Interesting episode on why the end of an experience has an outsized impact on how we remember it – with proof from a famous experiment with colonoscopies.

Dream big, they say. How about spending some 58 trillion dollars to power the entire world with solar panels? What makes the proposal «modest» is the fact that it would pay for itself over 6 years thanks to energy cost savings – if the math is correct and if (a big if) we assume that cutting off all fossil fuel won’t cause major geopolitical turmoil.

Why does climate change make birds shrink? And what animals might live on this planet millions of years from now? Science ftw.

On average, men die younger than women. One reason for that is that they simply aren’t that great at looking after their health – a reminder that toxic masculinity harms men, too. This story explores the issue and highlights efforts to get more men to see a doctor early enough. Saving lives is obviously a good thing, I still loved this reality check quote from a health-policy professor: «Men are advantaged in so many areas of society. We built our whole society with you in mind — so you had your shot there, dude, you won the lottery. And you want us to give you more? Come on.»

An impressive piece of visual journalism on a crisis that has faded from public view: the tens of thousands of migrants risking their lives trying to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean.

The story of how a struggling horse farm in Western India became the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. This goes right into the collection of my favourite nerdy subgenre: the in-depth profile of stuff our modern world runs on.

In June 2025, the number of people living in extreme poverty jumped up by 125 million. Nobody got poorer all of a sudden, but the World Bank changed the definition of extreme poverty. This is an excellent deep dive into what the poverty line actually is, how it gets calculated and why it got updated (it’s not just inflation).

A new publication that I’m quite curious about. The Argument aims to «make a positive, combative case for liberalism». This is founder Jerusalem Demsas’ launch essay. Liberalism, she writes, won’t be saved by historical analogies and endless lectures. «It will be won if we can convince people that the issues they care about are best addressed through liberalism.» (Great bycatch of reading the article is this definition of conservatism I didn’t know: It «stands athwart history, yelling Stop.»)

A disturbing and deeply sad story, and more nuanced than you might expect from the title alone. This isn’t a sensationalist «AI is driving people into suicide!» take. Rather a personal window into a phenomenon we’re only starting to grapple with: recent surveys have shown that among young users, the number one use case for AI is using chatbots as companions and «therapists».

Autocracy in America is back with season two – I wish I were recommending a Netflix series here. But this is for real. The podcast by The Atlantic once again puts the spotlight on authoritarian tactics that are already at work in the United States. This new season is hosted by Garry Kasparov, chess grandmaster and exiled Russian dissident. (Disclaimer: This recommendation is based on the first five episodes. I haven’t yet listened to the one with Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner.)