K-pops like Elvis
The return of Korean pop music (K-pop) group BTS with a live performance on Netflix was hailed worldwide. The band went into hibernation in 2022 when its seven members were called up for military service. Their return has been compared to that of Elvis Presley, who served in the US army from 1958 to 1960, rising to the rank of sergeant and returning to Civvy Street in a blaze of glory as the vanguard of rock ‘n roll.
Diamantino’s destiny
It’s a clear case of nominative determinism: as Angola begins to challenge its neighbour Botswana on diamond hegemony (both countries are eager to buy bigger stakes in De Beers), the mining minister recently pitched up at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town. His name? Diamantino Pedro Azevedo.
The keys to learning
Grit Matthias Phelps is sending her students at Cornell University in the US back to the early 1970s. They work on typewriters and no wi-fi. It’s a raw feeling of typing without online assistance. No screens, online dictionaries, spellcheckers, or delete keys. Just the clatter of keys and pinging, signalling the end of a line. She says students need to understand what writing, thinking, and classrooms were like before everything turned digital.
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