Underwater Dystopia

Why So Many Bikes End Up Underwater

Jody Rosen | Guardian | 28th July 2022

Some bicycles end up in canals by accident. Cyclists get lost at night, or in fog, and steer off towpaths. Drunk cyclists fall from bridges. Throwing a bicycle into a canal is "a specialised sport, which offers its own peculiar satisfactions". But one way or another, especially in Paris and Amsterdam, where canals have to be periodically dredged for drowned bikes, a whole lot of bikes end up in canals (3,800 words)

The Dystopia Of San Paulo

Nicola Abé | Der Spiegel  25th July 2022

Portrait of São Paulo in Brazil, home to 22 million people, the largest metropolis in the southern hemisphere, the wealthiest city in South America, and one of the most unequal cities in the world. The rich travel by private helicopter while the city council puts boulders under bridges to displace rough sleepers. "Society here has failed miserably in making a dignified life possible for everyone" (4,400 words)