Weekly Filet

Make sense of what’s happening, and imagine what could be.

Carefully curated recommendations on what to read, watch and listen to. For nerds and changemakers who love when something makes them go «Huh, I never thought of it this way!».

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What to expect

Hi, I'm David. A journalist, and a curious generalist.
I've been curating the best of the web for my newsletter since 2011. I'd love to be your diligent curator, too.

Recommendations in the Weekly Filet are things I want my friends to see.

Things that tickle and delight a curious mind.

Articles, books, podcasts, graphics, videos, photographs,...The form is never the limit.

I let these questions guide me:
1. Does it help understand a complex, important issue?
2. Does it foster empathy by making you see the world through others' eyes?
3. Does it inspire self-reflection?

If it's timely, that's good. If it's timeless, that's better.

If in doubt, I prefer nerdy, witty, ambiguous. Solutions-oriented and actionable. Candid.

Don't expect news. Expect new insights.
Expect to be surprised.

Surprise me now!

Treasure trove

2622 recommended links since 2011

How I became ‘collapse aware’

«To be collapse aware is to live with the sense that something about the way we live is coming to an end.» A personal essay that, to me, felt like it captured something raw and true that was hiding in plain sight. It ends on a more positive note than you’d expect.

From Weekly Filet #505, in November 2024.

    The World Will Miss 1.5C. What Comes Next?

    This 60 minute podcast episode is for anyone who cares about a liveable planet, but who isn’t following climate news very closely. You might have heard about the 1.5 degree goal that we’re about to miss. This conversation gives a good understanding of what this means (and doesn’t mean), and what’s next. Highly recommended.

    From Weekly Filet #505, in November 2024.

      17 key charts to understand the COVID-19 pandemic

      Five years ago, the first person got infected with a novel coronavirus. Five years! My memory of that time oscillates between something that feels very recent still, and something far, far gone. Our World In Data provided much of the data that helped us make (some) sense of what was happening and that powered all these charts we were staring at, hoping for curves to bend. They have now published an extensive retrospective, which also reminds us that to this day people are suffering from, and dying of Covid. Five years later, an estimated 27 million people have lost their lives.

      From Weekly Filet #505, in November 2024.

        Updates on the Arc of the Moral Universe

        This made me smile, at times even laugh out loud. Hope it does the same for you. Some favourites, though it’s hard to pick among that many great lines:

        • The arc of the moral universe is feeling pretty stiff this morning.
        • The arc of the moral universe demands constant fucking supervision.
        • The arc of the moral universe wants you to please wait. Your call is important to it.
        From Weekly Filet #504, in November 2024.

          Trump 2.0: What does it mean for Ukraine?

          From a European perspective, arguably the biggest question about Trump’s reelection is how it will impact Ukraine. And for that, I turn to the one podcast that has been outstanding since day one of Russia’s full-scale invasion. I came away from listening to this episode with a better understanding of the possible scenarios, and – quite unexpectedly – with a little more hope than when I started listening.

          From Weekly Filet #504, in November 2024.

            the divine discontent

            I feel seen: a reflection on people who let their curiosity pull them from one project to another, always slightly discontent with the outcome – and why this is actually a great way to live. «The most fulfilled people I know tend to have two traits. They’re insatiably curious—about new ideas, experiences, information and people. And they seem to exist in a state of perpetual, self-inflicted unhappiness.»

            From Weekly Filet #504, in November 2024.

              The United States of Abortion Mazes

              Access to abortion in the USA, visualised as 50 (playable!) mazes. It’s this kinds of novel approach to a topic that makes The Pudding unique. Great idea, brilliantly executed.

              From Weekly Filet #504, in November 2024.

                All Bets Are Off

                «The most critical job of Democrats is to fill their supporters with hope: a hopeless population is more vulnerable to autocracy.» These past few days, I’ve read so many analyses and hot takes that offered simple explanations of why Trump won again. Not helpful. However, I did like this forward-looking interview with Irish writer Joseph O’Neill on what fighting back needs to look like. O’Neill also touches upon reasons for Trump’s win, but he refrains from premature monocausal explanations: «The richest, most militarily secure democracy in the world doesn’t embrace authoritarianism unless lots of mistakes have been made.»

                From Weekly Filet #504, in November 2024.