Rex Sorgatz replaced his blog with a newsletter of weekly recommendations, and his latest recommends the Netflix docu-series Diagnosis, of which I watched roughly half in a binge last week. It’s exactly what you’d expect it is from the synopsis, and from familiarity with the format, but still very watchable. #link
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An affecting portrait of the voice of combat sports, Mauro Ranallo. #video
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An essay on the multi-million-dollar protein food industry. Which is pretty much like the gluten-free industry, or any other mass-market food fad. #link
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A longform debunking of nearly every contemporary food/health myth you’ve ever heard. #link
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The worst consequences of monoculture and monovorism (and of post-colonial proxy war). #link
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There’s a lot to unpack here: the portrait of Luxottica's founder as the Vince McMahon of the spectacle frame world; rising rates of myopia tied to lack of sunlight and tech-related dopamine hits; the world at the mercy of an optics giant that “can choose to interpret its mission more or less however it wants”. #link
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It’s only to an extent, but I can identify with this; I don’t care so much about how others perceive me, but I know I would feel better, holistically, if I can get my head right. And for me, managing what I eat really is all in the head. #link
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Highlighting the actually not-so-secret world of mass food production, and product manufacturing in general. Streamlining is cheaper, hence single producers are contracted by various brands and chains to supply their needs. They’ve been doing it for decades. (That branded thing you like? There’s probably an own-brand equivalent that is literally the same product.) But there’s a cost for this efficiency, whether relatively benign (like ‘metallic-tasting’ hummus) or more significant from a public health standpoint (see the horse meat scandal, which was really about not knowing what was in the food, rather than that thing being horse meat). #link
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An amazing breakthrough if it scales. #link
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As if the world wasn’t dystopian enough already. I mean, hacking a pacemaker is something straight out of a William Gibson novel. #link
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Too easy to file this as another ‘why wrestling is great’ post, but it’s more about how wrestling helped change this writer’s mindset. I’m glad it’s doing for him what I wish it was doing for me; the ennui is strong. #link
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Is it just me, or is there something really insidious about all these ‘binge-watching = depression’ stories popping up as of late? I’m talking about stories like this, which run with the results of a single, small-scale university study (red flags waving immediately, there) to patchwork a smothering quilt of consensus.
More…
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