Hello and happy Friday! I’ll be keeping this correspondence light for the Americans among us, who are no doubt still emerging from their pie-induced food comas. A very happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrated. I’m thankful you still open these emails.
In podcast news: I joined last week’s Bunker panel to discuss the outcome of COP26, Britain’s sleaze scandal, and how to cope with news fatigue. It’s available on all good podcast apps (find yours here).
What I’ve written
As rising cases place Europe back in the epicenter of the pandemic, I wrote about the difficult choice facing governments as they try to increase their vaccination rates: carrot or stick?
In France, vaccination is strongly encouraged, though not necessarily required. Under its vaccine-passport system, those who are unvaccinated can still access public spaces if they can provide proof of having recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection, or a negative COVID test. In Austria, the opposite has now become true: Not only are unvaccinated people (excluding those who have recently recovered from COVID and children under the age of 12) poised to be barred from public spaces even after the national lockdown ends, facing fines of up to 1,450 euros ($1,640) if they fail to comply, but they will soon be subject to legal repercussions if they refuse to get a jab. Keep reading here
What I’ve read
This fascinating primer on laïcité, and the tension between diversity and unity in France versus the United States (The Atlantic)
Everyone knows about “Liberté, egalité, fraternité.” But it is laïcité that defines the most ferociously contested battle lines in contemporary France. The term has come to express a uniquely French insistence that religion, along with religious symbols and dress, should be absent from the public sphere. No other country in Europe has followed this path. The word itself derives from the ancient Greek term for “the people,” or “the laity,” as opposed to the priestly class. Laïcité is not the same thing as freedom of religion (the free exercise of religion is guaranteed by the French constitution). What it sometimes means is freedom from religion. At a time when religion-fueled terrorist attacks continue to traumatize France, laïcité has become inextricably tangled with questions of national identity and national security.
This lovely story about the Palestinian professor teaching Israeli poetry in Gaza (The New York Times)
Here was an appreciation of one of Israel’s best-loved poets from a Palestinian professor at a university co-founded by the former leader of Hamas, the militant group that runs the Gaza government, does not recognize Israel, and was responsible for dozens of suicide attacks on Israelis. Experts say the study of Israeli poetry in Palestinian colleges is rare, though not unheard-of.
This fun piece on the 50th anniversary of the Egg McMuffin, the origins of which represent a bygone era of American innovation (The Washington Post)
The innovation lag can be seen everywhere, from the seeming sameness of online brands to the concentration of industry in a few big cities. It’s also visible in the same world that spawned creations such as the Egg McMuffin 50 years ago. Today, many of the prevailing trends in fast food appear to be driven less by empowered tinkerers like Peterson and more by nostalgia, influencers and partnerships with other giants.
What I’m thinking about
The new “Nu” variant and how long it’ll take before COVID strains start sounding like Greek fraternities…
Until next time,
Yasmeen