The Outline World Dispatch
Tired of the daily news doom and gloom? Looking to explore curious stories instead? Every Monday through Thursday, we bring a story on the theme of Power, Culture, and the Future, handpicked from The Outline. We guarantee you’ll feel smarter and more hydrated.
1
The keto diet is a recipe for disaster
The latest low-carb diet trend is merely a rehash of fad diets past.
19 min
2
Yellowstone National Park underwear?
Basically, clothing companies are funding our national parks because the government won't.
6 min
3
How to make a British woman sell you a Honda
Rosa Lyster went into a "body language experts" k-hole and discovered some good news?
6 min
4
Can we get some crazy broke Asians, too?
Jeremy Gordon and Wei Tchou explore the many shades of Asian-American culture representation through the releases of ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’ ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,’ and Mitski’s ‘Be the Cowboy’.
64 min
5
"Ready for love" is a lie
Helena Fitzgerald pokes a hole in the idea that a romantic relationship is a prize for loving yourself enough.
19 min
6
A day on an e-scooter
Ann-Derrick Gaillot spent the day zipping around Portland using only dockless e-scooters and documented her experience.
8 min
7
The appeal of viral mugshots
Why do people like to look at photos of strangers at their worst?
11 min
8
Wokeness industrial complex
There's a problem with 'Nanette' – comedy is at its best when it helps audiences understand their relationship to trauma, not when it makes them feel comfortable.
18 min
9
The soundtrack of destruction
Musicians are trying to capture the soundscapes of the environment as it dies.
9 min
10
Smoke(y) signals
Thank Smokey Robinson and Smokey the Bear for this adjustment of the English language?
6 min
11
How to lose friends and scare away people
The signals you're putting off makes you less attractive.
8 min
12
Reject the algorithm!
Four music nerds and professionals tell us how to find new (and good) music in the age of the algorithm.
13 min
13
The racist language of space exploration
The language of colonialism is infecting outer space, thanks to dominance by rich white businessmen and politicians.
8 min
14
Queer fabulism is everywhere
Recent books by Carmen Maria Machado, Daisy Johnson, Melissa Broder, and many more are part of a burgeoning trend in writing that uses the fantastic to explore marginalized experiences.
14 min
15
Ghosted by a senator
Extremely outdated technology and zero policy mean calling your reps is often not as effective as we’d like it to be.
10 min
16
A mosh pit (of data)
Seeing your favorite band live will probably cost you more in privacy information than in dollars.
10 min
17
The U.S. is thirsty
Climate change threatens water everywhere, but tension between different levels of U.S. government has stalled our response.
6 min
18
The 'down-ass chick'
When a rapper wants a woman who will do anything except be her own person, what are we asking down chicks to be down for?
14 min
19
'Playboy' shaped the America of today
How coming into possession of a stack of vintage ‘Playboy’ issues caused one writer to consider the magazine’s impact on the modern world.
20 min
20
Dr. Seuss' forgotten anti-war book
This book spoke powerfully against the hacks behind the military-industrial complex — and for that, was pilloried.
9 min
21
What I want is a single buffalo wing
We can choose anything in the modern food delivery economy — except this.
8 min
22
So you bought a ghost town
Who is paying $12 million for an abandoned town? We found out.
13 min
23
'Parent Trap' but messier
A set of triplets were separated at birth, and by chance met back up at 19 years old.
15 min
24
Bring back irony
Irony is the only antidote to our all-too-earnest age.
27 min
25
How to DJ a sex party
Read the room, have a sense of humor, and if you’re standing on a human body, keep your balance.
9 min