The Top 5: Ozempic & robots for the elderly
Plus, the advent of the "TikTok scold"
Welcome to your weekly edition of the Top 5 articles we’ve read this week. Each week, we read dozens of articles in the hope we find essays and reporting that speak to big ideas, trends, future looks, and incredible human stories. We hope you enjoy our list, and do always let us know if you have a suggestion or a recommendation! Please also consider becoming a paid subscriber if this is one of those newsletters you open up all the time or look forward to each week. We also greatly encourage gift subscriptions!
The Top 5 articles for your week:
“A Philosopher Gets Fed Up With Profundity” (The Atlantic)
Because philosopher Agnes Collard argues against the expectation of profundity—or one could say, the performance of profundity—in everyday interactions. “Profundity is an obscure little chunk of wisdom—you feel that you’ve learned something, but you don’t need to specify precisely what it is or evaluate its truth.”
“How to Out-Deter China” (Foreign Affairs)
Because while the TikTok hearing in Congress offered an opportunity for both sides of the aisle to perform countering China’s influence, serious approaches to the ever-escalating competition with China are necessary. Joel Wuthnow offers his thoughts: “Washington must avoid this kind of escalatory spiral by undermining Chinese optimism in its own capabilities; in other words, by out-deterring China. This requires delivering an unequivocal message to Beijing that any conflict between the two nuclear-armed powers could quickly become calamitous, far outweighing the potential benefits of an armed reunification with Taiwan. If deterrence fails—if China grows more convinced of its military superiority and underestimates the U.S. commitment to the island—both countries could end up embroiled in a war between great powers armed with nuclear weapons.”
“Who Will Take Care of Italy’s Older People? Robots, Maybe.” (NYT)
Because AI and elderly care is also a hot topic of conversation. “…for the exhausted caregivers at a recent meeting in Carpi, a handsome town in Italy’s most innovative region for elder care, it pointed to a welcome, not-too-distant future when humanoids might help shrinking families share the burden of keeping the Western world’s oldest population stimulated, active and healthy.”
“Will the Ozempic Era Change How We Think About Being Fat and Thin?” (New Yorker)
Because this deep-dive on the nature of the popular weight-loss drug, Ozempic, also explores the trends and fads and narratives that wax and wane around societal beauty and body standards.
“The rise of the TikTok scold” (Vox)
Because “TikTok is almost becoming the new Google…”
ICYMI on Wear We Are:
Episode 58: Trump & Evangelicals, Plus The 4 Day Work Week
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The Morning Five: March 21, 2023