A list of good reads

• In New York Times (splainer gift link), Ann Patchett writes about a decision she made 30 years ago that she still regrets—signing up for email. 
• Financial Times (splainer gift link) has a must-read on the use and abuse of George Orwell’s work, resulting in a dead metaphor.
• Scroll reports on why it is difficult to pledge one’s body for medical research—as the family of Sitaram Yechury and GN Saibaba discovered.  
• Also in Scroll: Vikram Doctor offers an eye-opening overview of the challenges of India’s tea industry—along with some surprising facts about per capita tea ranking. 
• BBC News offers a stunning visual essay that explains how hurricanes are formed. 
• Economic Times (paywalled) has a brilliant long read on the dark reality of melatonin use in India. 
• The Nod looks at India’s millennial midlife crisis—how 40-somethings are making health, spirituality, and all-round growth their proverbial ‘red Porsche’.
• Aeon has an interesting long read about the return of joyful clutter in Japan—thumbing its nose at Marie Kondo’s minimalism. 
• The Conversation dives into the world of China’s rural influencers who are redefining country life. 
• The Wire offers a requiem for mountaineer Andrew Comyn Irvine—a century after his attempted climb up Mount Everest with George Mallory. 
• Slate traces the evolution of Mahjong—from Chinese grandmas’ favourite board game to a global phenomenon.
• The Verge has an enjoyable essay on the unlikely comeback of ‘crappy’ cameras from the 2000s.