Oysters, Joel Arthur Rosenthal, Ageing, Ashley Madison, Squirrel
Rules For Eating Oysters
Rowan Jacobsen | Lucky Peach | 25th August 2015
Twenty of them. But for eating out, here's the rule that captures all the others: "Oysters served at places that don’t have a designated shucker are often laughably bad. That goes for very famous ones too. These may be great chefs, but they aren’t chatting with the oyster growers every day and they haven’t put in thousands of hours at the shucking station. If the restaurant doesn’t have a full-time shucker, don’t go there for the oysters" (2,500 words)
The World’s Greatest Jeweller
Isabel Lloyd | Intelligent Life | 26th August 2015
Profile of Joel Arthur Rosenthal, "the greatest jeweller in the world". When the New York Metropolitan Museum gave him a show, the first for a living jewel maker, "the most common sound was a soft intake of breath, as people gasped, not in shock at the bling, but in pleasure". He sells through one low-key shop in Paris where you need an introduction to get in. "Ten years to complete a single piece is not uncommon" (3,900 words)
The Future Is Old
Brigitte Miksa | Project Syndicate | 26th August 2015
The ageing of Western societies is "one of the greatest success stories" of modern times. Life expectancy in rich countries has increased by thirty years during the past century. Japan, France and Italy are already "super-aged", meaning that over-65s make up more than one-fifth of the population. By mid-century most countries will be super-aged. If that is a problem, then on balance it is the right problem to have (700 words)
Ashley Madison Was Cheating On You
Annalee Newitz | Gizmodo | 26th August 2015
Ashley Madison posed as a dating site which enabled married people to have affairs, but in practice it had 37 million paying male customers and almost no active female customers, according to analysis of the leaked database. "Out of 5.5 million female accounts, roughly zero percent had ever shown any kind of activity at all, after the day they were created". The men sent messages and got automatically generated responses (2,450 words)
Why I Ate A Roadkill Squirrel
George Monbiot | Guardian | 27th August 2015
A far more thoughtful and lyrical piece than the headline would suggest, about the debasement of our relationships with animals and nature. We are happy to eat meat from factory farms, horrified by the thought of eating a squirrel found dead by the road. "People have confused what is customary with what is ethical". Industrial meat comes at incalculable cost in suffering and pollution. A wild squirrel is free — and delicious (2,300 words)
Video of the day: Inventor Portrait: Alan Adler
What to expect: Documentary. One man invented the Aerobie Flying Disc and the Aeropress coffee maker. Here he is (6'25")
Thought for the day
The best things in life are free. The second-best are very expensive
Coco Chanel