Happy weekend readers, and congratulations – you’ve successfully navigated another half-lap around the sun. How’s your midyear report card looking? Like my beloved Canberra Raiders, I’m somehow bungling along OK.
But enough about me. Did you know MDMA was now medicine? That Bazball is a cult? That the act of putting on a condom has a name? Read on.
1. CIA experiments, Mormon ravers and reformed racists
You may know it by other names: ecstasy or molly or pingers. But from military testing to dancefloor epiphanies, MDMA has had a colourful century-plus history – which Rachel Nuwer has documented in a new book, appropriately titled I Feel Love.
Misplaced moral panic: An influential 2002 study found that MDMA caused permanent brain damage in monkeys and baboons. The paper was later retracted after it was revealed the scientists had mistakenly used crystal meth.
How long will it take to read: Five minutes.
Further reading: As of 1 July in Australia, MDMA (and psilocybin) can be prescribed for the treatment of certain mental health conditions – Donna Lu has the lowdown.
2. ‘Now we’re afraid of the future’
Tuvalu is expected to be one of the first countries in the world to be completely lost to climate change. By 2100, 95% of land will be flooded by periodic king tides, making it essentially uninhabitable.
But the tiny Pacific island nation has a plan, with work under way to reclaim land and reduce exposure to coastal hazards. Tuvalu also has a Plan B – it could become the first wholly digitised nation existing in the metaverse.
Key takeaways: The fighting spirit of Tuvaluans in the face of insurmountable odds is inspiring. And it is impossible to scroll past the photos without wanting to visit.
How long will it take to read: Five minutes.
Further reading: Dancing, feasts and faith: a photo essay of life on a vanishing island.
3. Winning at cricket, one loss at a time
When is a loss a win? When you’re playing “Bazball”. You may have heard of it – a joke term coined to describe the freewheeling spirit by which England have played Test cricket since Brendon “Baz” McCullum took the coaching reins.
It’s now taken on cult-like tendencies, wrote Barney Ronay after Australia went 1-0 up in the Ashes series and McCullum declared to his charges: “It feels like we won, lads.”
“England have an even chance of winning at Lord’s. But what is it going to look like if they don’t? How would defeat affect the intersection of objective reality and cult dogma? How much deeper they can go into this thing before it starts to eat itself?”
How long will it take to read: Three minutes.
4. The most important cassette on the planet?
Smooth 70s perfectionists Steely Dan had spent about US$80,000 and many months of 1979 on a track called The Second Arrangement. Then an assistant accidentally erased the tapes, all attempts to recreate it proved fruitless and the track was feared lost.
Until the daughter of the band’s late recording engineer, Roger Nichols, posted a photo of an old cassette on Facebook.
What happened next? “It went viral,” Cimcie Nichols says. And the corners of the internet dedicated to Steely Dan began lobbying for its release.
How long will it take to read: Three minutes.
5. The man trying to make condoms sexy
How passionate about his job is Ben Wilson, the man in charge of the condom brand Durex? In his spare time, he scours eBay for vintage condoms.
But condom use is on the decline, partly because Covid lockdowns put the brakes on casual sex. And Wilson doesn’t shy away from the elephant in the room: “No one wants to use a condom.” His challenge is to convince people, in whatever way possible, that condoms are about pleasure as much as protection.
What is “donning”? The industry terminology for the crucial five-second window, often bungled, of getting the latex sheath in place in the heat of the moment. So now you know!
How long will it take to read: Twelve minutes.
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