A list of good reads
- BBC News profiles Loretta Harmes, a chef who has not been able to eat for six years because of a genetic illness called the Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
- Supriya Roychoudhury in FiftyTwo uncovers the astonishing story of Hathi, the Indian elephant in Kabul who lived through the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
- In Vulture, six screenwriters speak of the hardest movie ending they’ve ever written.
- Vox has an excellent and critical take on the French bulldog—the new ‘It’ dog beloved by celebrities.
- Also in Vox: A fun read on how men’s thighs became the new abs.
- The Guardian offers a good read on the exhausting cult of productivity, and getting things done.
- Undark has a deep dive into smell therapy and its actual value in restoring a sense of taste and smell to long haul Covid patients.
- Melanie McGrath in Psyche writes about the consolatory pleasures offered by jigsaw puzzles in a heart-warming piece centred on her relationship with her mother.
- Sandip Roy looks at the Bhima ad in Mint Lounge, and argues advertisers and advertising cannot be conflated with social change.
- Smithsonian has a fascinating piece on the science of motherhood—how foetuses literally reshape the brain and heart of their mothers.
- The advice on how much water you need to drink every day keeps changing. Popular Science breaks it down to tell you exactly what that amount needs to be.
- Ecologist Kulbhushan Suryawanshi in Times of India has a great piece on how biodiversity in cities is not about large parks and lakes, but preserving small patches of green which serve as a home for an amazing number of species.
- Beauty is pain. Beauty can also be poison. The Cut takes an entertaining romp through history to identify the most dangerous beauty rituals and products. Arsenic, anyone?
- Inside Hook breaks down the 15 most controversial songs by The Rolling Stones—and how Mick Jagger justified them.
- BBC has a very entertaining read on cats that have had real jobs! Also: photos!