Europe’s 15-minute cities

🚶 Europe beats the US for walkable cities

A tale of two cities, or two molds of city—one walkable, the other gridlocked. Zurich and Dublin lead the charge as 15-minute cities, where everything from schools to supermarkets is just a short stroll away. Meanwhile, sprawling U.S. cities like San Antonio continue to struggle with car dependency.

Ajit Niranjan for The Guardian

French philosopher Voltaire once downed a glass of fresh bull’s blood due to a bizarre myth connecting ancient suicides, Persian poisons, and misunderstood science. Why did it survive for centuries, and what can we learn from it?

Andrew Coletti for Atlas Obscura

From celebrity legends to Gen Z, the art of Instagram photo dumps is taking over the internet—carefully curated, yet perfectly masked as nonchalance. Despite an internet culture fixated on authenticity, it seems even the mess is staged these days…

Kyla Chayka for The New Yorker

Following in Finland’s footsteps, digital passports are coming to U.S. citizens. On one hand, Americans will no longer need to carry a physical passport or worry about losing it. But what happens if your phone gets hacked or stolen? And is it safe to put all your eggs in one digital basket? 

Justin Dawes for Skift

🇧🇷 The story of Brazil’s “Coffee Palace”

A grand, forgotten palace in the coastal city of Santos once influenced coffee markets worldwide. This podcast takes you on a 15-minute sensory journey through its rooms, hallways and heritage.

Atlas Obscura