Analysis
John Burn-Murdoch questions the panic around falling UK “healthy life expectancy” by showing how blunt the metric is: it combines mortality data with subjective self-reported health. The stronger finding is diagnostic, not contrarian. Physical health appears stable or improving, while worsening self-rated health is driven largely by mental-health reporting among younger adults, especially young women. For Robert, this is the best breakfast read because it separates a headline-friendly statistic from the clinical and policy problem underneath.
Source: FT
Policy
The Verge looks past New Mexico’s $375mn verdict against Meta to the remedy phase starting Monday in Santa Fe. The state wants operational changes to Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp: age checks, limits on under-18 encryption, use caps, less infinite scroll and stronger CSAM detection. The useful frame is product governance. One state court order could pressure platform design far beyond New Mexico.
Source: The Verge
Culture
Der FALTER liest die Kunsthalle-Schau „Lebt und arbeitet in Wien“ als überraschend analoges Bild der Wiener Gegenwartskunst: weniger Video- und Digitalkunst, mehr Sägen, Schweißen, Bauen, Skulptur und Installation. 56 Positionen wurden aus rund 700 Namen ausgewählt. Das Stück zeigt, warum eine Überblicksschau fast zwangsläufig scheitert und trotzdem präzise etwas über eine Szene erzählen kann. Der Wien-Nutzen ist konkret, aber nicht bloß Veranstaltungstipp.
Source: FALTER
Succession
The FT’s Omaha piece captures the first Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting led by Greg Abel after Warren Buffett’s handover. Abel’s message is continuity with restraint: Berkshire’s $380bn cash-and-Treasury pile gives it freedom, but he is “not anxious” to spend on mediocre opportunities. It is less a markets story than a succession story — what changes when the cult of Buffett becomes a disciplined conglomerate culture without Buffett at the microphone.
Source: FT