Sent as a newsletter June 26, 2023. Not on my list? Join here.
đź‘‹ Hi friends,
Welcome to the latest edition of Newley’s Notes, a weekly newsletter containing my recent Wall Street Journal stories, must-read links on tech and life, and funny dog videos.
Image of the week, above:
On Thursday’s WSJ page one: my latest, a story with my super-sharp colleague Niharika Mandhana. The headline: Modi’s Vision for India Rests On Six Giant Companies. ⬅️ Free link. It begins:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi says this is India’s decade. That claim rests heavily on a handful of dominant conglomerates.
Increasingly aligned with Modi’s priorities, the roughly half-dozen mega-firms—which include Reliance Industries and Adani Group, helmed by two of Asia’s richest tycoons—have the ability to raise vast sums of capital, and the experience and political connections to navigate India’s byzantine bureaucracy. Capitalizing on government subsidies and privatization plans, they are executing projects with a scale and speed that have eluded India in the past.
Here are 10 items worth your time this week:
1) 🇷🇺 Shot: You no doubt saw the dramatic events in Russia over the weekend. The headline on on a story by my colleagues Yaroslav Trofimov and Thomas Grove sums it up: Putin’s War on Ukraine Backfires, Leading to Wagner Uprising at Home.
2) 🤷‍♂️ Chaser: Anne Applebaum, in The Atlantic, looks at how the the Russian population — including military leaders — stepped aside to allow Wagner’s advances: “After spending years cultivating public apathy, the Russian president found his people indifferent to his fate.”
3) ⚠️ And one more: “Wars abroad have a way of unleashing uncontrollable political processes at home,” Joshua Yaffa in the New Yorker, writes of Putin’s weakness.
4) 🇧🇷 A look at the unending popularity in Brazil of the Australian-themed Outback Steakhouse.
5) đź“Ť How maps change the way we perceive the world.
6) 🍿 There’s a trailer out for “3 Body Problem,” based on the popular sci-fi novel by Liu Cixin. Coming to Netflix in January.
7) 🚶‍♀️The surprising new hotspot for walkable communities in the U.S.: the South.
8) 🔥 Max Park, a 21-year-old from Cerritos, Calif., solved a Rubik’s cube in an astonishing 3.13 seconds, a new world world record.
9) đź‘€ One for the morbidly curious: a Wikipedia page listing condemned prisoners’ last meals around the world.
10) đź“– “Harvard Scholar Who Studies Honesty Is Accused of Fabricating Findings.”
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🦴 Dog-related video of the week:
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đź’ˇ Quote of the week:
“Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.” — Neil Postman
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đź‘Š Fist bump from Hong Kong,
Newley