Every morning, we profile the people, places, trends and technology that are ahead of their time and worthy of yours.
When Nicolina Delgadillo started her company BeeSmart in 2018, she knew that being an entrepreneur would be difficult. “Being a female and a Latina is hard work multiplied 10 times over,” she tells OZY, “Even though it is an exciting time to be a Latina boss.” Today, Delgadillo is in good company: Latino business owners are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the country. To honor Hispanic Heritage Month, in today's Daily Dose we dive into the rise of Latino-owned businesses by speaking with cutting-edge entrepreneurs who are putting the pedal to the metal and highlight the little-known game changers.
Nelson Mandela knew the power sports have to bring change and used it to build the foundations of South Africa's post-apartheid Rainbow Nation. “Sport can create hope where once there was only despair,” the Nobel laureate once said. Today, just a glance at the biggest stars of the most popular sports is enough to see that change is coming faster than ever. Racism and machismo have long been a bitter reality in top-tier sports. But a new generation of athletes — from rodeo athletes to refugees and hoopsters to hitters — is fundamentally changing the way our favorite sports look. In today's Daily Dose, we share some of the most stunning changes transforming the world of sports.
Sure, politics can often seem like little more than a popularity contest where participants frequently promise more than they can deliver. But in a world beset by life-or-death challenges ranging from COVID-19 and climate change to sectarian violence and hunger, some leaders are trying something different. In today's Daily Dose, we're looking at some of the more innovative steps political leaders around the world are taking to try to fundamentally reset the destinies of their nations — from a Caribbean premier who's building a republic out of a former colony to a Kosovan mayor bridging ethnic tensions with language and culture. You might not agree with everything they're trying. And it's likely not all of these initiatives will succeed. But the world needs bold, new ideas and these officials are leading the way.
For all intents and purposes, our bodies are supermachines meant to perform many complex tasks on a daily basis, far beyond our comprehension. But supermachines are still machines and as such, they are prone to breakdowns without routine maintenance and software upgrades. This is where wellness and other health sciences come in. They help us oil our bodies and keep them running in the best shape — because wellness is the key that unlocks the door to maximizing our potential, all things being equal. In today's Daily Dose, we meet fascinating entrepreneurs creating new products inspired by old customs, check out the traditional treatments that influenced them and bust myths that have circulated for years in the wellness and diet industries.
Summer is coming to a close in the Northern Hemisphere. But as the evenings draw in and temperatures fall, there's never been a better time to curl up with a book and enter a world not of your own making. The international literary world has never been as diverse — or downright interesting — as it is today. That's why we've collated for you, dearest OZY reader, some of the best new reads from Argentina to Zimbabwe and many fascinating places in between. Read on because we guarantee you this: There's no list as interesting as ours.
Hollywood might be America's greatest soft power export, but when it comes to the depiction of Latin America and its culture, the mega film industry has largely served to harden shallow stereotypes about a diverse region and its people. Which is why, to truly get Latino culture, you need to tune out of popular — and often sadly inaccurate — American tropes and tune in to today's Daily Dose. Indigenous rappers, quinoa sushi and cannabis-infused teas are transforming Latin America's cultural and gastronomic landscape even as brave activists work to preserve the region's astonishing natural beauty. Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by diving deeper than salsa rhythms, Caribbean beaches and pisco sour for a sensorial journey to a stunning part of the world that's in flux.
Sleep, exercise, therapy and antidepressants are some of the top remedies prescribed to assist the 1 in 4 Americans who struggle with mental health issues. But while these are all critical and effective tools, are they enough? After all, suicide is among the leading causes of death in the U.S., especially among the younger population. Perhaps it's time we tried something different.
Like superheroes, supervillains also love their toys . . . because even those bent on sowing mayhem have preferences Criminals choose these items for their utility, symbolism or, believe it or not, even as product placement.
College sports are back. Take it from fans of the Virginia Tech Hokies. On Sept. 3, close to 70,000 of them screamed out the team's entrance song, “Enter Sandman” by Metallica, at the 2021-22 season opener against the UNC Tar Heels. The Virginia Tech crowd was so amped up that their rendition of the rock classic registered as a seismographic activity for Blackburn, Virginia. But there are other tremors reshaping college sports. How will the U.S. Supreme Court's summer ruling allowing student-athletes to make money from sponsorships play out on campuses? From colleges rethinking the role of sports to game-changing legal cases, this Daily Dose gives you a courtside view of the shifts that could fundamentally alter the relationship between the NCAA, school campuses and athletes.
