Origins, Motherland, Look Up
Human origins are much more diverse than previously thought
Stringer has called this new perspective “African multiregionalism”. East Africa is still important in human evolution. However, the origins story featuring a single, small population in the savannah is out. Instead, a messy beginning involving multiple populations, regions and environments is in. Although this scenario is more complex, it reconciles the genetic, fossil and archaeological evidence. It also explains the early, pan-African emergence of the Middle Stone Age as an outcome of becoming human.
Eleanor Scerri, New Scientist
How my mother and I became Chinese Propaganda
Many were worried that this airing of our “family ugliness” might taint their own reputations. Anyone who had even a passing affiliation with the institutions of my mother’s youth—her Army battalion, college class, hospital ward—bemoaned the possibility that their mianzi could be compromised.
Jiayang Fan, New Yorker
Look Up
You tell yourself it's raining
The clouds are in your head
Joy Oladokun is my top played lesser-known artist so far in 2024.