**The Dawson Doctrine: How James Van Der Beek Became an Accidental Global Prophet** From the neon canyons of Tokyo to the crumbling cafés of Athens, humanity has always sought wisdom in unlikely places. Enter James Van Der Beek—that singularly named American actor whose career trajectory from teen heartthrob to cultural Rorschach test tells us more…
Michael Rosen and the Global Echo of a British Dad Joke By Our Man in the Departures Lounge If you’ve recently heard a stranger on a Tokyo commuter train shout “Nice!” in an exaggerated Estuary accent, or watched a Colombian street vendor mime a frantic fridge-door mime, congratulations: you have witnessed the planet’s most improbable…
Mozambique’s fisheries minister is weeping into her morning espresso. The yen just hit a 34-year low. Somewhere in Lagos a data-center hums loud enough to drown out the muezzin. And yet, on every continent, a certain strain of disaffected human is still pressing play on “How Soon Is Now?”—proof that even as the planet overheats,…
