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Hello Lunch Club!
You may have noticed a few links missing in yesterday’s newsletter; my apologies for the editing error! I have included links to yesterday’s stories below if you want to get caught up.
Grab your lunch. Let's go.
By Sonia Faleiro
Buddhism's global reputation as a peaceful philosophy masks a troubling transformation across Southeast Asia, where monks in saffron robes have become architects of sectarian violence. Sonia Faleiro's investigation traces how figures like Sri Lanka's Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara—a monk who's guilty of drunk driving, flaunts luxury cars, and declared "attaining nirvana can wait"—mobilize thousands to attack Muslim minorities while politicians grant them immunity. In 2014, Gnanasara's speech incited mobs that torched hundreds of homes; teacher Fazeena Fihar fled into the jungle clutching her newborn as neighbors she'd taught for years refused to help. Myanmar's Ashin Wirathu, who appeared on Time's cover as "The Face of Buddhist Terror," rallied with Gnanasara to "protect Buddhism around the world." Faleiro reveals how colonialism introduced racial hierarchies that monks now exploit, and how patriarchal Buddhist structures elevate violent male figures while silencing nuns who protest.
New Lines Magazine: America’s Unraveling on Screen
by Monica Marks
This essay examines Hollywood's recent obsession with American civil war through films like the (fictional) "One Battle After Another" and real releases like "Civil War" and "The Order," arguing that polarized audiences now prefer art reinforcing their biases over work challenging their assumptions. The author warns that as the U.S. retreats from democracy toward "competitive authoritarianism"—the murky middle ground where civil wars most often erupt—filmmakers increasingly portray violence as inevitable rather than avoidable. Most compelling is the analysis of how partisan viewers reduce complex films to their own projections: the right sees terrorist apologia, the left sees justified resistance, and nobody wants the "both sides" nuance that might actually prevent escalation. A sober examination of how entertainment both reflects and accelerates our democratic collapse.
By Tristan Moyle
Ancient philosopher Empedocles argued that all living beings belong to a single moral community governed by universal law, a radical challenge to both ancient partialism and modern impartiality. Tristan Moyle excavates this 5th-century BCE thinker's vision of cosmic forces (Love and Strife) shaping existence, where Love creates fellowship across species boundaries while Strife breeds the prejudice that divides us. Empedocles believed souls transmigrated through incarnations from laurel bush to lion to human, making kinship literal rather than metaphorical. His naturalism went further: all life springs from the same four material roots, making bodily difference superficial. The solution to narrow tribalism isn't adopting an impersonal God's-eye view, it's expanding our circle of relationships to include the seemingly alien. This means recognizing that harming a plant without good reason wrongs the plant itself, not because it reasons or suffers but because it lives and therefore belongs with us.
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By Sierra Shafer
At 41, Lindsey Vonn is defying expectations and rewriting the rules about athletic longevity. After retiring in 2019 with a knee barely held together by shreds of cartilage, she underwent a partial knee replacement in 2023 that gave her something revolutionary: a pain-free body she could trust again. Now she's back on the World Cup circuit, having already secured second place in super-G last March to become the oldest woman to podium in World Cup history. Her target is the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, the same course where her career began and where she notched her record-breaking 63rd win. With 82 World Cup victories already secured, this isn't about validation but about reclaiming joy on her own terms. In a sports landscape where female athletes are expected to fade gracefully, Vonn is charging downhill at 80 miles per hour, proving that greatness doesn't expire on someone else's timeline.
That’s it for this today.
Really hope you enjoyed the selection of stories today. I am always interested in hearing from you. If you have thoughts on how I can make this email even better, do not hesitate to reach out.
Brett
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