the «pre-eminent European leader of the post-1989 era», by The New Statesman’s international editor. And even though he describes Merkel as «fiendishly hard to define», he does an outstanding job doing just that.

It’s good to be wary of monocausotaxophilia — the love of single causes that explain everything. At the same time, it’s important to see connections where they exist. This analysis makes the (convincing) case for why housing shortages are at the root of a wide range of issues, and that «solving it needs to become everyone’s highest priority.» Building more houses and flats will mean better jobs, healthier people, lower carbon emissions.

F***. We woke up too late. I woke up too late.» A remarkable essay by Tim Sparv, captain of Finland’s men’s soccer team.

The bad news: If things remain unchanged, by 2050 we need additional cropland the size of India and Germany combined to feed a world population of then ~10 billion people. The habitats of thousands of species would be destroyed. The good news: With the right measures taken, we can feed 10 billion people while reducing current land use for crops by the area of India and Germany combined. Insightful analysis.

Longtime subscribers might remember this wonderful podcast: The story of a six-year-old child, born as a boy, who knew she was a girl from the age of three. Regular updates ended in early 2019, but now there’s an update. On the onset of puberty and what that means for a transgender child. now

The most impressive example of international cooperation on any challenge in history» — What can we learn from how humanity dealt with the depleted ozone layer for tackling the climate crisis? The historical perspective provides valuable insights. However, as the author points out, there is one key difference: Just like with the climate crisis, rich countries contributed most to causing the problem. Unlike with the climate crisis, they also had the most to lose if it didn’t get fixed. Honi soit qui mal y pense…

I had never thought of it that way: «Your choice of career is the most important ethical decision of your life.»

80’000 Hours is a non-profit that helps people figure out how they can best use their career to help solve the world’s most pressing problems. In this new article, they offer a framework anyone can use to make career decisions. Four factors define your impact:

• How pressing (or neglected) the problems you focus on are.
• How effective the solutions you pursue are.
• The amount of leverage you can apply to those solutions.
• Your personal fit for the path
  .