Dovi’s Digest Volume 243
Hello sweetie 🍬🍫🍭👅😍
A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 243 of Dovi’s Digest!
Despite my well documented aversion to new year’s resolutions, over the last month I’ve been taking my fitness much more seriously. I’ve been going to the gym more, spent more time doing laps, and have been eating clean.
Eating clean is the hard part of that for me. I love the endorphin rush after a good workout and enjoy the aches the next day almost as much. It shows that I gave it my all. You can also feel the physiological benefits pretty early on.
Not so with eating. Sure, after a while you have more energy, your skin clears, and you radiate goodness, but until then you’re grumpy and hangry (which is an issue of mine. So much so that one of my exes used to keep an energy bar in her bag for when I turned into a giant toddler).
The main thing that gets me though is the lack of sweet things. I, like most humans, have a very sweet tooth. I’ll happily munch away on an entire slab of chocolate and wash it down with a tub of ice cream. When I’m eating clean, sugar is one of the first things that goes out the window (before you go off about the demonisation of sugar, I know it’s not inherently bad for you, but I can't stop myself when I start, so I find it easier to go cold turkey). Thing is that I still crave something sweet.
Initially I went for the sugar free sweets and chocolates, but as we all know those don’t scratch that itch. It’s because not only are the fake sweeteners non-nutritive (your body can’t process them and they’re therefore technically zero calories), but they’re also much much sweeter than sugar, giving us more of that high and leaving us craving more. I learned some of this on a deep dive after a good friend piqued my interest in sweeteners after telling me their origin story – a man working on coal tar derivatives forgot to wash his hands and his lunch was suddenly very sweet, leading him to discover saccharin. That’s not the coolest part of the story, but I won’t carry on. You can read much more about these ubiquitous additives in this week’s headline article.
In this week’s added extras:
Why screens affect your sleep.
When to salt meat, eggs, and vegetables to level up your cooking.
How to debone and shred a whole chicken without getting your hands dirty.
Art writer James Lucas has compiled a thread on X depicting geographical instances of pareidolia – our brain’s tendency to see familiar shapes in random patterns. Examples include Tavolara Island, sometimes known as “the sleeping cat”; a gnarled, 2,000-year-old Apulian olive, known to locals as “the thinking tree”; the Gran Sasso massif, turned sideways to show its “face”; the “Resting Dragon Rock” in Phu Langka, Thailand; and a bird-shaped chip on a car windscreen. See the rest here.
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 Chaim E, Ariel S, and Jonathan A! The answer and this week’s riddle are below.
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great weekend,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
A Brief and Bizarre History of Artificial Sweeteners
(Courtesy of David G)
It all began with chlorine and coal tar.
Five Extraordinary Night-Time Experiences Around the World
From fiery festivals to nature's most dazzling "sky-dance", interest in the night skies is booming, with "noctourism" poised to be a major travel trend in 2025.
The Rich, Lonely Life of a Top-Tier Male OnlyFans Creator
CJ Clark makes millions selling adult content—and the illusion of companionship—to subscribers on the internet. His work pays for his nice house in the San Diego suburbs and the McLaren in his garage. But human connection is harder to come by.
Meet The Woman Who Lives Without Money: “I Feel More Secure Than When I Was Earning”
Ten years ago, Jo Nemeth quit her job and closed her bank account. Today, she’s more committed than ever to her moneyless life.
Colossal Squid: The Eerie Ambassador from The Abyss
The world's largest invertebrate remained hidden from humanity until a tantalising glimpse 100 years ago. It would take decades, however, before we finally came face to face with the colossal squid.
“The Water Came in The Boat Like the Niagara Falls”: How A British Sailor Survived in An Upturned Yacht for Four Days
In January 1997, Tony Bullimore was trapped inside an upturned yacht that was filling up with "bitterly cold" water in one of the remotest parts of the Southern Ocean. In History looks back at an incredible feat of survival, and an amazing rescue.
He’s on Death Row for Killing a Pastor. Christians are Divided Over Whether He Should Die
On February 5, the 37-year-old newlywed will be put to death for the gruesome murder of an Arlington pastor. His spiritual adviser is urging forgiveness.
Quote of the Week:
“I envy paranoids; they actually feel people are paying attention to them.” – Susan Sontag
Word of the Week:
(Courtesy of Nathan H)
Dubiety
dyoo·bai·uh·tee/djuːˈbʌɪɪti/
Noun
the state or quality of being doubtful; uncertainty.
"His enemies made much of the dubiety of his paternity."
Do you know a word you think others should know about? Submit it here!
Facts of the Week:
To poon is to prop up a piece of wobbly furniture with a wedge under the leg.
Phobophobia is the fear of developing a phobia.
Ploitering is pretending to work when you aren't.
Scientists are working on a way to convert astronauts’ excrement into food.
Henry Ford made it compulsory for his workers to go square dancing.
In 2017, a trade union in Michigan complained that goats were taking its members’ jobs.
All UK postal workers have to sign the Official Secrets Act.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
Which US state name consists of two words with opposite meanings that are separated by a vowel?
Last week’s brainteaser and answer:
The answers to these questions are spoonerisms, a phrase repeated with its initial sounds swapped. Thus, the answer to “What’s the difference between a lovely glove and a small, silent cat”?” is “One’s a cute mitten, and one’s a mute kitten.”
What’s the difference between:
a) a martial arts star and unpackaged French cheese?
b) an intrigued visitor to our shores and someone angrily holding an inquest into a death?
c) the jewellery of Vermeer’s painted girl and an aristocratic Peeping Tom?
Answers:
a) One’s Bruce Lee,the other is a loose brie.
b) One’s a curious foreigner, the other is a furious coroner.
c) One’s a pearl earring, the other is an Earl peering.