politics is a hot mess + dating has always been hard

the bar for potential partners has risen, but the one for world leaders is on the floor.

Hey, my honey bunches of oats. 🤭 Hope you’re having a splendid start to your week!

Though it may be hard to dedicate our attention spans to anything other than the Euros, BRAT, and upcoming holidays abroad, we must keep at least one foot firmly planted in reality.

This week, let’s discuss the treacherous state of global politics and the increasingly confusing realm of dating. Sprinkled in is a section on lifestyle (how else can I describe it?), which explores our listening habits, the value of quality time, and why everyone on the internet is suddenly obsessed with being seen as a hot person who reads.

❤️🍄 On love and other drugs

We tend to blame dating apps for how difficult it is to find love these days, but is it possible we’re using them as scapegoats for a myriad of other limiting factors? Society is changing, and along with it so are our behaviours, priorities, values, and sense of community. The reality is, dating has always been challenging. But when so many new bars for success have been introduced, it’s now tricky in a different way.

The sceptics of psychedelic therapy – The Conversation

Magic mushrooms, LSD, and other psychedelics are having their moment in pop culture for their ability to boost our childlike wonder for the world and potential to improve our mental wellbeing. A catalogue of clinical trials in support of their use in mental health facilities continues to grow, but Michiel van Elk – a professor in cognitive psychology at Leiden University – believes their limitations and flaws make a strong case for scepticism.

China and India race to produce cheaper weight loss injections – thred.

Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wigovy are flying off the shelves, despite their high cost. To meet the demand of those who need (and want) them, pharmaceutical companies in India and China are now competing to create more affordable, biosimilar formulas. But will the availability of these drugs lead to more problems down the line?

🤝💬 Building positive lifestyle habits

With more than 50 percent of the world’s population living in urban areas, most of us can’t escape incessant noise exposure from things like construction, traffic, and the sound of the underground. The good news is, studies say noise-cancelling headphones aren’t just protecting us from hearing-damaging sounds around us, but are also preventing us from blasting our music at loud volumes to drown out environmental noise. It’s a win-win, if you ask me.

If you care about someone, put away your phone – The Guardian

All of us know what it’s like to be around someone who’s fixated on their phone when all we want is a little attention. Sometimes we’re the one glancing at our phones mid-conversation. Heck, we sometimes neglect giving ourselves much-needed self-care, because our eyes are glued to a never-ending stream of TikToks. This piece brings awareness to this habit in a compassionate way, while driving home how important self-awareness and discipline are for showing the people around us that we care.

Everybody wants to be the internet’s librarian – As Seen On

Who doesn’t want to be viewed as smart and sexy? What’s a better way to emulate that than posting to Instagram, donning your best outfit with a book in hand? That’s right, reading is cool again. The rise of celebrity book clubs and a booming ‘BookTok’ has seen us all influenced into reading more. While that can never really be a bad thing, realising that so many of us want to be perceived as culturally rich and bookish with great taste is a particularly interesting phenomenon taking place on the internet right now.

US🥴 Politics is a hot mess

The Biden and Trump debate lasted over an hour and a half, but the subject of climate change got only 90 seconds of airtime. Despite the gravity of climate issues, the debate skimmed over them lightly, sparking a blend of disappointment and sarcasm from climate experts and the public alike.

Is there a backup for Biden? – Vox

After being frozen amidst his peers while watching a choir performance and an absolutely abysmal presidential debate, many were left wondering whether Biden is fit to lead the US Democrats. Of course, the alternative isn’t much better, with a psychopathic Trump in the running to lead the Republican Party. Who could step in? Vox explores the options, or rather, lack thereof.

Israel looks to be turning its spare weapons towards Lebanon – The Guardian

As most Western powers have shown support for Israel’s unrelenting attacks on the Gaza Strip, it feels like virtually no one has come to the defence of Palestinians apart from the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, Hezbollah. Since June, Israel has been briefing its soldiers on what a war with Lebanon would look like, but leaders around the world are warning against what could be a highly ‘disastrous and deadly fallout. That said, Israel is not typically one to heed advice from outside parties.

🧠 Recommendations

Anyways, he’s great, so give this one a spin! Shit Don’t Change + Baby are personal favourites.

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