Every Monday on Global Comment, we share the slow, thoughtful, considerate words that our brains – and souls – need but that it’s easy to miss in our busy world. We distil the best of the web and recommend just three links every week that you absolutely must see.
No fluff, no fuss, just three exceptional reads.
Here are this week’s recommendations:
The economics of thinness (The Economist)
Myriad studies find that overweight or obese women are paid less than their thinner peers while there is little difference in wages between obese men and men in the medically defined “normal” range. There are exceptions: one Swedish study found that obese men were paid less, but obese women were not. But research in America, Britain, Canada and Denmark suggests that overweight women do have lower salaries. The penalty for an obese woman is significant, costing her about 10% of her income.
Airbnb Is Spending Millions of Dollars to Make Nightmares Go Away (Olivia Carville / Bloomberg)
As Airbnb grew, so did the number of dangerous incidents—everything from hosts hurling suitcases out of windows to concealed cameras, gas leaks, and sexual assaults. Many of the crimes taking place inside short-term rentals listed on its platform and others could have happened in any apartment or hotel room. But in some cases hosts used the platforms to commit them. In one October 2011 incident, an Airbnb host in Barcelona plied two American women who’d booked a stay at his home with alcohol, then raped them. When the women went to the police the next morning, the host threatened to upload videos of the attack to the internet if they didn’t drop the case, according to local media reports. Police searched his apartment and found hundreds of similar photos of other victims. The man received a 12-year prison sentence. Airbnb, which declined to comment about the case for this story, paid the two women an undisclosed amount and banned the host for life.
Marianne Williamson on reparations (therecount)
@therecount 2024 candidate Marianne Williamson (D) repeatedly shuts down Piers Morgan during reparations debate. #piersmorgan #mariannewilliamson #reparation #reparations #black #blacktiktok #politics #polical #politicaltiktok #news #fyp #democrat #usa #history #debate ♬ original sound – therecount
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