Keep Calm And Carry On!
Pick Of The Week –26th November 2025
This newsletter is a curated cornucopia featuring some of the best of Medium and Substack, and the wider world, rumoured to exist outside of these platforms.
Please note that in view of the impact of AI on the writing community, Eco has a stringent “No AI-content” policy, and will seek to actively avoid any articles we consider to be partly or fully generated by AI, and not feature authors believed to be using it in this way again. We are fully committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. In support of our aims and objectives, 10% of earnings from this series will be donated to Greenpeace.🌈
This newsletter is currently published free on Substack, but if you would like to support us please do pay to subscribe.
Sponsors – a link to donors and paying Substack subscribers 🦄 will appear here:
Ecosia; The Environmental Transport Association; Mary Grindeland; Writer Chick With A Ukulele; Adéla Valčíková; Rob Moir;
Pick of Medium – (advisory allergy note – may contain poetry)
Kiranmai Reddy praises the value of calm:
https://medium.com/introvert-diary/she-stayed-quiet-and-got-everything-she-wanted-a0a9e0fa7a3f
Muskan Purohit explains her feminism:
https://medium.com/bitchy/my-feminism-isnt-against-you-4d7008ac29df
Vincent Halles considers European identity:
https://medium.com/caf%C3%A9-evropa/the-parallax-continent-9e9f6134a118
Adéla Valčíková tries to keep up:
https://medium.com/no-instructions/one-day-ill-catch-up-with-everything-5a584eeb9c7b
Mary Cappelli tackles political symbols:
https://medium.com/bouncin-and-behavin-blogs/americas-fascist-tilt-bb138de5ec00
Martin Heiland-Sperling shares the secrets of success:
https://medium.com/illumination/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-successful-writer-0b1c1112176a
Carlo Zeno is a failure yoga guru:
https://medium.com/all-about-m/introducing-failure-yoga-c60ef9cd4a91
Here Carlo mourns the loss of a fellow writer:
https://medium.com/catharsis-chronicles/weve-lost-a-writer-to-ai-fc48256865d0
Carlo bosses it:
https://medium.com/doctor-funny/13-exchanges-with-my-boss-0126cc59d48d
Burk reflects on “writers” using AI:
https://stories.byburk.net/the-prompted-voice-725394d22964
Ripton Green’s son has a flat battery:
Michael Burg scrabbles for meaning:
Here, Michael shares some strange but true facts:
Sriram Yaladandi shares a secret:
https://medium.com/pen-with-paper/you-secretly-hate-me-right-c0349d97d230
Ben Ulansey comments on US politics and the role of memory:
https://medium.com/thought-thinkers/americas-short-term-memory-may-be-its-saving-grace-acd7a77f49f5
Leonard Tillerman describes how bullying motivated him to succeed against the odds:
https://medium.com/infinite-impulse/he-said-i-was-hopeless-that-day-changed-everything-7a51a2f75217
Watch out for kind people, suggests Jasira Lior:
Wesley van Peer lets Medium expire:
https://medium.com/@peerspectiveofficial/your-membership-will-expire-on-december-2-2025-1fe5fd2e73a8
Carlo Zeno shares some stoic wisdom:
https://medium.com/the-pub/billionaires-vocabulary-101-808fdb800bae
Dr Seema Patel takes a walk in the rain:
https://medium.com/write-a-catalyst/walk-in-the-drizzle-f7a5e294a231
Tip of the week –
Claudia Faith shares some Substack growth tips:
Bin Jiang continues the quest to make Medium pay:
Pick of Substack:
Matthew Clapham explores the risks of getting lost in translation:
https://substack.com/home/post/p-179378909
Margaret Gypsy shares a culinary, historical and linguistic journey on the subject of bread:
Here Margaret provides a guided tour of Córdoba:
Rachel Nasatka argues that we should make the most of AI:
Christina Piccoli explores money matters:
The wider world:
An inspiring story of young people getting involved in rewilding and nature restoration:
Climate denial costs lives:
Ultra-processed food is causing increasing health problems:
On arguing with robots:
A first-hand account of the Hawaiian wildfire:
Plans for a UK “Forest City” seem to be gaining traction:
The remarkable story of a Glastonbury ticket scammer:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2e2yzyzvlo
As if there weren’t enough coffee choices already, welcome to “functional coffee”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp85815r7m0o
Political News
Some on the UK Far Right are turning to religion, creating a dilemma for the church:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4p42kydx9o
AI News
How a teacher used a “Trojan Horse” trick to trap students cheating with AI -
AI will come at a cost and may increase wealth inequality unless there are rigorous guardrails and a basic income is guaranteed:
Tech News
Scientists are developing carebots – this feature explains the future in store:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9wdzyyglq5o
Life Hack of the Week –
Remember to breathe recommends Katy Lin:
https://medium.com/catharsis-chronicles/anchored-to-inhale-de0ba4c1b239
How to counter perfectionism:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yl1y5gep8o
Some stress-busting tips:
How to stop “phubbing” and save your relationship:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2l1zxekp3o
Quote of the Week:
“The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.”
— Steven Pressfield
Joke of the Week:
(Health warning – swallow coffee before reading)
What’s orange, and sounds like a parrot? A carrot.
Very sad news. One of Santa’s young helpers got run over by the sleigh. He had a very short elf life.
To my children, I bequeath a drawerful of instruction manuals to appliances we no longer own.
I have an irrational fear of speed bumps, but I’m getting over it.
I just burnt 2000 calories - I forgot the pizza was in the oven.
My friend told me there is life outside the internet – I asked her to send me a link.
Did you know?
Dunbar’s Number – this phrase turned up in an interesting article by Marc Suroviec
https://medium.com/all-about-m/starting-over-on-medium-14e47fa09e09
The number was popularised in Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Tipping Point”. Dunbar’s number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships, in which an individual knows who each person is and how each person relates to every other person. It is suggested that this number is around 150 people, the sort of number that might have existed when we all lived in small tribes or villages. Further reading - https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191001-dunbars-number-why-we-can-only-maintain-150-relationships
Carol Finch unearths some facts about the Bobbit Worm:
https://medium.com/@carol.finch1/one-minute-facts-bobbit-worms-0bc167465a53
Word of the Week:
ooflessness - Ooflessness means poverty, and is British slang which, ironically, originated in Sydney, Australia. It’s first known to have appeared in an Australian newspaper called ‘The Bird o’ Freedom’ in the late 1800s reading “Being oofless ‘twas a case of lock and key’.
Clip of the Week:
A fox and otter prowl a city centre:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cwylwpqw5ngo
As always, thank you for reading, and enjoy your day.
Editor’s comment: It is noted that the authors featured above have not consented in advance to their inclusion - I have assumed that authors appreciate a mention and sharing of your work – but if you do not wish to be featured, please let me know and apologies.
Extremely honored to be mentioned amongst such fine company! Thank you for reading and for the shout out!
"I just burnt 2000 calories - I forgot the pizza was in the oven."
I am the fittest gal in Southern Cali lol
Thank you for putting this together, John, and for the laughs.