War in Sudan & The Big Meat
A war that has been raging for over a year is taking its toll. Also, are big meat producers being greenwashed?
Featured Articles
The War the World Forgot
New York Times • 8 Aug 2024 • ~6100 words
Nicholas Casey takes us into the heart of Sudan’s civil war, which has raged for over a year, killing thousands and displacing millions, yet remains largely unknown to the world. Unsurprisingly, the war has led to a severe humanitarian crisis, with widespread hunger and displacement.
We reached the school, a brick shell of its former state with a crater in the courtyard. Bloodstains were visible on a wall. A chalkboard had been shorn in half. “My name is Coco Bashir,” someone had written in English.
How the most powerful environmental groups help greenwash Big Meat’s climate impact
Vox • 7 Aug 2024 • ~10500 words
This story is an excellent piece of journalism: Kenny Torrella explores how some of the most influential environmental groups are aiding the meat industry in the US in their greenwashing efforts. It raises important questions about the sustainability claims made by the industry and how the environmental movement has largely avoided confronting the meat industry's massive contribution to climate change, water pollution, and deforestation, partly due to fears of political backlash and a reluctance to challenge personal dietary choices.
“It’s not the cow, it’s the how” is a common refrain from the regenerative beef crowd. Cows aren’t a pollution problem, they claim — it’s how they’re farmed that’s the problem. But there is no escaping the fact that it is the cow, and especially the number of cows — and pigs and chickens.
I want to note that Vox is running a series called “How Factory Farming Ends” on this topic. This is my pick of the articles published so far, but you can visit this page for a list of others. There are other great stories, like Ditching factory farming can help prevent another pandemic or I’m a Black vegan. Why don’t you see more of us?
Recommended Articles
Why Some People Are Paying to Be Left on a Desert Island—Alone
AFAR • 6 Aug 2024 • ~2400 words
Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be truly alone on a deserted island? This story from AFAR explores the growing trend of travelers seeking solitude through companies that send people to remote islands with minimal supplies and no company. Despite their challenges, many travelers are drawn to the opportunity for profound solitude and disconnection that desert islands provide.
It’s also not as easy to disconnect as it once was. In the years since he founded the company, Cerezo has watched cell coverage expand across the world’s archipelagos. A modern-day Robinson Crusoe could live off coconuts while binge-watching old seasons of Naked and Afraid.
Hey Big Spender
London Review of Books • 8 Aug 2024 • ~5200 words
I don’t think anything in this piece will surprise anyone who is already familiar with mobile advertising, but it provides a very good overview. It explores the intricacies of digital advertising, revealing the tension between user privacy and the relentless push for targeted ads. How much do you know about how your data is used in the apps you can’t live without?
But the scale on which IDFAs [(Identifier for Advertisers)] were used to link up diverse data created capabilities that Apple had probably not fully anticipated. What it made possible was ‘effective deterministic [targeting]. They would know that you use Deliveroo to get Chinese or Vietnamese food on a Saturday, they know that you use Tinder ... They’d have known bloody everything.
Medicine is plagued by untrustworthy clinical trials. How many studies are faked or flawed?
Nature • 18 Jul 2023 • ~3900 words
In this examination of medical research, Richard Van Noorden explores the unsettling prevalence of flawed or fabricated clinical trials. With estimates suggesting that a significant portion of randomized controlled trials may be unreliable, this article explores the implications for both medical practice and patient care. It's a critical read for anyone interested in the integrity of the scientific studies that form our understanding of health.
Carlisle called these ‘zombie’ trials because they had the semblance of real research, but closer scrutiny showed they were actually hollow shells, masquerading as reliable information. Even he was surprised by their prevalence.
WW2 & The Silver Screen
Alex Churchill’s HistoryStack • 8 Aug 2024 • ~3000 words
During World War II, Hollywood and European cinema were shaped by the realities of war. This post looks at how various movie stars from different countries navigated their lives during this time. Some served, some avoided the service, and some were Hitler’s favorites but maintained an ambiguous political stance.
MGM were determined to get their valuable asset out of the way of the Nazis, not least Hitler, who had announced a $5,000 dollar reward for the man that brought him his favourite actor unscathed.
