A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Ahoy fellow adventurers! Welcome to Volume 164 of Dovi’s Digest.
The joy of sailing is an indescribable sensation. As the wind fills the sails and propels the vessel forward, a profound sense of freedom takes hold. The rhythm of the boat and the soothing sounds of the sea create a symphony that resonates deep within. In these moments, time slows, and a profound connection to nature is forged. Sailing brings an unbridled joy, a feeling of pure bliss that captivates the soul.
It is this feeling that I was trying to capture when a few years ago I looked into taking part in the Clipper Round the World Race. The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is a biennial race that takes amateur crews on a circumnavigation of the globe in specially-designed yachts. Professional skippers and mates lead each team on the 10-month journey. Anyone can sign up (if you pay the ±$15 000 per leg fee, the main reason I didn’t take it further), receive the intensive training, and head out into the blue beyond. To date nearly 6,000 people have taken part in the race. But it’s not all the wind in your hair and the sun on your face. Sailing is difficult. Space is tight, you’re often cold and wet, sleep is at a premium. Heavy labour, unpredictable weather, and rough seas all contribute to the inherent danger.
Which brings us to this week’s headline article. In 2017 a retired lawyer from the UK was swept overboard and subsequently drowned. He was properly clipped in, and was one of the more experienced crew members onboard. The third fatality of the race forced the question: did Clipper do enough to maintain safety standards for both the boats and the crew?
Your added extras this week are much more light hearted. Play a Where’s Wally? made out of emojis, learn how to spot a liar, and watch the hypnotic light painting (long exposure and glow sticks) of Darius Twin.
The Dovi’s Digest Facebook and Twitter pages will keep you sated between editions, with all new content. Check it out at the links below (or scan the insta code):
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 THREE correct answers to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Ariel Subotzky, Hazel Levine, and Chaim Ehrlich! The answer and this week’s puzzle are below.
Some of you may have thalassophobia (persistent and intense fear of deep bodies of water such as the sea, oceans, or lakes) and don’t want to read the headline article. Instead you can trip out on why psychotropic drugs are the new craze in Silicon Valley, furtively read about the secret process of interviewing North Koreans, decide what sort of shape words relate to (which is sharper, kiki or bouba?), watch monkeys be confused by magic (but only if they have opposable thumbs) – then learn why that happens, find out the darker meanings of Disney songs, and lace up for the wild ride of how a special edition sneaker brought down a Ponzi scheme. Enjoy!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great weekend,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
Dark Waters: How the Adventure of a Lifetime Turned to Tragedy
The Clipper round the world yacht race was created for amateurs seeking the ultimate challenge. But did they underestimate the risks?
Magic Mushrooms. LSD. Ketamine. The Drugs That Power Silicon Valley
Entrepreneurs including Elon Musk and Sergey Brin are part of a drug movement that proponents hope will expand minds, enhance lives, and produce business breakthroughs.
The Extraordinary Process of Secretly Interviewing People Inside North Korea
(Courtesy of Yisroel Greenberg)
In the dead of the night, two North Koreans meet in secret. One is an ordinary North Korean citizen who has agreed to risk all to be interviewed by the BBC. The other is a source, working for an organisation in South Korea to leak information out of the country.
Kiki or Bouba?
Which is a sharper shape, kiki or bouba? Nearly a century after a landmark psychology study was conducted, we revisit its findings — with your help!
Sleight-Of-Hand Magic Trick Only Fools Monkeys with Opposable Thumbs
Illusion involving a hidden thumb confounds capuchin and squirrel monkeys for the same reason as humans – it misdirects the expected outcomes of actions they can carry out.
The Darker Side of Disney Songs
How the Cuban Missile Crisis inspired It's a Small World, and a cat tune sung by Peggy Lee had racist undertones – Arwa Haider traces the unexpected stories behind a century of Disney classics, decade by decade.
The Air Jordan Drop So Hot It Blew Up an Alleged $85 Million Ponzi Scheme
Michael Malekzadeh’s Zadeh Kicks made millions of dollars taking big presale orders for coveted sneakers at low prices and scrambling to fill them. Then came the Air Jordan 11 Cool Grey.
Quote of the Week:
“You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.” - Cormac McCarthy, who died last month
Facts of the Week:
No one knows how dinosaurs grew to be so large.
Quetzalcoatlus was a feathered dinosaur as tall as a giraffe that could fly 10,000 miles non-stop.
Crocodiles in the prehistoric Sahara galloped and ate dinosaurs.
T-Rex had a top speed of 12 mph and would have broken its legs if it had tried to run.
Woolly mammoths could be blonde, brunette, or ginger.
Jason Allen of Tucson was invited on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for having the world's longest leg hair.
To keep the censors happy, when Elvis went on The Ed Sullivan Show, he was only filmed from the waist up.
The largest known Anaconda had a 44-inch waist.
There were 473 bananas in the world's largest bunch of bananas.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
(Courtesy of Tanya Perel)
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
What image should replace the question mark?
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
Take a four-letter word, put a “t” at the front, and you’ll get a five-letter word that means the opposite of the original word. Can you figure out the two words?
Answer:
Here and there.
Thanks for reading Dovi’s Digest!