Soon after our reporter Sohini Das Gupta turned 8, she stopped eating fish. In her Bengali household — a famously fish-eating lot — it was quite the scandal. Sighs were sighed and investigations launched, as her parents tried to figure out what could have gone wrong. Then, at the pinnacle of her fish resistance, her grandmother cooked doi maach: tender pieces of freshwater fish, soused in a yogurt-based gravy of robust east Indian spices. I polished off every last bit. If anyone could achieve the dubious union of fish, curd and an unlikely surprise ingredient she's not at liberty to disclose right away, it had to be her thammi (Bengali for grandma). This quality extends to grandmothers everywhere: Bustling Italian nonnas or plate-piling Somali bibis, they possess the superpower of turning humble ingredients into morsels most magical. Join us today for classic food stories from kitchens made redolent by grandmothers, from America to Japan with delicious pit stops in between. Pstt: We even managed to source some pantry tricks from grandmas of our own OZY tribe! From Sohini Das Gupta
In the more than four years that our editor Kate Bartlett worked as a journalist in Cambodia, she can't say she covered many happy news stories. So she well remembers the ones she did, and the return of the Angkorian-era statues from the Koh Ker temple, looted during the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, was among them. It was a proud moment for the impoverished country, which had sued New York-based auction house Sotheby's over the stolen antiquities and won. Now, more and more nations that saw their invaluable artifacts pilfered under colonization, conflict or unrest are demanding the items be repatriated, and museums and auction houses in the West are under pressure to comply. But the era of tomb raiders is far from over. Pandemic-related lockdowns and empty heritage sites have proved a boon for traffickers. This Daily Dose dives into ancient mysteries that make Indiana Jones movies seem dull, examines current controversies around repatriations and gives you a peek at the world's most sought-after plunder.
Street protests are a part of Latin America's DNA, whether it's over corruption, authoritarianism or basic human rights being trampled by the region's elite. But something smells different this time. Independent sparks in different nations are coalescing to form a raging fire of change that's spreading across one of the world's most unequal regions. From a young trans woman demanding social justice in Chile and Indigenous communities winning a criminal lawsuit in Ecuador to a friend of the pope who's seeking radical land reform in Argentina, a new tide of peoples' movements is surging across Latin America. That's bad news for the right, but it's not great news for the old, discredited left either. Today's Daily Dose gives you a front-row view of dramatic changes that could redefine the political landscape in the region.
So you've got a little extra cash, but it's sitting in your bank account doing absolutely nothing. You haven't the time or, to be honest, the interest to dabble in the complicated world of stocks and shares. But with inflation rising and interest rates set to remain at rock bottom, you feel like you should do something — only what? In today's Daily Dose, esteemed reader, we're sharing the surprising new places for you to invest your stash of cash and make a pretty penny while you're at it. From parking spots to hurricane betting, here are 12 alternative homes for your nest egg.
It's here. On our streets and in our neighborhoods. From traffic control to CCTVs to water-monitoring systems, artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies are already among us. But, as the song goes, you ain't seen nothing yet. Many argue that smart technology is making our cities safer from crime, with facial detection able to spot and locate wanted criminals and those who violate public health restrictions. Others believe the enormous scale of CCTV cameras on the streets of many modern cities, from London to Beijing, amounts to intrusion on a massive scale. Either way, the role played by AI in shaping our urban environments is only going to grow and spread. In today's Daily Dose, we look at global cities that are offering us an early glimpse of what that future might look like.
For our generation, 9/11 was a Sputnik moment. Just as the launching of the satellite in October 1957 focused the West's attention on the emerging threat posed by the Soviet Union, the attacks that sunny September morning jarred the world off its axis. Nothing would be the same again. Militant Islam became the vogue topic on TV and in classrooms. Terms such as the “Sunni Triangle” and WMDs became common parlance. The West lived in fear even as thousands died in the Middle East. Ahead of the 20th anniversary of those horrific attacks, today's Daily Dose highlights some of the pivotal moments — many of them largely forgotten today — and shifts that came to define the War On Terror, and what could come next.
When online retailer Shein started selling a phone case earlier this year that featured an art piece depicting Mike Brown's murder without permission from the artist, social media erupted in outrage. The design depicts a black man lying on the ground, outlined in chalk. Designer Jean Jullien created the image in 2014 in response to the murder of Mike Brown and the Ferguson protests. Jullien's design had been poached by fast fashion, the name given to this industry that employs exploitative practices to rapidly and cheaply produce clothes and accessories. This season's hottest trend is giving credit where credit is due. So, join us as we explore the surprising history behind your favorite contemporary trends, discover how small designers are holding fast fashion accountable and highlight the inspiring movement to un-whitewash sustainable fashion.
Billionaires have been feeling generous during the pandemic, donating billions of dollars to charities in America and beyond, and the likes of Elon Musk — the second richest man in the world — swearing by frugal living. But with the size of their bank accounts growing almost as fast as the number of poor people in the world, the big question is: Can big money ever really be ethical? As it turns out, the answer is not as simple as a straight no. Tune in today's Daily Dose to find out why.
Think science and art are two divergent disciplines? Not necessarily. There are plenty of polymaths in the world who have taken to combining the two, from Leonardo da Vinci and his 15th-century “ornithopters,” to contemporary Korean American “bacteria” artist Anicka Yi. In our brave new COVID-19 world, both science and art can offer us comfort — the former through the solutions and medical treatments it provides, the latter as a kind of emotional balm, a way of helping us understand the tumult all around. Graffiti artist Banksy famously painted a poignant illustration of a nurse in a superhero cape at an English hospital during lockdown in that country in spring 2020. The mysterious painter isn't alone: Many artists across the world have taken inspiration from the pandemic. In today's Daily Dose, you'll meet the people who are as adept in the art of science as they are in the science of art.
As the Paralympic Games draw to a close this weekend following a summer of spectacle from Tokyo, we profile the young Japanese athletes taking the world by storm on sports' biggest stages.
Disruption is the story of our time. Millions killed across the globe by a novel virus in under 18 months. Our home and working lives upended. The world shaken beyond imagination. So disruption — through the prism of companies fueling pathbreaking change — is the theme we're running with in today's Daily Dose. Firebrand organizations are embarking on ambitious new initiatives to change our lives as we know it, for the better. From food scientists in Silicon Valley to Indian startups leveraging the power of 3,000-year-old science to Berlin coders bringing Greek mythical figures to life, read on for key insights into the disruptor companies upending how we see and experience the world.
When I first became a correspondent in Washington, D.C., it took me weeks just to find the Capitol Hill bathrooms. The learning curve hasn't been so steep for a set of fresh-faced Washington politicos. Among them are a former nurse-turned-pastor behind the extension of the eviction moratorium, a sexagenarian leading the conservative response to crypto regulation and the Cuban-born face of a Biden administration shipping Cuban refugees back to sea. Meet the most diverse class in congressional history that's already wielding outsized influence just eight months into office.
American biologist E. O. Wilson once said: “If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed 10,000 years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.” As the global climate continues to warm due to human actions, Wilson's words are proving prescient. But the impact of climate change on insects is wide ranging. In some instances, warmer temperatures have decimated populations of creepy-crawlies. But that's not the whole story. Today's Daily Dose shows you how, when it comes to insects and the warming of the planet, there will be both winners and losers — only, the victors often appear to be the bugs we'd rather be rid of.
Marking National Grief Awareness Day, today's Daily Dose looks at how to grieve when we can't congregate, the importance of closure and what we can learn from cultures around the world when it comes to saying goodbye.
Putting aside the medical world, has any aspect of life been as dramatically affected by the pandemic as schooling? Now, after 18 months of hybrid teaching, endless hand-washing and mind-numbing headaches for parent and teacher alike, classrooms are beginning to reopen en masse across America. But as they do, starting this week, the dynamics around what that ought to look like are shifting. Again. Some districts are mandating masks for children riding the school bus, but not in class. In parts of the country, Republican-dominated state legislatures are threatening to withhold pay for school administrators who insist that students mask up. Anger is mounting on many sides as political ideologies, poor planning, and new policies pit parents against schools and local authorities. Read on for our deep dive into the state of play — plus the creative solutions these unique times are forcing upon all involved.
