Here’s some of our top picks for stories in culture:
Serious Eats: Coffee Reads: ‘Coffee Life in Japan’““ For those for like a little culture in their food-based beach reading, Merry White’s Coffee Life in Japan offers an academic treatment to a culinary movement””and cultural phenomenon””so often treated lightly. Tracing the trajectories of coffee’s practical evolution (sourcing, preparation, regional tastes) as well as the social implications that came along with cafes in a nation known for its reverence to tea, White winds back and forth through storytelling that situates the brown drink squarely in a place of critical importance to Japanese culture”…Continue Reading
GOOD: In Distressed Economy, Spaniards Are Trading Traditional Commerce for Bartering ““ Bartering, that old process of swapping stuff with other people in an ad hoc way based on who needs what, is actually been having a bit of a moment in troubled Spain, reports the Wall Street Journal“…Continue Reading
Entrepreneur: 4 Ways to Manage the Perils of ‘Friend-ployees’““When starting a business, it can feel like you are living in the office. Having a team you trust is important, but with long hours and close working conditions, its easy to let the line between employee and friend blur. Like many entrepreneurs, Reema Khan, CEO of s.h.a.p.e.s. Brow Bar, in Cerritos, Calif. spends long hours with her employees. Lately, her focus on opening a new concept, She Bar, a high-end one-stop beauty services “bar,” has her working in one location every day for month instead of traveling to the various locations of her business”…Continue Reading
Worldcrunch: Straddling the Congo-Uganda Border with Two Nationalities – Best of Both Lives ““ It’s market day in Bwera, a Ugandan city on the banks of the Rubirihiya river that separates the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, east of the Beni region.Ugandans and Congolese sell from the same stalls. It is hard to distinguish them because they all discuss products and prices in “Kinande,” their shared mother tongue. They aren’t that different, really. Transactions are carried out in shillings on the Ugandan side, and in francs on the Congolese one. The same merchants do their market rounds on both sides of the border”…Continue Reading
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