Here are some of the articles that have interested me in the last week around the web. Like most people, I read hundreds, if not thousands, of articles most weeks, partly for personal reasons and partly because I do a lot of research for my various businesses and projects. These are the ones that stuck in my head and that I think might be worth reading again.
Reading up on the Irish Abortion Referendum
In May, The Republic of Ireland voted overwhelmingly to overturn the abortion ban by 66.4% to 33.6%.
It takes more than pro-choice laws to end deaths from unsafe abortions by Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng
South Africa legalised abortion in 1997. Yet so few clinics offer them that women still risk their lives by turning to illegal means
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jun/06/pro-choice-laws-deaths-unsafe-abortions-south-africa-dr-tlaleng-mofokeng
Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids review
It’s a hard-knock life – why make it worse by having kids?
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/selfish-shallow-and-self-absorbed-sixteen-writers-on-the-decision-not-to-have-kids-review-1.2230806
Reading up on sustainability and plastic
‘Plastic is not cool’ – is fashion finally cleaning up its act? By Kate Finnigan
As World Oceans Day approaches, Net-a-Porter’s Lucy Yeomans is leading the way in tackling fashion’s addiction to the ‘plastic drug’. But there’s a long way to go https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/jun/07/plastic-is-not-cool-is-fashion-finally-cleaning-up-its-act
Marks and Spencer “Acting on Plastic”
https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/blog/acting-on-plastic
H&M 2015 Sustainability Report
https://sustainability.hm.com/content/dam/hm/about/documents/masterlanguage/CSR/2015%20Sustainability%20report/HM_SustainabilityReport_2015_final_com_5.pdf
Ikea commits to phase out single-use plastic products by 2020 by Sarah Butler
Global retailer with 363 stores says it wants to help customers live more sustainably
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jun/07/ikea-commits-to-phase-out-single-use-plastic-products-by-2020
Climate Change Is a Challenge For Sustainable Development by Rachel Kyte, Gaidar Forum
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/speech/2014/01/15/climate-change-is-challenge-for-sustainable-development
Whilst toying with the idea of calling myself a “communication polymath” as opposed to “someone who works in lots of areas of communication”
How To Be a Polymath by Steven Mazie
http://bigthink.com/praxis/how-to-be-a-polymath
Are you a Lonely Generalist ? Maybe You’re a Polymath in Disguise? By Alex Dunsdon
https://medium.com/@alexdunsdon/is-it-too-pretentious-to-call-myself-a-polymath-23f7a72498cf
In Defense of Polymaths by Kyle Wiens
https://hbr.org/2012/05/in-defense-of-polymaths
Whilst thinking about weight, losing it, and how to not look fat in photos
27 Photos Of My Fat Face That Prove Camera Angle Is Everything by Marie Southard Ospina
https://www.bustle.com/articles/147097-27-photos-of-my-fat-face-that-prove-camera-angle-is-everything-photos
Zen, and the Art of Zero-Carb Living
https://zerocarbzen.com/
Reading and related to reading
Lorraine Hansberry
Hansberry was the first black female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best known work, the play A Raisin in the Sun, highlights the lives of Black Americans living under racial segregation in Chicago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorraine_Hansberry
Dante and The Divine Comedy: He took us on a tour of Hell
Dante’s vision of the Afterlife in The Divine Comedy influenced the Renaissance, the Reformation and helped give us the modern world, writes Christian Blauvelt.
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180604-dante-and-the-divine-comedy-he-took-us-on-a-tour-of-hell
The 100 world-shaping stories: who voted?
Read each individual Top 5 list from the 108 critics, scholars and journalists from 38 countries who voted in BBC Culture’s Stories that Shaped the World poll.
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180521-100-world-shaping-stories-who-voted
Creating a WordPress Information Evening presentation
44 Amazing WordPress Statistics and Facts
https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/wordpress-statistics/
The Digital (Gender) Divide: Women Are More Likely Than Men to Have a Blog (and a Facebook Profile)
Gender & Race
A Black Graduate Student at Yale Says a White Student Called Police on Her for Napping in a Common Room During an All-Nighter
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/05/a-black-grad-student-at-yale-says-a-white-student-called-the-police-on-her-while-napping-in-a-common-room-during-an-all-nighter.html
Is the term ‘mansplaining’ sexist? You asked Google – here’s the answer by Erynn Brook
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/06/is-the-term-mansplaining-sexist-google-autocomplete
Whilst writing
Combining Simplicity and Complexity
https://betterexplained.com/articles/combining-simplicity-and-complexity/
Huge debate: Prolog or Prologue?
https://sageofthesouth.wordpress.com/2017/03/19/huge-debate-prolog-or-prologue/
Storytelling
«Grimmsalabim» von Elfie Riegler
Grimm und Salabim bedeuten: «verzauberte Märchen». Frech und frei werden alte Bekanntschaften aus den Grimm-Märchen in neue Allianzen verstrickt. Da rivalisieren zum Beispiel Schneewittchen und das Rotkäppchen im märchenhaften Dialog um einen extravaganten Liebhaber.
https://www.srf.ch/sendungen/hoerspiel/grimmsalabim-von-elfie-riegler
Myths and legends of Switzerland
https://houseofswitzerland.org/swissstories/history/myths-and-legends-switzerland
Warum Storytelling nichts mit Rotkäppchen zu tun hat by Michael Schär
https://www.schwindlschaer.ch/blog/warum-storytelling-nichts-mit-rotkaeppchen-zu-tun-hat/
Piqued my interest
The language at the end of the earth
Easter Island’s dramatic history is echoed in the local Rapa Nui tongue. Today, the language is severely endangered, but determined islanders refuse to let it disappear.
http://www.bbc.com/travel/gallery/20180605-the-language-at-the-end-of-the-earth
SA rapidly becoming rehab haven
South Africa is fast gaining a reputation for world-class drug and substance rehabilitation, with scores of foreign addicts jetting in to face their demons at private treatment centres, at a fraction of what it would cost them abroad.
https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/sa-rapidly-becoming-rehab-haven-358063
Sleep Radio: New Zealand station that wants listeners to switch off by Charles Anderson
Insomniacs across the world give the nod to John Watson, who has ambient music producers queueing up to feature on his channel
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/06/sleep-radio-new-zealand-station-that-wants-listeners-to-drop-off
Why our facial expressions don’t reflect our feelings
For centuries, we’ve believed that facial expressions mirror our innermost emotions. But recent research has found that may be far from the truth.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180510-why-our-facial-expressions-dont-reflect-our-feelings
Why predicting suicide is a difficult and complex challenge by Joseph Franklin
https://theconversation.com/why-predicting-suicide-is-a-difficult-and-complex-challenge-98052
Food
Sautéed Whole Trout with Sage and White Wine
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/sauteed-whole-trout-with-sage-and-white-wine
Deliberate living
Video: If you want fulfilment in life, watch this by Gaur Gopal Das
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxnf9YNoIR8