Happy Friday! ☀️
After a busy work week in Berlin and offsite in Brandenburg I look forward to taking the train to Düsseldorf tomorrow to celebrate the 40th birthday of an old friend from my time in Cologne.
What I’m reading 📖
Reading the term gastrodiplomacy in a Foreign Policy article caught my attention and it makes perfect sense! First used by The Economist in 2002,
The term gastrodiplomacy has been used to designate global campaigns of soft diplomacy meant to increase interest in a country’s gastronomy and products in order to raise its profile, generate goodwill, and enjoy economic and commercial windfalls. Gastrodiplomacy has been variously described as a “government’s practice of exporting its national culinary heritage as part of a public diplomacy effort,” “the practice of sharing a country’s cultural heritage through food,” or more simply as “winning hearts and minds through stomachs.”
What I’m listening to 🎧
It’s the end of month which means a new monthly playlist is filling up with the songs that I liked in August. It includes a few new favorites by artists like L.A. Salami, Goose, The Killers, and Broken Bells.
What I’m watching 📺
After watching the frenetic first episode of The Bear I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep watching in fear that all episodes would have that energy. I’m glad I did because the 10-episode series is my favorite show this year so far. It revolves around cooking, a restaurant, and family. Carmy is a young chef from the fine dining world who returns to Chicago to take over the sandwich shop of his diseased brother who left behind debts, a dilapidated kitchen, and an unruly staff. The series really grew on me due to two amazing scenes in particular: the one-shot scene in episode 7 and the 7-minute monologue by Carmy in episode 8. Topped off by a standout and breakout performance by Ayo Edebiri who plays sous-chef Sydney. Watch the trailer.
What I’m thinking about 🧠
This week I received a notification from Twitter saying that my account was permanently suspended due to violation of their terms. No further explanation and no response to my appeals. Lately I’ve only used Twitter occasionally to read tweets and not post so I am confused about the suspension and it’s been on my mind a lot. I’ve been on Twitter since 2008 with the username @David, the lack of transparent communication on their part leaves a sour note.
What else?! 💯
Sticking to the theme of cooking, Bon Appétit compiled a list of the 10 best hot sauces according to their writers and I wish I could get all of them here in Germany. Hot.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!
David
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