A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to
Volume 200
of Dovi’s Digest.
Wow. 200 editions. The Digest started off as an off the cuff idea to save myself time. Instead of immediately sending an interesting article to the 10 or so people who might enjoy it, one Thursday night, I compiled all the articles, integrated the lists, and sent out an unsolicited email to 20ish people. Nearly four years later, it’s going strong, and in all that time I haven’t missed a week, mainly because I know many of you live for your Friday morning fix.
Instead of the usual collection of articles, quotes, tweets, and cartoons, over the last week I went through every single edition and picked my favourites. Regularly scheduled programming will continue next week, with all the usuals (including added extras, words, headlines, and brainteasers).
I hope to write many more editions, with many more interesting articles that will hopefully expand your horizons, make you think, and occasionally say “How did he find this? What is he smoking? Can I have some?”
BIG NEWS
To mark this milestone, I’m releasing a new line of DD swag! There’s a catch though – you won’t be able to buy any of it. Rather, to get your hands on those sweet little perks, I’m launching our subscriber referral program. The more referrals you make, the more swag you get! The system is already live, all you need to do is share your unique referral link with your friends, and you can start earning rewards.
But we need your help choosing what you’d like to get. So please, answer the poll below so we can start getting that great swag to you.
(Substack wouldn’t let me embed a poll that let you vote more than once, so rather click the google form link if there are multiple things)
How to participate
1. Share Dovi's Digest. When you use the referral link below, or the “Share” button on any post, you'll get credit for any new subscribers. Simply send the link in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends.
2. Earn benefits. When more friends use your referral link to subscribe, you’ll receive special benefits.
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 NO correct answers to last week’s brainteaser, Well done to Me. The answer isn’t below, but this week’s puzzle is.
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great weekend,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
Thirty-Six Thousand Feet Under the Sea
The explorers who set one of the last meaningful records on earth.
Out in the Great Alone
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race pushes participants to the brink on an unforgiving trek to the end of the world. And, as one writer who tracked the race by air discovers, that’s exactly the point.
Half a Billion in Bitcoin, Lost in the Dump
For years, a Welshman who threw away the key to his cybercurrency stash has been fighting to excavate the local landfill.
Swan Song
How a groundsman became British football’s most notorious mascot, Cyril the Swan.
Letting Go
What should medicine do when it can’t save your life?
Jerry and Marge Go Large
Gaming the lottery seemed as good a retirement plan as any.
How Rhino Protectors in South Africa Have Become a Major Threat to The Species
The long-awaited trial of a star wildlife ranger on poaching-related charges illustrates the extent of criminal syndicates’ reach in Kruger National Park.
The Falling Man
An unforgettable story of one of the most famous photos from 9/11.
The Secrets of The World’s Greatest Freediver
With only a single breath, Alexey Molchanov, history’s most daring freediver, is reaching improbable depths—and discovering a new kind of enlightenment as he conquers one of the world’s wildest sports.
The Dystopian Underworld of South Africa’s Illegal Gold Mines
When the country’s mining industry collapsed, a criminal economy grew in its place, with thousands of men climbing into some of the deepest shafts in the world, searching for leftover gold.
Favourite Quotes of the Week:
“We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know.” – W. H. Auden
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” – Robert Frost
“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.” – Mark Twain
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day that says, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” – Mary Ann Radmacher
“I wonder why I don't go to bed and go to sleep. But then it would be tomorrow, so I decide that no matter how tired, no matter how incoherent I am, I can skip one hour more of sleep and live.” – Sylvia Plath
“Do not allow your fire to go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not at all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists. It is real. It is possible. It is yours.” — Ayn Rand
There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech.” – Idi Amin, former dictator of Uganda
“Anger is the punishment we give ourselves for someone else’s mistake.” – Gautama Buddha
“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” – Katharine Hepburn
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realise the extent of your own ignorance.” – Thomas Sowell
It could be that your purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.” – Ashleigh Brilliant
Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” – PJ O’Rourke
“You create your future based on your energy in the present.” – Unknown
Favourite Facts of the Week:
(This list is MASSIVELY pared down)
At the 1967 South African Grand Prix, the Mexican national anthem couldn't be found, so the organizers played the “Mexican Hat Dance” instead.
Che Guevara was buried without his hands: they were sent to Argentina for fingerprinting.
Inappropriate behaviour on the Queen's Official Birthday caused a goat to that had reached the rank of Lance Corporal in the British Army to be demoted.
The samurai were officially abolished as caste in Japanese society during the Meiji restoration of 1867. The first ever fax machine - the “printing Telegraph”- was invented in 1843. And Abraham Lincoln was famously assassinated in 1865. This means there was a 22 year gap in which a samurai could’ve sent a fax to Abraham Lincoln.
Blind people smile, even though they have never seen anyone else doing so.
The 911 emergency number used to be spoken as “nine-eleven” but was restyled as “nine-one-one” to avoid people wasting time looking for the “11” button.
The pumpkin toadlet is a Brazilian frog whose mating call can be heard by every animal except other pumpkin toadlets.
“Got the morbs” was Victorian slang for “temporary melancholia”.
Dogs visiting U.S. National parks can be certified as Bark Rangers.
Favourite Cartoons of the Week:
Favourite Tweets of the Week:
Favourite Brainteaser (as to date no one got it [without Googling]):
The following story about the 18th-century French mathematician Edouard Lucas is absolument authentique, according to a 1915 French maths textbook. It took place many years ago, the author writes, at a scientific conference. Several well-known mathematicians were milling around after lunch. Lucas piped up and challenged them to the puzzle below. A few replied with the wrong answer. Most were silent. No one got it right.
Every day at noon in Le Havre an ocean liner sails to New York, and (simultaneously) in New York an ocean liner sails to Le Havre. The crossing takes seven days and seven nights in either direction. How many ocean liners will an ocean liner leaving Le Havre today pass at sea by the time it arrives in New York?
Last week’s brainteaser (sans typo, sorry all!)
Anyone here a Scrabble player? Your challenge: Place all seven of your tiles onto the board with your next move. The tiles are: A, E, E, J, R, R, and blank, which can represent any letter. With the correct placement of your tiles, you can form a 10-letter word. What is that word?
Thanks for reading Dovi’s Digest!