The First (Unofficial) Female World Cup, The Best Book Covers of 2022, Why We Stress Eat, etc.
In which the links I share seem to be a bit more bleak than normal, but let's all stay positive.
☠️ What Killed Google Reader? This is for very few of you, but I am still very much of the opinion that RSS is the most efficient (and therefore best) way to read the Internet. This newsletter would not exist without Feedly, especially because I can push articles to its “read later” section from Twitter (or just about anywhere).
🍿 If you enjoyed Barbie, but don’t know much about co-writer/director Greta Gerwig, let me tell ya: she’s great. Here is a brief overview of her catalog; Lady Bird is my favorite, but I have a lot of love for Francis Ha and Mistress America, for what it’s worth.
⚽️ I am interested in Copra ‘71, an upcoming documentary about the first (unofficial) women’s World Cup. Via Variety: “More than 100,000 football fans packed Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium for a historic tournament… Teams from England, France, Denmark, Argentina and Italy flew in for 21 days of matches alongside Mexico’s national team, while eager sponsors lined up for a piece of the action. COPA 71 was organized by the Italy-headquartered Federation of Independent European Female Football (FIEFF), and was set up in Mexico because it had just hosted the men’s 1970 FIFA World Cup. The existing infrastructure of the Azteca stadium and enthusiastic support of local sponsors made a women’s tournament not only appealing, but commercially savvy.”
📖 If you are looking for something to read, 125 authors voted on the “greatest books of all time.” Admittedly only skimmed this as I have too much to read. (See also: the best books on astronomy).
📚 Looking at book covers was probably not a good idea.
🦊 Whatever I don’t read soon might have to become up-cycled papier-mâché critters.
🥵 One of 2023’s most extreme heat waves is happening in the dead of winter. “Temperatures in parts of Chile and northern Argentina have soared to 10°C-20°C above average over the last few days. Towns in the Andes mountains have reached 38°C or more, while Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, saw temperatures above 30°C – breaking its previous August record by more than 5°C. Temperatures peaked at 39°C in the town of Rivadavia. Bear in mind it’s mid-winter in this part of the world.”
🚍 A bleak read on a long bus ride. “What I found on this trip was a changed landscape: gone are the small, clean, cheap motels in the centre of cities, gone are public spaces where anyone can find a water fountain, a bathroom, a place to nurse a cheap cup of coffee and human company. And yet the camaraderie on the Greyhound is just about hanging on – but I wonder for how long?”
🍽 If you find yourself stress eating, it’s because your brain doesn’t know you are full yet. “A molecule called Neuropeptide Y (NPY) seems to be the main character in all of these functions. Experts believe the body naturally produces NPY as a way to cope with stress—the molecule has an anxiolytic effect in the brain, meaning it reduces anxiety—but NPY also shuts down the lateral habenula and prompts you to keep eating comfort foods with abandon.”
👩🔬 Jellyfish almost never show up in the fossil record because they’re 95% water and prone to rapid decay outside of water, but scientists have found some that appear to be over 505 million years old.
🎼 We lost the great Robbie Robertson this week. This video of him leading a global rendition of his masterpiece “The Weight” is very much worth your time.
❤️ Let’s end this week on the “preposterous grace” of Paul Rubens. A fitting tribute to a truly one-of-a-kind icon.
✌️ Stay positive, folks. Remember to keep The Hoping Machine running.
Love,
Luke
