The Sunday Supplement: Seaweed And Woods
From The Browser 3 years ago:
Banking On The Seaweed Rush
Nicola Jones | Hakai | 14th March 2023
Will we all be eating seaweed soon? Global production has increased sixfold in the last three decades. The attractions are obvious: it’s a nutrient-dense crop that can also soak up excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere while protecting oceanic habitats. But if we rush into intensive, large-scale seaweed farming, we risk repeating at sea our past agricultural mistakes on land (2,798 words)
From The Browser 9 Years Ago:
Into The Woods
Michael Finkel | Guardian | 15th March 2017
Christopher Knight was 20 when he walked into the New England woods, and 47 when he walked out again under police escort. “It was as if he went camping for the weekend and then didn’t come home for a quarter of a century.” He lived as a hermit, sleeping rough and seeing nobody. The closest he came to civilisation was pilfering food from holiday homes — hence, eventually, the police. “My desires dropped away. I didn’t long for anything. I didn’t even have a name. I was completely free” (4,086 words)
Question Of The Week
This week we recommended Spencer Wright’s Sublime Capability, in which he writes of unfinished projects: “Thought has been put into each of these projects; they occupy space in my life. They all ache a little bit, sitting there unfinished. But maybe the ache feels good.”
What unfinished projects occupy space in Browser readers’ lives? Do they ache, and is it good?
Last week’s question
We recommended Ruxandra Teslo’s Equality As A Consolation Prize, which considers the psychological effects of differing worldviews, and concludes with this observation: “And in the absence of a grand narrative, sterile equality is itself a rather pathetic consolation prize.”
How did Browser readers feel about this?
(a) Yes, this feels true — humans benefit more psychologically from a grand narrative about their role 44%
(b) No, this feels false — humans benefit more psychologically from the ideal of equality 50%
(c) Other — please tell us more! 6%
A close-run vote, but a quiet mailbag, with no letters from the yay-sayers. Instead, read on for doubt about disenchantment, the history of the Church and the novelty of its values — and a vote for agency.
Performance Of The Week
Libertango | Hauser, Ksenija Sidorova and the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra | comp. Astor Piazzolla | 3.28
Exhilarating performance of Piazzolla’s Libertango, well shot for maximum enjoyment of the duo’s communication — and of the stunning Arena Pula in Croatia. One for those dreaming of summer nights.
Book Of The Week
Lone Wolf: Walking the Faultlines of Europe| Adam Weymouth
Recommended by Andrew Holgate at Five Books:
“Adam Weymouth travels in the footsteps of a tagged wolf called Slavc, from Slovenia all the way through to Italy... Everywhere he walks, he meets people who are affected by the growing number of wolves... he looks at the fear that the wolves cause, the resentment that the protection of the wolves by the EU causes amongst farming communities, and how the wolves become emblematic of much broader political tensions between local communities and central government, and how populism becomes caught up in this duel. So it becomes not just a piece of nature writing. It becomes, in many places, a book about the politics of modern Europe... It is an extraordinary achievement.”
Quiz Of The Week
Ann Morgan spent a year reading a book from every country. She has a list of titles to help anybody stuck on the smaller or less-translated nations — but before you take a look, how many countries can you think of a title for?
The complete list of countries and territories included in Morgan’s quest is at the bottom of today’s edition. Email your list to editor@thebrowser.com; we’ll send a Browser mug to the highest scoring response.
Image Of The Week
Tempera paintwork beautifully preserved over 7 centuries. The full accompanying text from the National Gallery is recommended for some bite-sized art history. “Tempera paints, made with pigment and egg yolk, were quick-drying and could not—like oils—be blended or built up in translucent layers on the surface of the panel... Early tempera paintings are sometimes said to have a “linear” quality.... By contrast, Nardo’s paintings demonstrate a delicate modeling of light, intermediate, and dark tones”.
Poem Of The Week
A Litany for Survival | Audre Lorde
For those who “were never meant to survive”. You can hear Lorde read the poem here to fully appreciate its rhythms.
For those of us who live at the shoreline
standing upon the constant edges of decision
crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice...
Read A Litany For Survival and more by Audre Lorde at Poetry Foundation.
Quiz Country List
Here is the list of countries and territories used by Ann Morgan, including “territories not on the list of UN recognised nations... selected by a poll of blog visitors from a list of nominations.”
Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Andorra; Angola; Antigua; Argentina; Armenia; Australia; Austria; Azerbaijan; The Bahamas; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belarus; Belgium; Belize; Benin; Bhutan; Bolivia; Bosnia; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cambodia; Cameroon; Canada; Cape Verde; Central African Republic; Chad; Chile; China; Colombia; Comoros; Congo, Democratic Republic of; Congo, Republic of; Costa Rica; Côte d’Ivoire; Croatia; Cuba; Cyprus; Czech Republic (Czechia); Denmark; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; East Timor; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Estonia; Ethiopia; Fiji; Finland; France; Gabon; Galicia; The Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; Greece; Grenada; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; Hungary; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Iran; Iraq; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Kiribati; Kosovo; Kurdistan; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Laos; Latvia; Lebanon; Lesotho; Liberia; Libya; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mali; Malta; Marshall Islands; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Micronesia, Federated States of; Moldova; Monaco; Mongolia; Montenegro; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Namibia; Nauru; Nepal; Netherlands; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; North Korea; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Palestine; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Qatar; Réunion; Romania; Russia; Rwanda; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Samoa; San Marino; Sao Tome and Principle; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Serbia; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Slovakia; Slovenia; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Africa; South Korea; South Sudan; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Suriname; Swaziland; Sweden; Switzerland; Syria; Taiwan; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Thailand; Togo; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Tuvalu; Uganda; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States of America; Uruguay; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Vatican City; Venezuela; Vietnam; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe
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