We've got two very exciting food podcasts for you this week. Listen to the history of coriander, possibly the most widely used spice in South Asia, and in this episode of Tell Me Something I Don't Know, find out about the perfect potato chip, and why cow meat is called beef and not cow meat. Arooj Aftab won her grammy, and her tiny desk concert is a pleasure to listen to. There is a mid-century chair that is, well, everywhere. You've probably seen versions of it, watch a short video about its origins. Read about the food cultures of Dhaka and about Andrew Silva, a taxi driver in Sri Lanka working to help mothers who placed children for adoption or children who were adopted find each other. In the last twenty years he has helped reunite nearly 175 individuals. In Sri Lanka the economic and political crisis also continues, with the Rajapaksa family maybe finally struggling to stay in power.
Spend some time with a wonderful little piece on urdu poetry, that looks for references to birds. There are partridges and pigeons, songbirds and mynas and many more. A father in Congo writes a heartbreaking letter for his daughter, to the mining companies and to his country in the hope for a better future. Last week we celebrated the first Workers Union at Amazon. This week we take a deep dive into why it has been so difficult for workers at Amazon to unionize. Richard Serra's list of verbs has been turned into a great little piece of fiction that will definitely make you smile. Read it once you're tired from the stories of communal violence and hate in India, and war and death in Palestine and Ukraine.