Links + Recs ☕️
A curated roundup of books, articles, shows, inspiration and more
This is the first of a curated roundup post for paid subscribers. I haven’t decided whether to do this weekly, every other week, or monthly. I will determine which based on reader feedback.
Quote of the Week
Any human anywhere will blossom in a hundred unexpected talents and capacities simply by being given the opportunity to do so.
— Doris Lessing
Phrase of the Week: ‘Corporate Blender’
Mass Tech Layoffs? Just Another Day in the Corporate Blender. (NYT)
If you’ve spent any amount of time working at a company of pretty much any size, you’ll be familiar with what I call the resulting “life in the blender”: the unrelenting uncertainty and the upheaval that have become constant features of business life today.
This checks out.
US No Longer Ranks Among World’s 20 Happiest Countries (WAPO)
The United States is no longer among the world’s 20 happiest countries, according to a new report — with young people hit particularly hard and reporting lower levels of well-being than any other age group. This is the first time the United States has slipped out of the top 20 since the [World Happiness Report] was first launched in 2012. [A] similar downward trend in youth well-being is also seen in Canada.
According to the World Happiness Report 2024, the ten happiest countries are (in order): Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Australia.
ICYMI, check out my essay about what undergirds happiness in Denmark: We Don’t Need ‘Self-Help’ We Need Support.