A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
BOOOO! Welcome to Volume 128 of Dovi’s Digest.
It starts with the mash. The monster mash. They did the mash. And it was a graveyard smash.
Once again, what is purportedly the spookiest time of year is upon us. All around us decorations are appearing, skeletons are popping up, Jack o’ lanterns are being carved, and fake spider webs are being hung. While South Africa has yet to embrace Halloween to the same degree that other countries have, we still have our fair share of orange themed paraphernalia.
In addition to all of this, this year’s crop of horror movies has been released, with people flocking to cinemas to see the latest releases from Jordan Peele and Ti West (Nope and X respectively). I can't pass judgement on them, although I’ve heard they’re very good. I can't speak for them because I’m not the biggest fan of horror, in that I think I’ve seen one ever. I used to make excuses for not watching, pushing off the name calling by naming them stupid and formulaic. Now that I’m older and more secure I’m happy to admit that I don’t like walking out of a movie theatre nervous and jittery, jumping at shadows or scared of making a noise. No, I’d rather walk out feel wistful, warm, cuddly. The end of La La Land is enough drama for me thank you very much.
But after reading this week’s headline article, I may soon be twitching and wincing along with the rest of you. This is because that not only do we get that sweet rush of euphoria when the cortisol (stress hormone) is washed away by the endorphins and dopamine (the feelgood chemicals), but recent research suggests that the right amount of fear does not only allow us to maximise enjoyment, but it may positively impact our capacity for resilience. Enjoy!
In other news, the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year was unveiled a few weeks ago, and the winning images are all crackers (obviously). Here’s an article about the best images from this year, some heart-breaking, some life affirming, all of them beautiful. If you’re not interest in just the top ones, then here is a gallery of the finalists.
Finally, in response to the article a few weeks ago about “Short Kings”, Josh Friedlander, a long-time reader and all-round smart person (in addition to writer of Josh’s Bookshelf, which I highly recommend) astutely brought to my attention the fact that the new PM of the UK Rishi Sunak is 5’7”. This is the same as Emmanuel Macron, Olof Scholz, Vladimir Putin, and Volodymyr Zelensky, meaning that there is an unprecedented consolidation of European power in the hands of Short Kings. Something to maybe point out in your Tinder bio.
Do you enjoy the Digest? Would you like it to get better? Then please consider sharing it, as the more articles I’m sent, the better it is. It only takes a few seconds, and all you need to do is click here 👇. Thank you!
There were TWO correct answers to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Josh Hazan and Adam Frame. The answer and this week’s riddle are below.
If you’re more like me and would rather keep your heartrate at a sedate 120, then there are other articles for you to peruse. Learn about how insurers used AI to pay out claims for hurricane Ian, what happens after the tickertape parades and celebrations in stadiums, why food allergies are on the rise, why the original horror movie still scares the crap out of us 100 years on, how Francis Ford Coppola is trying to reinvent movies, and a teenage hacker opens up about a multimillion-dollar bitcoin heist that nearly ruined his life.
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming,
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
Why We Enjoy Fear: The Science of a Good Scare
The thrill of a frightening film can feel euphoric – and mild horror, say researchers, can also help foster lasting psychological resilience.
Hurricane Ian Destroyed Their Homes. Algorithms Sent Them Money
(Courtesy of Yisroel Greenberg)
Google's AI scanned satellite imagery to identify the worst-hit neighbourhoods.
Pizza Crusts, Pocketknives and Phones: The Reality of Post-Celebration Clean-ups
As some college teams prepare to return to their home fields Saturday, crews behind the scenes were fixing turf and recovering goalposts to make sure they were game-ready.
The Mysterious Rise of Food Allergies
More kids and adults are finding out that they can’t eat their favourite foods. Why?
Nosferatu: The Monster Who Still Terrifies, 100 Years On
From his shadow to his gaunt face, the vampire Count Orlok in 1922's Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror remains one of film's most spine-tingling creations. Nicholas Barber examines why.
Francis Ford Coppola’s $100 Million Bet
Fifty years after he gave us The Godfather, the iconic director is chasing his grandest project yet—and putting up over $100 million of his own money to prove his best work is still ahead of him.
How ‘Baby Al Capone’ Pulled Off a $24 Million Crypto Heist
Ellis Pinsky was a regular suburban teenager until he found his way into the underworld of internet hackers. In his first interview, he details the crime that nearly ruined his life.
Quote of the Week:
“It is inevitable if you enter into relations with people on a regular basis...that you will grow to be like them. Place an extinguished piece of coal next to a live one, and either it will cause the other one to die out, or the live one will make the other reignite. … If you consort with someone covered in dirt you can hardly avoid getting a little grimy yourself.” — Epictetus
Facts of the Week:
Paul McCartney met John Lennon at a church fete.
The first picnics took place indoors.
In Thailand, you can be arrested for having a picnic.
A typical British family with children throws away 40% of the food it buys.
The average American lives 18 miles from his or her mother.
Mother's Day in is banned in North Korea because it distracts citizens from their love of Kim Jong Un.
Jim Henson's mother owned the green coat that the original Kermit the frog skin was made from.
A frozen wood frog goes completely rigid; when you drop one, it goes “clink”.
Cartoons of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
Change my beginning every time
To realize another rhyme
Start with a repair to apply
Step before one's able to fly
Do this and my freedom you take
Find this and a couple you make
Use me to make a gate secure
As a baked group we may allure
What are we?
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
You might need a pen and paper for this one: Place eight queens on the chess board below so that no queen is threatening another. That means no two queens can share the same row, column, or diagonal.
Answer:
There are 92 different solutions to this, I won’t post each one. However, this article goes through them, and why it’s such an interesting question when it comes to computing and algorithms.