Ms Informed Newsletter | Facebook, Frances Haugen and the Buzzfeedification of Mental Health
This week has been all about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg being a douche, plus Mental Health Day. How are the two related? Listen to find out.
This week’s show
Shownotes
The Guardian on the whistleblower hearing
The Guardian on Facebooking putting profit before people
Vox on social media and mental health
Moskowitz on the BuzzFeedification of mental health
This week’s distraction
This week’s distraction is this report that found that the digital gender gap is keeping women offline: “A failure to ensure women have equal access to the internet has cost low-income countries $1tn over the past decade and could mean an additional loss of $500bn by 2025 if governments don’t take action, according to new research.
Last year, governments in 32 countries, including India, Egypt, and Nigeria, lost an estimated $126bn in gross domestic product because women were unable to contribute to the digital economy.
The digital gender gap – the difference between the number of women and men who can access the internet – cost $24bn in lost tax revenues in 2020, which could have been invested in health, education, and housing.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former executive director of UN Women and founder of the Umlambo Foundation, said: “We will not achieve gender equality until we eliminate this digital gap that keeps so many women offline and away from the opportunities the internet provides.”
Read more in the Guardian here
This week Madhvi has been reading
This week Madhvi has been reading this fascinating article about how cultures shape mental illnesses. I read this as part of our research on mental health this week, but it didn’t come up in the discussion, so if you’re interested, read all about how Stanford anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann found that the hallucinatory voices that people heard in the United States were harsh and threatening, whereas in India and Africa they were more playful.
This week Rina has been reading
This week Rina has been reading “What Strange Paradise” by Omar El Akkad and let me tell you, I picked this book up based on the pretty colours on the title page. The first chapter already is depressing. It’s so sad. It's good, but sad.
This week’s inspiration
This week’s inspiration is the two magical ladies who just opened the “Lonely Hearts Cafe” in Berlin! To quote their website: “What happens when two Brits in Berlin who love Twin Peaks open a cafe? We’re about to find out! We’ll be serving up tasty British fry-ups, American pancakes, and more cozy eats in your new favourite local hang-out. There will be tasty options for our veggie and vegan friends too.”
With the aim of offering a safe space away from the toxic work environment found in many kitchens and restaurants, this brilliant cafe is coming your way on the 13th October 2021 at Mahlowerstr. 32, Berlin-Neukölln!
Find them on Facebook here and on Instagram here
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