BBC4 Thinking Allowed: Cool

'Cool' - Laurie Taylor traces the trajectory of the notion of ‘cool’ with Joel Dinerstein, Professor of English and American Studies at Tulane University, and author of a study which suggests it originated in American jazz clubs as a stylish defence against racism and cross fertilised with French existentialism and film noir.

Also, ‘cool shades’: Vanessa Brown, Senior Lecturer in the School of Art and Design at Nottingham Trent University, explores the enduring appeal of sunglasses as the ultimate signifiers of ‘cool’ in mass culture.

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The Guardian Today in Focus: Naomi Klein on how politics can solve the climate crisis

Activist and author Naomi Klein tells Anushka Asthana that combating the climate crisis must be at the heart of an urgent restructuring of politics and the economy. Plus: Daniel Trilling on the shocking discovery of 39 bodies inside a lorry in Essex.

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Dolly Parton's America: Sad Ass Songs

We begin with a simple question: How did the queen of the boob joke become a feminist icon? Helen Morales, author of “Pilgrimage to Dollywood,” gave us a stern directive – look at the lyrics! So we dive into Dolly’s discography, starting with the early period of what Dolly calls “sad ass songs” to find remarkably prescient words of female pain, slut-shaming, domestic violence, and women being locked away in asylums by cheating husbands. We explore how Dolly took the centuries-old tradition of the Appalachian “murder ballad”—an oral tradition of men singing songs about brutally killing women—and flipped the script, singing from the woman’s point of view. And as her career progresses, the songs expand beyond the pain to tell tales of leaving abuse behind.

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Wisecrack Edition: MINDFULNESS: Is It Deep or Dumb?

Lately, it seems like everybody's practicing mindfulness to combat the stresses of everyday life. But is this modern adaptation of Buddhist tradition spiritually enlightening, or just an excuse to be extra self-involved? Let's find out in this Wisecrack Edition on Mindfulness: Is It Deep or Dumb?

BBC: In pictures: Thousands join Pride parade in Taiwan

More than 2,000 same-sex couples have married since then, and many of them took part in Saturday's festival, one of the largest Pride events in the region.

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The Guardian: Number of Britons leaving for Europe hits a 10-year high

According to initial findings of a report on the migration of UK citizens, 84,000 people are expected to leave Britain for another EU nation this year, compared with 59,000 in 2008. It found that about 11,500 people moved from the UK to Germany in 2018, compared with more than 8,500 in 2008.

The analysis – carried out by the Oxford in Berlin group and the WZB, the Berlin Social Science Centre – also found that the number of British people signing up for German citizenship had risen significantly. While 622 Britons received German citizenship in 2015, 7,493 were naturalised in 2017, a figure that is expected to rise this year. For the EU as a whole, naturalisations rose from 2,106 in 2015 to 14,678 in 2017. [...]

The analysis used OECD figures and national government statistics. Qualitative research surveys were carried out over four months with British citizens in Germany who left the UK between 2008-2019. Of those interviewed, researchers said 30% had described Brexit as having had a direct impact on their mental health. Half said that they would consider giving up their British nationality if necessary to be able to keep their EU nationality. Securing citizenship allows Britons to retain the advantages of EU membership.

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Associated Press: Dutch inventor unveils device to scoop plastic out of rivers

A young Dutch inventor is widening his effort to clean up floating plastic from the Pacific Ocean by moving into rivers, too, using a new floating device to catch garbage before it reaches the seas. [...]

Slat’s organization has in the past drawn criticism for focusing only on the plastic trash already floating in the world’s oceans. Experts say 9 million tons (8 million metric tons) of plastic waste, including plastic bottles, bags, toys and other items, flows annually into the ocean from beaches, rivers and creeks, endangering marine life in the oceans, including whales . [...]

The vessel is designed to be moored in rivers and has a shaped nose to deflect away larger floating debris like tree trunks. The interceptors work by guiding plastic waste into an opening in its bow, a conveyor belt then carries the trash into the guts of the machine where it is dropped into dumpsters. The interceptor sends a text message to local operators that can come and empty it when it’s full.

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The Guardian: World's first no-kill eggs go on sale in Berlin

The patented “Seleggt” process can determine the sex of a chick just nine days after an egg has been fertilised. Male eggs are processed into animal feed, leaving only female chicks to hatch at the end of a 21-day incubation period. [...]

An estimated 4-6 billion male chicks are slaughtered globally every year because they serve no economic purpose. Some are suffocated, others are fed alive into grinding or shredding machines to be processed into reptile food. [...]

Chick culling has become increasingly controversial. In 2015, a video went viral of an Israeli animal rights activist shutting down a chick shredding machine and challenging a police officer to turn it back on. Consumer kickback has prompted a global race to develop a more humane solution.

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euronews: Watch: Scientists have taught rats to drive - and they love it

A team of researchers at the University of Richmond have taught rats to drive mini-cars - and not only are the rodents good at it, they enjoy it too. [...]

The study found that the rats actually felt more relaxed after driving, with heightened levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), the hormone that counteracts stress. [...]

That result was reinforced when the rats were given ‘passengers’, with researchers noting that only the animals actually driving the car saw a decrease in stress.

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