The Monday Mix (11/04/2021)
Hello friends,
This Monday is a special one in the UK. It’s the most significant easing of lockdown restrictions since they were reintroduced at the end of December.
We can now drink a pint at the pub, albeit only outdoors. Get a haircut, go to the gym and go shopping. It’s a small step back to some semblance of normality.
The biggest plus for me is that I can now browse in a bookstore again. This is one of my favourite things to do. I love walking around bookstores, staring at the rows and rows of books and reading the blurbs of various books.
Bookstores are a place of serendipity. You may walk in with an idea of what you want to buy, but you normally walk out with books you never intended to buy. I’m going to visit one for the first time in nearly four months in the next day or so and I can’t wait!
I wrote a post about The Joys of the Bookstore during the first lockdown last year. It still applies today, perhaps even more so. It’s worth a read if you’re a lover of books like myself.
Here’s what I want to share with you this week:
Who invented the carbon footprint?
I came across this article from David Perell’s email list and had to share it. I’m passionate about the environment. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face in the 21st century and it’s going to be a hell of a task to fix it.
One of the concepts we’ve all become familiar with is that of a carbon footprint. This is how much carbon dioxide you’re responsible for emitting into the atmosphere. It’s an interesting notion and one which has helped many of us, including myself, become more environmentally conscious?
But…
Was it a marketing ploy to get companies such as BP off the hook? This article written by someone who worked at BP at the time suggests it was. When you think about it, this makes sense. Fossil fuel companies are far and away the largest polluters on the planet. Without changing their behaviour, mitigating climate change is going to be tough.
This article is both fascinating and disturbing. Hinting at how powerful propaganda is in swaying the masses.
The Orwell Prize Longlist
George Orwell is my favourite writer. His works have stood the test of time and he had an uncanny ability to make even the most mundane of topics enjoyable to read.
The prize named in his honour rewards the best political non-fiction and fiction books. If you’re interested in Orwell, or you’re looking for some new books to read, this list may give you a few ideas.
Conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theories have always intrigued me. After 9/11, I remember becoming more and more aware of them as various figures on the internet pushed back on the official narrative.
As an impressionable teenager, it was easy to believe these statements rather than look at them critically to determine if they were true. It was back then that I first heard of the shock jock, Alex Jones. He came across as a crazy figure, but one who seemed irrelevant and out of touch with the majority of people.
Today, conspiracy theories are more popular than ever. The post-truth world we’re living in has made people more sceptical than ever. This article is an interesting look back at one of Jon Ronson’s books on the subject, written twenty years ago.
How have conspiracy theories gone from the fringe to the mainstream, it’s a question Ronson tries to answer.
Book I’m reading - Chernobyl
I didn’t know much about the Chernobyl disaster until I started reading this book. I missed out on the big TV extravaganza a few years ago. I still need to watch that series. This book is a fantastic telling of the buildup to the disaster, what happened and its ramifications for the Soviet Union and the wider world.
Quote I’m pondering - "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States. It is nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." - Isaac Asimov
That’s it for this week. As usual, my ship30for30 essays will continue to find their way into your inbox throughout the week.
Tom