Best of Web: Speaking 24 Languages, Mysterious MacKenzie Scott, Against Crypto, The Caregivers, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán

Here is another post with five Best of Web links I have found worthy to share with you: A carpet cleaner speaking 24 languages, the mysterious MacKenzie Scott redefining philanthropy, a viral case against crypto, the caregivers in my hometown Ann Arbor, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán disturbing rise and we revisit the absolute masterpiece “What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind” article.

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The Best of Web posts are much shorter in length with material that is a notch or two above what you see in the regular TBB posts.

Click on the headline for the link!

 

The remarkable brain of a carpet cleaner who speaks 24 languages

We all have heard or maybe even know someone who speaks more than a few languages. But this guy will shock you. What I find most shocking is that…he did not go out to promote his gift and make life more comfortable for him and his family. Anyway, I think he is about to get famous…

He is still underselling his abilities. By his count, it is actually 37 more languages, with at least 24 he speaks well enough to carry on lengthy conversations. He can read and write in eight alphabets and scripts. He can tell stories in Italian and Finnish and American Sign Language. He’s teaching himself Indigenous languages, from Mexico’s Nahuatl. to Montana’s Salish. The quality of his accents in Dutch and Catalan dazzle people from the Netherlands and Spain.

His upbringing and life story will touch you,  go read it.

 

The mysterious MacKenzie Scott: How the secretive billionaire quietly worked to give away $12 billion in just 2 years

There has never been a philanthropist who has donated (and will be donating for decades) so much and managed to remain so private!

And she’s done all this largely as Sarah Bellamy experienced it—Scott’s emissaries appearing out of nowhere with a huge check, without strings or fanfare, then vanishing. She is giving massive chunks of her wealth away with blistering speed, to organizations long overlooked by more established donors, and without the ponderous apparatus of a big foundation. This is all revolutionary in a field in which mega-donations usually come complete with press releases, restrictions, expectations. 

Scott’s only demand of her recipients is that they help maintain her fiercely valued privacy. It’s impossible to apply for a Scott grant, to send her a thank-you note, or to contact her directly; she and her closest advisers almost never respond to requests for interviews.

And this article by the New York Times gets even more personal about her: Who is MacKenzie Scott?

 

A Viral Case Against Crypto, Explored

A fantastic podcast by The Ezra Klein Show with the video essayist Dan Olsen who explains the dangers lurking in the culture and ideology that surround digital currency.

Must listen.

 

The Caregivers

An imprisoned artist, the couple who saved his life, and the extraordinary gift he gave in return.

What an intensely personal story involving three people next door to me it appears. Two University of Michigan professors and a convict locked up for decades. What can they have in common? Well, read the story to find out!

Thoughts running around my brain reading this…

What if this (dementia) happens to us? Can you cope with it all? What if it happens to your loved one, are you ready for that? Can you EVER be ready for that? Art can heal broken souls and we can all change our lives if…someone shows you care. Have you taken some time out of your day to show someone you DO care? What makes this story so close to me is because it involves…the grocery store I shop at, eating at Zingerman’s where each out of town visitor usually pays a visit to and, maybe I should not even mention this last one…A strip joint where we college fraternity pledges were taken to as part of our pledging hazing and…I would rather not talk about what happened next as I am still traumatized about it lol!

 

How Viktor Orbán Built His Illiberal State

Fidesz’s victory Sunday was the culmination of many events that, once upon a time, we thought couldn’t happen here.

This is a very disturbing read. If it can happen in Hungary, well, it can happen in many places, beware!

 

Bonus: This article, which appeared in my blog last year, recently earned a Sidney Award which it totally deserved in my opinion as I still think about it from time to time: What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind.