Le Weekend: STEM Barbie Dolls, Hijab Trolling In Iran, Holy ChatGPT

🎲  OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ

What do you remember from the news this week?

1. What footage from social media has Ukraine asked the International Criminal Court to investigate?

2. Which country saw mass protests that led to the withdrawal of a controversial “foreign agents” draft law?

3. What update has Apple announced about its iPhone 14?

4. What did archeologists find in an ancient temple in southern Egypt? A crocodile-shaped sarcophagus / A smiling sphinx / A diamond-encrusted amulet

[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]

😇🤖 SMILE OF THE WEEK

In Italy, AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT has been used to create the website prega.org (“pray.org”), which allows users to converse with various Catholic saints. The website does specify that people “won’t be talking with the real Saint but with an artificial intelligence that has studied their writings and responds with their words and thoughts.”

🎭  5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW

• Academy Awards v. Russian oligarchs: The NGO Ukrainian World Congress has urged the Academy Awards organizers to reject films that were directly or indirectly financed by “Russian oligarchs or other enablers of Russia’s genocidal war on Ukraine,” and thus to “review the eligibility” of Top Gun Maverick, an Oscar favorite. This comes after a report by the Los Angeles Times detailed the movie’s alleged funding ties to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.

• Barbie honors British scientist for International Women’s Day: Mattel has unveiled a Barbie doll modeled after British scientist Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock, in recognition of her work in making space and science accessible to girls as presenter of BBC One’s The Sky At Night. The toy maker also used International Women’s Day, on March 8, to honor six other women recognized as trailblazers in STEM fields — including German marine researcher and microbiologist Prof Dr Antje Boetius and Mexican electrical engineer and Science Show host Katya Echazarret.

• Ethiopian-born photographer’s work displayed in U.S. cities: Aida Muluneh, an Ethiopian-born photographer based in Ivory Coast, discusses how her African roots influence her work with The New York Times, as the Public Art Fund displays some of her photographs in several cities across the U.S. this month — the first time the fund has presented artwork from the African continent.

• In memoriam: The culture world is mourning the loss of Bollywood actor and director Satish Kaushik, who died at 66 from a heart attack, leading Israeli actor Chaim Topol, best known for his role as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, who passed away aged 87, as well American musician Gary Rossington, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s last surviving original member, who died at 71.

• Good and bad news for Star Wars lovers: Two new movies in the Star Wars franchise by Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige and Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins have been permanently shelved, according to Variety. Meanwhile, Thor: Love and Thunder filmmaker Taika Waititi is reportedly working on a new Star Wars feature, in which he is also rumored to star.

🛀  BRIGHT IDEA

French inventor Laurent Cadillat has developed a device called “H2Ouse” that aims at reducing water consumption in households by up to 80%. The funnel-like device recirculates shower and bath water, after cleaning it through a three-step filtration system. The water is then used to flush toilets or water plants, reducing the unnecessary amount of fresh water needed for these tasks. The invention, which has won several awards, is being tested in dozens of homes in France.

#️⃣  TRENDING

After Iran’s Food and Drug Administration recently ordered female pharmacists to wear black hijabs at work, a number of Iranian men have started mocking the decision by donning the veil themselves. The trend was reported by Iranian journalist and activist Mashih Alinejad in a tweet that went viral. “Together we will bring this wall down,” Alinejad wrote, referring the directive.

👉 OTHERWISE

Here’s the latest Dottoré! piece from the notebook of Neapolitan psychiatrist and writer Mariateresa Fichele:

A woman’s work is never done

“In the morning I get up at 5:30 a.m. I clean the house, then I wake up the children at 7. I get them ready, make them breakfast, then at 7:30, we leave for school. At 8:30, I start work. I clean two offices, then at 11, I go to a lady’s house to clean until 3.30 p.m.

At 4 p.m. I pick up the children. I take them home and help them with their homework. Three days a week, I take my youngest to a physiotherapist at 5.30 p.m. The other days, there’s my daughter’s catechism classes and my other daughter’s gym lessons. By 7:30 p.m. it’s dinner time, because at 8 p.m. I have to go clean offices when they close. Then by 10 p.m. I come back and put them to bed.

I tidy up and at midnight, I go to sleep too. Since my husband’s gone, this is my life. I don’t want much, but a half an hour to myself every now and then would be nice.”

“Sure, think of yourself as free.”*

*This is a reference to Pensati libera (“Think of yourself as free”), the inscription on a Dior dress worn by influencer Chiara Ferragni at the 2023 Sanremo Music Festival.

➡️ Read more from our Dottoré! series on Worldcrunch.com