1. Welcome to Digital Nomadland (Wired)
A Portuguese island created a village for remote workers, promising community to the newcomers and prosperity to the locals—then delivered on neither.
2. Big Tech Laid Off Thousands. Here’s Who Wants Them Next (Wired)
Governments, nonprofits, and small startups hope to scoop up people let go by the likes of Meta and Amazon. It’s their big chance to lure top-tier talent.
3. Ten Lessons from the Return of History (Council of Foreign Relations)
Few will miss 2022, a year defined by a lingering pandemic, advancing climate change, galloping inflation, slowing economic growth, and, more than anything else, the outbreak of a costly war in Europe and concerns that violent conflict could soon erupt in Asia. Some of this was anticipated, but much of it was not – and all of it suggests lessons that we ignore at our peril.
4. Chinese discourse power: Ambitions and reality in the digital domain (Atlantic Council)
As China’s military and economic power has grown, so has its ambition to shape global norms to suit its priorities. China believes that the United States currently dominates the international system, and sees growing Western opposition to China as evidence that the current order is now a threat to the continued security of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As such, China’s leadership has come to see its ability to reshape the international order—or, at least, to decenter US power within it—as essential to the party’s future.
4. Elon Musk should step down as head of Twitter, says poll (The Verge)
58 percent say the world’s no-longer-richest man should quit his job running Twitter. His other job is ostensibly to be the CEO of Tesla, which has seen its stock price drop 50 percent in the last year.
6. TikTok tests landscape videos in major shake-up (BBC News)
Video-sharing platform TikTok has started testing a new landscape mode with select users around the world. Some experts say the feature will help it directly compete with rival video platforms like YouTube. Viral videos filmed in portrait mode have helped make TikTok the world’s fastest-growing social media app. However, there have been calls in countries such as the US and Australia to ban it over allegations of national security threats.
7. Last-minute gift guide: Online presents that are actually good (The Washington Post)
Online presents aren’t just for procrastinators, they’re also better for the environment and don’t contribute to clutter.