Welcome to 5 Quick Things that I saw since last month that I thought were interesting enough to share with you. None of them are particularly timely so feel free to just enjoy 🙂

>Number One<

Talk, Talk, Talk

When we visited the Esperanto museum in Vienna 7 years ago I didn’t know a single person who was studying it. Esperanto in linguistic circles is more like a fun little curio than a real thing but it turns out there are still many passion people who believe in its message and dream of uniting people in a neutral language of hope and peace and I love that energy, it makes me want to spend some time learning it.

>Number Two<

Everyone Knew, No one Believed

I really do like this article about the similarities of the system that turn into totalitarian rule but it’s also a reminder that no matter how much you tell people that something is coming they don’t really believe you often until they are in the thick of it.

>Number Three<

A Statement Piece

I absolutely adore Khensani‘s videos about fashion (generally about fashion in Africa and specifically in South Africa) and this video about Winnie Mandela’s use of fashion for political power and statement hits it out of the park. I’ve only ever heard about Winnie Mandela in passing because her husbands political moves are the only ones ever highlighted to us outside of South Africa but it turns out she was her own force to be reckoned with and I love to see how subtle and sometimes, not so subtle political moves can be made without words.

>Number Four<

Banal Comedy

I know the discourse about the Odyssey has basically run its course but I want people to stop and take a second to go back and read Emily Wilson’s actual criticism of Nolan’s movie and come at the piece from the angle of a person who has devoted a large part of her life to decoding and living in the world built around the Odyssey and why Nolan’s movie, even if it is a perfectly fine movie, might fall short of many other goals.

>Number Five<

The Weather is a Mood

On the one hand this is kind of an annoying piece that is telling you to put down your phone for the 800th time, this time in service of helping yourself form memories of the novel things that happen to you but on the other hand, it is an argument for actually having real, boring downtime which almost none of us are socially or mentally allowed. I am unsure I actually liked this piece but I thought about it for a couple of days and that’s not nothing.

That’s all for this month and hopefully I’ll see you back again next month with some more exciting and cool things!