What you missed in November and other recommendations

Hey Sowers,

Things are a bit busy at the moment in the run-up to the holidays, so I just wanted to give a quick update on what's to come in the future at Sower. I should hopefully have one more essay with you either next week or the one after. After that, I don't think I'll be sending anything until around the end of January, as I want to take a couple of weeks off and once I'm back at work I'd like to think about my approach for the new year.

Happy holidays in the meantime, and I hope you find something useful in this month's round-up!

Stories of action

• There's so much rampant transphobia in the UK, to the point where even supposedly left-wing media companies are saturated with it, it can often seem like everyone is against trans people. However, a new festival has been announced in support of trans people that features big names in media like Ian McKellen, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and Sugababes.
• A charity in Sheffield got funding to go around installing bricks in properties that provide safe nesting sites for swifts, one of the birds in the UK listed as most in need of conservation. Adapting our infrastructure to be more nature-friendly is a step in the right direction.
• After a massive spill of plastic beads from a wastewater treatment plant, a group of volunteers came together to start cleaning it up. Although it's sad that volunteers had to do it, and the company wasn't forced to clean it up, I think it shows that humans do care about the world where corporations don't.
• Huge decision by a court in Germany that OpenAI used song lyrics illegally, which is a hopefully a sign of things to come in terms of reigning in the ability of tech companies to steal people's art without paying for it.
• A new law passed in South Korea means that all parking lots with over 80 spaces will have to install solar panels and provide charging stations for electric vehicles.

Other interesting media

Really loved this Philosophy Tube episode on demographic ageing. I've seen it mentioned a few times—the idea that in a few decades time the population will be mostly old people, which will have widespread economic consequences—though I've never delved too deep myself. I appreciated Abigail's critique of the concept and why it's the wrong way of looking at the world.

Other recommendations

If you're a millennial you almost certainly know The xx. They've all released solo music since their heyday, and Romy in particular has been putting out some good club pop recently, including this new track Love Who You Love.

I went through an old playlist recently as well, and rediscovered Skin by Man of Moon which was one of my favourites a while back. It has hints of dark wave, industrial rock, and techno, perfect for the darker months.

Made this black lentil soup a few times already in November, and I couldn't recommend it enough—such much flavour and warmth make it the perfect winter meal.

Got any news stories or other recommendations that you think other readers would like? Share them in the comments!