Researcher Dave Shealy claims to have seen the ever-elusive Florida legend, Skunk Ape, in 1974. He founded the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters/tourist trap to capitalize on the lore of Florida's giant, hairy man-beast. But don't get it twisted; those who believe in skunk apes say the creatures have four toes, not five like the Pacific Northwest's Sasquatch. The skunk ape also, apparently, prefers hanging out in trees to lumbering around on the ground. Welcome to Florida, where a skunk ape sighting is just one of a host of crazy events that defined life in the Sunshine State during the 1970s. Disney World opened in 1971. Drug trafficking soared as cocaine dominated the hedonistic Miami party scene. Ted Bundy was finally apprehended in Pensacola in 1978 after escaping prison in Colorado. Join us for a dive into the best stories illustrating the mayhem that was Florida during this turbulent time.
Boomers like to accuse millennials of splurging so much on avocado toast and almond-milk lattes that they'll never be able to afford to buy a house. All the while, many younger people envy the relative ease with which previous generations could save and enjoy a middle-class lifestyle. For them, financial security has been made even more elusive by the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. But that doesn't mean all 20- and 30-somethings lack savoir-faire when it comes to making cold, hard cash. Quite the opposite: There is a growing number of millennial and Gen Z investment gurus with a keen knack for finding new ways of earning a buck. In today's Daily Dose, we present you with the fierce new femmes of finance, the hottest money influencers on social media and the game-changing investment whizzes emerging from Malaysia to South Africa.
When the red hammer and sickle banner was pulled from the Kremlin ramparts a final time 30 years ago, obituaries for socialism were written by the hundreds. Three decades later, it's clear those prophecies couldn't have been more wrong. Depending on where you're reading this, the word socialism has very different connotations. In Europe, it's associated with being a social-democratic safety net. Across the Atlantic, many view it as little more than red scare socialism. Yet whether you're in the U.S. or China, Latin America or Africa, the left is reemerging as a potent force. Today's Daily Dose introduces you to the next leaders of the global left, looks at the unlikely nations where labor movements are growing and examines how tech is aiding the crimson rise. And no, we won't predict what the left will look like 30 years hence — the world's learned not to.
With the Delta variant of COVID-19 spreading wildly across the U.S. and large parts of the world, one thing is clear: Our pre-pandemic life of full-on physical interactions isn't returning anytime soon. The good news? The juice of technology — and specifically 5G telecommunications — could elevate the otherwise soul-draining experience of constantly staring at our laptops and mobile phones. You can feel the “touch” of your long-distance lover, download movies faster than ever and travel in driverless vehicles with previously unimaginable reaction time. But 5G will also change our lives in other, more impactful ways: facilitating breakthroughs in fields of science, health, the future of work and just about anything else you can think of. Today's Daily Dose delves into the world of tomorrow's mobile communication.
Dating in the post-pandemic era feels as uncharted as trying to lock lips for the first time in middle school. Handshake or hug? A romantic restaurant meal or a socially distanced bike ride? And in this upside-down world, how do you know what's real and what's just a post-lockdown fling? Fear not, dear reader, for we have the answers to eternal love for you coming right up. In today's Daily Dose, we've sought answers to these tricky quandaries from those who've been there, done that and bought the forever-in-love T-shirt. Yes, that's right: Today's seniors know a thing or two about finding and fostering lasting love. Join us as we share the best eternal love tips from those who know best.
It's an interesting time to be a man. Expectations are changing. Bad actors are being held accountable for their toxic behavior. Powerful men are recognizing that they can't always get away with unacceptable actions. “In my mind, I've never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn't realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last week, as he announced his resignation after a probe commissioned by the state attorney general concluded that he had sexually harassed 11 women. “There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn't fully appreciate.” So how do we teach the next generation of boys to be better stewards of the changing times? From toxic masculinity to sexual fluidity, today's Daily Dose explores the future of manhood, introducing you to the societal shifts and faces of change redefining the male identity.