Nemonte Nenquimo in 2020, when she received the United Nations Environment Programme Champions of the Earth laureate. (c) UNEP. Selamat sore from Bali, Reader, I just arrived last night, still a bit jet-lagged, but it’s good to be back! This newsletter arrives much later in your inbox due to travel and limited Wi-Fi at Chinese airports. In the coming weeks, I'm facilitating a course with “leadership” in the title, which is a little awkward for someone who spends a lot of time writing about...
22 days ago • 4 min read
Strong winds, sharper thinking. With Rhiannon J. Davies of Greater Community Media. Photo credit: John Crowley. Buongiorno from Bologna, Reader, I arrived here after attending the yearly journalism festival in Perugia. I’m leaving out the word “international”; read more about that below. It’s been a wild few days packed with meetings with old and new friends. The beauty of this festival is that journalism expertise fills the streets of the old center, and it’s easy to connect over a coffee or...
about 1 month ago • 6 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome to new subscribers from England, Romania, and Egypt! The responses to the previous newsletter about the manosphere showed that you can easily recognize bubbles. It's also important to understand how certain bubbles are maintained. Read more below! I will attend the International Journalism Festival in Italy from 15-19 April, and will be speaking on the panel: Turning ideas into real progress: practical ways to get sh* done. Ping me for a coffee or gelato if you're around....
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Credit: Lia Toby | BAFTA Hi Reader, I skipped the newsletter last week because I was busy preparing for the Leading for Transformation course. It is for editorial leaders and founders, and it starts on 23 April, with sliding scale rates. Come join! With the ongoing genocide in Gaza by Israel, the illegal attacks on Iran by the US and Israel, a million people displaced in South Lebanon because of Israel's attacks, the global energy crisis as a result of the Iran war, and the new US blockade on...
2 months ago • 4 min read
Photo by Thiago Rocha on Unsplash Happy International Women's Day, Reader, Welcome to a whole bunch of new subscribers! Most probably thanks to the friends of The Power of Storytelling, who interviewed me for their newsletter. I hope I can live up to your expectations. Writing Week Bali "So, what do you think of World War III?" My friend Sonia Piscayanti asked me that question, and we laughed. Not because we think it's funny that the U.S. and Israel started an illegal war with Iran, but...
2 months ago • 7 min read
The morning coffee spot during the silent retreat, not bad, right? Hi Reader, My silent retreat ended this morning, and what is great about being away from the news for eight days is that you start to see things clearly again, the reality as it is, not as you'd like it to be — as my meditation teacher says. And it's a surprisingly optimistic reality, I have to say. There seem to be more people than ever calling out injustices and opposing violence. I couldn't even find one opinion in favor of...
3 months ago • 4 min read
Between all the bad news, there were also monks walking 108 days for peace in the US. Read more on NPR. Happy Chinese year of the horse Reader, I know I told you last week that I was going to take a break, but I wanted to share a new upcoming project with you first, as the dedicated subscribers of this crazy little newsletter. So this isn't an in-depth edition (I can hear your sigh of relief ;), and it will arrive in your inbox while I'm meditating, that's the magic of scheduling emails....
3 months ago • 2 min read
The Latina Belt connects countries over plastic chairs and the love for food and dance. Read more here. Hi Reader, Do you know when something you read immediately sparks energy because it expands your thinking? I had that twice last week. First through Alan Soon's newsletter on AI and then through the book Colonizers of the Cloud by Dutch former Microsoft lobbyist Jochem de Groot. Both made me think harder about the current digital age and the role of Big Tech. I've tried to make sense of it...
3 months ago • 5 min read
Bad Bunny at the Grammys, 2026. Are you practicing the lyrics for Bad Bunny's concert, Reader? Language application Duolingo launched a short course helping you to sing along with Debí Tirar Más Fotos, one of his biggest hits, during the Super Bowl's halftime show, a typical US event, but it's the symbolism that matters. (I wrote about Kendrick Lamar's memorable halftime show last year.) In case you’ve never heard of Bad Bunny: he is a Puerto Rican artist who won three Grammys last week, one...
3 months ago • 4 min read