Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web
Kirk LaPointe, publisher and editor-in-chief:
We are working from home more than ever in the pandemic, and many people and companies like that and think it’s a permanent fixture. How might the office be redefined? John Seabrook, an adept cultural observer, examines the big questions of physical space and remote work. – The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/02/01/has-the-pandemic-transformed-the-office-forever
This two-year review of salary data reveals a systemic power gap between the salaries and status of men and women at Canada’s public institutions and stands to be a reference point politically and economically as policy is framed. – The Globe and Mail
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-power-gap-main/
The British actor Riz Ahmed threw himself, physically and emotionally, into the preparation for his masterful performance as a deaf punk-rock drummer, bound to earn him consideration for this year’s Oscar as best actor. – The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/movies/riz-ahmed-sound-of-metal.html
Timothy Renshaw, managing editor:
Can you loan us a billion or so, Mr. and Mrs. Moneybags? The pandemic-ailing world could sure use some of your walking-around cash, and it looks as if you could spare a dollar or two – Americans for Tax Fairness
From the technology doing good file: satellite cameras are helping conservationists count the populations of elephants and other endangered species that live in complex geographical regions of the world, thereby improving monitoring of those populations and providing more accurate data that could help preserve their dwindling numbers. – Artificial Intelligence Research
Where is all that carbon dioxide coming from, you ask? Here's a good reckoning of current major CO2 sources, including the transportation sector, which accounted for 38% of CO2 emissions from energy consumption, and the industrial sector, which accounted for 30%. – U.S. Energy Information Administration
https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/
https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec11_8.pdf
https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec11_7.pdf
Glen Korstrom, reporter:
The most incredible story this week involved the mass of retail investors who linked up via social media and message boards, and combined to lift the sorry share price of GameStop by more than 800%, forcing hedge fund managers to cover short positions in what is largely a bricks-and-mortar retailer of video games. This thorough look at the phenomenon includes a wide range of takes, and many charts. – Wall Street Journal
Jeremy Hainsworth, reporter:
Bloodsuckers: How malaria has shaped humanity.
A look at how malaria has affected human behaviour from its keeping invaders out of Rome and the resulting dominance of that culture right into present day language to the failure of the Japanese to take China and the resulting rise of that nation. Examples cover everything from the slave trade to the English Civil War. – The Economist.
https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2020/12/19/how-malaria-has-shaped-humanity
Mark Falkenberg, deputy managing editor
Since Hillary Clinton’s loss of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, observers have been asking what course corrections the Democrats should take. Joe Biden’s victory, and his administration’s clear swing to the left of former president Barack Obama on policy, provide the answer. – fivethirtyeight.com
Friction between U.K.-based AstraZeneca and the European Union is getting hotter. The drugmaker has failed to live up to its side of a contract to deliver 80 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the EU this quarter. Officials have dropped hints that they suspect the firm has been pushing clandestine sales of EU-earmarked vaccines to other buyers. – Fortune
https://fortune.com/2021/01/26/astrazeneca-covid-vaccine-dispute-eu-covid19-export-controls/
