Engaged Reading Time - Issue #50
Hello. I hope you're having a great Sunday. As I type this, the sun has finally emerged from the clouds, after a day of downpours. It\s bringing a joy to the end of the weekend, which is all too rare…
I'm also watching One Man & His Dog as I finish this off. It's nice to see that the inspiration for my blog name is still going, even if it's buried in Countryfile these days.
Anyway, here's some good reading to while away the rest of your weekend, or make your commute more bearable.
Enjoy.
People
What Does PewDiePie Really Believe?
This profile of the biggest individual YouTuber in the world completely fails to answer the question in the headline - but is still compelling reading about the culture of YouTube and its stars.
Misogyny, male rage and the words men use to describe Greta Thunberg
A fascinating academic look at the almost hysterical pushback against Thunberg.
Terrance Dicks inspired me to write – and not to feel ashamed of my stammer
If you were a Doctor Who fan at all in the 1970s or 80s, Terrance Dicks was a towering figure. He turned out dozens of novelisations of classic series stories - the only way most of us could access those old stories. For some, he was an inspiration.
Places
A couple of examples of design for social good.
"Goldsmith Street offers a roadmap for precisely the type of housing the UK needs" says Piers Taylor
At a time when everything in the UK looks bleak, Goldsmith Street winning the Stirling Prize is a rare moment of hope, writes Piers Taylor.
This new coastal development is designed to live with sea level rise
Rising sea levels make building new apartments on the shore a risky proposition. But a new development in Boston is designed to expect—and mitigate—the inevitable more-frequent flooding.
Culture & Science
The 18 movie poster cliches - and what they tell you about the film The Poke
This is both amusing and a bit disturbing. Once you see the patterns, it's hard to go back.
Your body is scanned, destroyed, then reproduced. Do ‘you’ live on the copy?
Are the crew of the Enterprise killing themselves every time they beam down?
Mental Wellness
Yes, social media is making you miserable
Social media is making us digitally connected, but it’s also preventing us from making connections that truly matter to our happiness, argues this sociologist.
Now We’re Talking to Therapists About Climate Anxiety
Many of us grew up in fundamentally stable times - although I do remember fretting about the danger of nuclear annihilation as a child - so our current era of political and environmental risk is having an impact on people's health.
Look out for yourselves out there, people…
RIP Hanna
It seems impossible, but for the second time this year, I'm mourning the death of a talented young journalist. Hanna was on the Newspaper Journalism MA at City a couple of years ago. She was bright, talented, open-minded and very engaged with the course. A pleasure to teach - and it was no surprise to me she went on to so much success so quickly.
What a terrible loss.
Tributes paid after BBC News journalist Hanna Yusuf dies aged 27
The BBC described her as a "talented young journalist who was widely admired".
My hijab has nothing to do with oppression. It's a feminist statement
Hanna Yusuf asks why a simple piece of clothing is seen as the very epitome of oppression
And finally…
Apple Revokes Panic Developer License
A (satirical) tale of Apple, China - and an Untitled Goose Game.
Congratulations on making it to the end!
See my paying subscribers tomorrow, and the rest of you next weekend.
Adam.