Cordelia Jenkins

A group of high-profile writers is launching a new magazine called Equator “to challenge the reigning assumption that global events should be narrated by and for the West,” according to a description shared with Semafor. Its founding team includes Pankaj Mishra, Mohsin Hamid, Nesrine Malik, Samanth Subramanian, and Suzy Hansen, with editing by Guardian long reads creator Jonathan Shainin. “In a post-American era, the task of a new magazine is to engage the rich variety of this historical moment on its own terms, without compulsively asking ‘What does it mean for the US?’” the nonprofit outlet, which is primarily based in London, will ask.

Our new magazine, Equator, is officially out in the world — and here @equatormag.bsky.social
Sign up for preview emails, donate, and get tickets to our launch event in London: equator.org

Had a few conversations recently that make me think, for the first time in ages, there are some exciting things happening in media. This is one of the highlights: Equator, a new magazine set up by Nesrine Malik, Pankaj Mishra, Jonathan Shainin and others. Sign up for info here: www.equator.org

The crumbling seaside palaces at the centre of Britain’s asylum crisis [FREE TO READ] How one hotelier built an empire from beloved community assets — and a government struggling to cope with a surge in migration

I think this fascinating piece by @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social is one of the best things we've published all year. Don't miss it! on.ft.com/48e4qwP

How Tokyo became an unexpected haven for China’s middle class An aspirational generation of Chinese arrivals are beginning to shape Japan’s demographic, social and perhaps even political destiny

Best read of the week

How Tokyo became an unexpected haven for China’s middle class - on.ft.com/4n1dSs7 by Leo Lewis of the FT

The age of the distracted mother [FREE TO READ] There is a child. There is a phone. And there is an endless struggle with the bonds of love

Link here for non subscribers: on.ft.com/4nc8Icy

The age of the distracted mother There is a child. There is a phone. And there is an endless struggle with the bonds of love

Really happy to have this essay by @hzeavin.bsky.social in this weekend's magazine. I've been thinking about it non-stop for months. www.ft.com/content/a248...

This is so good...

Why can’t I stop cleaning fake dirt off fake objects? [FREE TO READ] In praise of ‘PowerWash Simulator’, part ponderous game, part dreamlike state

This column by @okr.bsky.social has made me laugh a lot today... on.ft.com/45cFT8t

The polarising power of Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s other wartime leader President Zelenskyy’s right-hand man is fuelling concerns over creeping authoritarianism

@christopherjm.ft.com is so far ahead of any other non-Ukrainian journalist on what is happening in that country
on.ft.com/414Z2b2

In search of a diagnosis How my son’s autism assessment sent me on an investigation into my own past

After my son was diagnosed with autism, I've been thinking about my own relationship to this strange, highly contentious condition. During a sabbatical this spring, I spoke to some experts about it. My essay based on all that has just gone online on FT.Com: on.ft.com/4kKdCfe

The inimitable queen of country house opera [FREE TO READ] In the UK, summer productions in stately homes have helped keep the art form alive. For that you need donors and, for them, what you really need is Wasfi Kani

Very delighted to have this profile of the dauntless Wasfi Kani, the woman who sold country house opera to the English establishment by John Phipps in this week's magazine. Have a read! on.ft.com/40NVEBf

How Mark Zuckerberg unleashed his inner brawler [FREE TO READ] The boss’s macho makeover shocked liberals at Meta, but his closest allies say this is who he was all along

The brilliant @mshannahmurphy.bsky.social has gotten to the bottom of Zuckerberg's macho makeover. I love this piece... on.ft.com/3TB0kq0

Who’s in charge, me or the Devil? The agony and the ecstasy of elite darts Premier League Darts is making its top stars multimillionaires. Pressure to perform is intense

Who’s in charge, me or the Devil? The agony and the ecstasy of elite darts

https://www.ft.com/content/9a28a3d9-a439-4109-a0fc-284c01af3f03

How the ’90s shaped Donald Trump’s politics of national despair [FREE TO READ] The best way to understand Trump is to look at his brush with failure at this earlier moment of American crisis

Really happy to have @lioneltrolling.bsky.social in the FT Magazine this weekend - with a great essay on what the '90s taught Donald Trump on.ft.com/458jISv

Sweet of you not to include my disdainful replies

The boy who came back: the near-death, and changed life, of my son Max It was, we were told, a case of sudden infant death syndrome interrupted. What followed would transform my understanding of parenting, disability and the breadth of what makes a meaningful life

I wrote for the Guardian’s Saturday magazine about my son Max, who changed how I see the world. Took ages. More jokes after the first bit.

