A profile of the French Foreign Legion, staffed primarily by foreign nationals as its name suggests, and with a modern day reputation for going into harm’s way as an elite unit. Its history is more diverse, particularly its complex relationship with the French state, perhaps best exemplified by the involvement of some of their number in an attempted coup against Charles De Gaulle’s government in 1961.
A look at the new credit scoring tools available in China, made possible by deep integration of services around a small handful of companies, and reaching into almost every part of daily life. As one user succinctly puts it – “If your friends are all high-score people, it’s good for you. If you have some bad-credit people as friends, it’s not nice.”
The former Director of BBC News and Editor of The Times asserts in this lecture that technology is damaging democracy. The piece is elevated from the multitude of others with a similar theme by its superior writing, wry humour, and effective deployment of numerous case studies from this time of “democratic recession”.
A look at the inevitable intermingling of geo-politics and technology with football and the World Cup. The piece’s thrust is perhaps best exemplified by the anecdote it contains recounting Sepp Blatter’s genuine ambition to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Myanmar has gone from having 0.2% of the population online in 2011 to an estimated 20% today, with most of the growth taking place in the last two years. A story covering what happens when several million people with no prior exposure to the internet all sign up at the same time. Such is its allure that print magazines called ‘Facebook’ and ‘The Internet’ are produced for those that can’t afford to make the switch.
A compellingly written look at apocalyptic thinking in the era of “late capitalism’s dimming sun” told through an examination of the Aztec civilisation’s experience of destruction – first prophesied, then actual.
A piece with striking video and images, looking at the opioid crisis in America.
This piece profiles Maria Ressa, a Filipina journalist taking on President Rodrigo Duterte’s regime by examining its sophisticated use of social media to crack down on dissent. This work has apparently caused the regime’s bots and supporters to turn their attention to her. Her own detailed primer outlining the techniques she asserts are used by the regime is well worth a read too.
This piece sheds light on the dangerous work of Hong Kong’s booksellers. They played a significant role for many decades as an outlet for the politics of mainland China, but they are now facing increasing pressure from its government.
A piece delving into the life of professional video gamers living in luxury houses with their team mates, under a rigorously managed regime delivered by an array of staff.