BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK The Story Of Birkenstock: Unlikely Rise Of A Billion Dollar Brand Key Takeaway: Birkenstock, a German shoe brand, has been able to attract fashionistas and hippies to its flexible arch supports, despite its negative image. The brand, founded in 1774, has evolved from orthopaedic footwear to fashion, with its initial public offering predicted to be the third-largest US listing so far in 2023. Birkenstock’s “bubble up” […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN EDITOR'S PICK How The Perception Of Art Changed Over Time Key Takeaway: From the end of Antiquity to around 1250, art was dominated by traditional Byzantine icons, with little room for individual and creative expression. However, the 1400s saw a shift towards humanism in Italy, leading to a burgeoning interest in individual creativity. Artists like El Greco, born in 1541, were expected to be disruptively […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK Understanding How Companies Use Dark Patterns Against You Key Takeaways: Dark patterns are clever tricks built into apps and websites to encourage users to do things they may not want to do. They make it easy to accept tracking cookies and agree to terms and conditions while making purchases. These patterns often benefit companies at the expense of consumers. The US Federal Trade […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK POLITICS Lego’s Sustainability Dilemma Key Takeaway: Lego, the world’s largest toy manufacturer, has pulled out of its “Bottles to Bricks” initiative, which aimed to replace traditional Lego plastic with recycled plastic bottles. The company found that producing bricks with recycled plastic would require extra materials and energy, leading to higher carbon emissions. This decision is part of a larger […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY The Recipe For Perfect Romance Key Takeaways: Romantic comedy has been a controversial genre, often dismissed as a “chick flick” and panned by critics. However, critics are not the only ones watching romcoms, as they are often seen as repetitive and rely on certain tropes. The “neo-traditional romcom” is the dominant form of the genre, with characters running through airports […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK How Video Games Are Reviving Classical Music Key Takeaways: Starfield, a highly anticipated video game, allows players to build their own character and spacecraft, travel to multiple planets, and follow multiple story arcs. The game’s interactive music uses a palette of musical language that cultivates a contemplative soundscape, launching the listener into the vastness of space while remaining curious, innocent, and restrained. […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY Online Games Might Actually Be Good For Us Key Takeaways: Online gaming communities could be a vital lifeline for young men struggling with mental health issues, according to new research. Members with more depressive symptoms and less real-life support were 40% more likely to form and maintain social ties with fellow gamers compared to those with more real-life support. This suggests the chat […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY SCIENCE The Secret Colours Of Songs Key Takeaway: A study has found that emotion plays a crucial role in how we interpret and respond to external stimuli, including colors and songs. Music and color have common emotional qualities, and people may subconsciously choose colors that match the emotional qualities of the respective artists’ music. The results suggest that music-to-color associations in […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY Understanding Cancel Culture Key Takeaway: The rise of user-created content on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok has challenged traditional notions of authorship. YouTube cancellation videos, a unique sub-genre of YouTube apology videos, show how creators take responsibility for accusations, question the validity of others, and address the dynamics of social media cancellation more broadly in relation to […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY How A.I. Is Transforming Music Key Takeaways: The intersection of music and artificial intelligence (AI) is a topic of concern for many students. While AI has the potential to create a world where music is abundant, it could also lead to the eradication of human musicians. Three ways AI is changing the way music is made include song composition, mixing […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Most Expensive Material Used In Science Key Takeaway: NASA is set to return samples from the asteroid Bennu in the early 2030s to determine if any contain traces of ancient life. The cost of sample return is $132 million per ounce, or $4.7 million per gram, which is about 70,000 times the price of gold. The first extraterrestrial material returned to […] Written by Chris Impey November 24, 2023November 24, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
A Guide To The Ideas Of Modern Philosopher Slavoj Žižek Key Takeaway: Slavoj Žižek, a philosopher and cultural theorist, has written numerous books on various topics, including philosophy, psychoanalysis, pop culture, and commentary on recent events. He is known for his controversial debate with Jordan Peterson in 2019 about the connection between Marxism, capitalism, and happiness. Žižek’s work often critiques political ideologies, which can explain […] Written by Empirics Asia November 23, 2023November 23, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Inside The Minds Of Magicians Key Takeaway: A study examining the mental health of magicians found that they exhibited similar traits to people with mental illnesses like schizophrenia and autism. Magicians, who both create and perform their own shows, require precision and technical skills to entertain the audience. They scored lower on nearly every psychotic symptom compared to the general […] Written by Gils Greengross November 16, 2023November 16, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
How Netflix Has Been Growing Itself Key Takeaway: Netflix, a streaming giant, experienced a decline in subscribers in 2022 due to competition from Disney and Amazon Prime. However, it has since rebounded, adding 8.8 million subscribers in Q3 2023. The company’s success can be attributed to its international approach, with over 70% of its subscribers coming from outside the US. It […] Written by Jean Chalaby November 15, 2023November 15, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Is Time Travel Possible? Key Takeaway: Time travel, the idea of moving between different points in time, has been a popular fantasy for centuries. However, the question of whether time is reversible remains unresolved in science. The second law of thermodynamics suggests that the universe can either remain the same or become more disordered over time. Albert Einstein’s theory […] Written by Adi Foord November 14, 2023November 14, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Paradoxical Life Of Elon Musk Key Takeaway: Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has a diverse career in space exploration, electric cars, AI, and social media. His biography, written by Walter Isaacson, covers events up to Space X’s unsuccessful Starship rocket launch in April 2023. Isaacson interviews Musk and uncovered newsworthy information, such as his Starlink satellite network’s crucial role […] Written by Matthew Ricketson November 7, 2023November 7, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Do Racehorses Even Know They’re Racing? Key Takeaway: Horse racing is a spectacle where horses race to win a race. From a horse’s perspective, winning a race has few intrinsic rewards. While being first to reach the finishing post is important for the horse’s human connections, there is little direct benefit to motivate it to voluntarily gallop faster. Horses are social […] Written by Cathrynne Henshall November 6, 2023November 6, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Rethinking Education Key Takeaways: The Industrial model of education that fueled the modern era and its dizzying reach did its job incredibly well. In his writing, Flynn illustrates study after study, spanning nations and decades, in which modern educational gift of abstraction — a transcendent sign of intelligence, as we saw in Raven’s Matrices — has been […] Written by Anthony Fieldman March 2, 2022October 19, 2022 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
How China Is Transforming Its Economy Through Learning I highly recommend reading the McKinsey Global Institute’s new report, “Reskilling China: Transforming The World’s Largest Workforce Into Lifelong Learners”, which focuses on the country’s biggest employment challenge, re-training its workforce and the adoption of practices such as lifelong learning to address the growing digital transformation of its productive fabric. How to transform the country […] Written by Enrique Dans February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Why You’re Not Seeing Success With Influencer Marketing With the new year around the corner, now is a good time to re-evaluate your past marketing strategies and gear up for the year ahead. For some businesses, influencer marketing has simply not seemed to live up to its lofty promises of genuine engagement, credibility, and transparency. Some have claimed that it has been failing […] Written by Michael Tan January 14, 2021January 15, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
A New Philosophy of Business I’m about to ask you to take a mental leap. For the next 8 minutes, suspend your notions of what a business is, and I’ll propose a new lens for you to look through. There are a lot of questions asked around what “community” means for business. “Where should community fit in my organization?” and […] Written by Empirics Asia September 5, 2018September 5, 2018 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