Thanks Merope Mills for being the most patient and generous editor.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

ICONIC

A brilliant and bizarre story here from @christopherkay.ft.com

How a little-known French literary critic became a bellwether for the US right [FREE TO READ] René Girard is best known for his theory of ‘mimetic desire’. Now Peter Thiel and the vice-president are among his fans

“'When the history of the 20th century is written, circa 2100,' Thiel claims, Girard 'will be seen as truly one of the great intellectuals.'” Delighted to have this great essay in the magazine this weekend by @orlandoreade.bsky.social on.ft.com/3Z80Pew

Can you run a company as a perfect free market? Inside Disco Corp [FREE TO READ] For over a decade, a $20bn manufacturer has been conducting a radical experiment. No one has a boss or takes orders. Their decisions are guided by one thing, an internal currency system...

Totally fascinating reporting from @davidkeo.bsky.social and Harry Dempsey on a weird work experiment - a company run by the invisible hand of its internal currency. No one has a boss. Or gets told what to do. But every action you take is prompted by the thirst to make more Will... on.ft.com/4jFaa5T

This is the most brilliant read. Seriously. You will not regret it. Here's another free link... on.ft.com/4jTiMWd

Welcome to slop world: how the hostile internet is driving us crazy [FREE TO READ] The last bits of fellowship and ingenuity on the web are being swept away by a tide of so-called artificial intelligence

This essay by @jacobsilverman.com on living in slop world is a great read - explaining how and why an increasingly 'hostile internet' is driving us crazy... on.ft.com/4k12iLV

Ask Green: Where do you go when you’re lonely? Sainsbury’s cafés offered elderly people and young families a place to mingle over a hot cuppa. What to do now?

MPs 100% get why supermarkets caffs closing is a disaster for the local community. Other SW1ers can look a bit blank - my @financialtimes.com RANT on 'place making' while businesses accidentally melt our social glue - www.ft.com/content/33f0...

The novelist and the detective [FREE TO READ] How Peter Grainger created DC Smith, the greatest fictional sleuth you’ve probably never heard of

This is such a delight - so pleased to have learned about Peter Grainger and DC SMith... enterprise-sharing.ft.com/redeem/6e669...

Rules for restaurant dining: the FT experts’ annotated guide [FREE TO READ] Jay Rayner, Marina O’Loughlin, Tim Hayward and Jancis Robinson have strong opinions. But can they handle feedback from 19 food-world stars?

Truly what could be better than having this to read all weekend. It’s even better in print. A masterwork by @harrietfl.ft.com on.ft.com/4c43ag1

My brother, the NHS and the inquest into a needless death My brother spent the last hours of his life trying in vain to get basic help from the NHS. Why?

This beautifully written and important piece by @madisonmarriage.bsky.social about the inquest into her brother’s death, after an unbearable wrangle with NHS services to get his epilepsy medication, is free to read today and I can’t recommend it highly enough on.ft.com/434zZqn

Yet, insanely, 20 years later there’s still no other way to signal that you’re pregnant and knackered than by wearing a badge that makes a coy pun about your body being a vessel for something more precious. If we can’t get “I’m pregnant” in 2025 I’d at least like the full “Quinquireme of Nineveh”

Confessions of the world’s most elite sober coach [FREE TO READ] How Tony Dominguez can rescue almost anybody from the most degraded, reckless moment of their life

This is such a gripping read from John Phipps…. Confessions of the world’s most elite sober coach on.ft.com/3WEp3fa

The rise of plant poaching: how a craze for succulents is driving a new illegal trade [FREE TO READ] In the wilds of South Africa’s Northern Cape, poaching ‘green diamonds’ has become an almost irresistible temptation

One of my favourites for the ages… by the excellent Monica Mark on.ft.com/3E7A6r0

Patricia Lockwood · That Shape Am I: Among the Mystics Doubt is the dimension of the religious experience that brings it into reality, gives it that voluptuousness which...

‘Phrases such as “creaturely life-practices” fall in the category of the venial, but flourishes like “We do not coincide with ourselves. Only psychopaths coincide with themselves” are mortal.’

@tricialockwood.bsky.social on Simon Critchley’s ‘On Mysticism’:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...