🗣️ Great News! People Don't Suck! (Mostly)

 CULTURE CODE

🤝 Great News: People Don’t Suck! (Mostly)

My 8-year-old found a ¥10 coin (5p) on the street the other day.
Her first instinct? “We should take it to the police.”

I thought: Only in Japan…
But is it?

Because this year's World Happiness Report's juiciest finding wasn’t which country won gold (Finland, again 🙄) — it’s that people around the world are way more honest than we give them credit for (yes, really!)

🤝 Benevolence is underrated.

Researchers ‘accidentally’ dropped wallets in cities globally, expecting the worst.
But surprise, surprise! Wallets were returned way more often than predicted.

And that gap — between how kind we think people are vs. how kind they actually are — is a happiness killer (even more so than your ex).

Turns out:

• The more we believe others are good, the happier we are

• The more we share meals, the better we feel

• The more we connect, the less likely we are to spiral

🍽️ Family dinner > GDP

Sharing meals is a global happiness booster.
Meanwhile, solo dining is up 53% in the US (that's clearly not helping anyone's mood, see Twitter).

💡 COVID gave us a kindness bump

In 2020, people stepped up. Helped out. Gave more (and clapped a lot).
While benevolence dipped slightly in 2024, it's still 10% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Helping others helps you — but only when you're doing it for them.
(Not livestreaming it, sorry).

💀 Despair, Not Sadness, Is the Real Opposite of Happiness

It fuels suicide, addiction and angry politics.
In places where people volunteer more and trust each other, despair drops.

Where they don’t?

🔁 More fear, less trust = rise of right-wing populism.

“People who trust others veer left. Those who don’t? Veer right.”
— World Happiness Report, 2025

Look around — despair is trending. And it’s winning elections.

💡 PRO TIP: When conversations turn negative about “people these days,” mention the wallet study: Instant conversation reset. Bring the positive vibe!

💬 FOLLOW-UP: “What’s a funny thing that makes you happy?” Blank stare? Lead with your own example first (“I love it when my kids go to sleep early. It’s like winning the silence lottery.”

⛔ DON’T SAY: “Back in my day, we had community!” (Translation: “Please ignore me, I’ve turned into that grandparent.”)

TALK TOOLBOX

Another happiness killer?
Bombing in the first 30 seconds of meeting someone.
You freeze. They smile. And suddenly it’s a silent staring contest.

Don’t know what to say? Don’t panic! Here’s how to build instant rapport with my BLT Method (no, not giving them a sandwich).
(5 min read)

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ICONIC

🎂 Happy Birthday, Master of Suspense

He made us afraid of showers (Psycho), birds (The Birds), and our neighbours (Rear Window) — and that was before social media.

Born on August 13th (a Friday, of course), Alfred Hitchcock directed over 50 films and basically invented the psychological thriller.
Also: 39 cheeky cameos (long before Marvel).

The genius:

Revolutionary shots, tension-building edits, detailed storyboards.
46 Oscar nominations. Zero Best Director wins. (Academy! Explain yourself!)

The dark side:

Actress Tippi Hedren accused him of harassment, saying:
“He ruined my career, but he didn’t ruin my life.”

Genius? Yes.
Saint? Absolutely not.

💬 Your Turn: “What’s a film that genuinely scared you?” (I’m looking at you, Hereditary).

FAMOUS WORDS

“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”
(Alfred Hitchcock, British film director)

🎬 Can you name the film?

🚿 One of Hitchcock’s most famous…

⬇️ Answer at the end of this issue

 NEWS YOU CAN USE

🎖️ Dictator Watch™

We’ve covered Trump’s dictatorish tendencies before (#14 and #26)
Here’s a fresh entry — starring an ex-DOGE staffer nicknamed… Big Balls (give him a break. He’s 19).
After BB got beaten during a carjacking attempt, Trump’s reaction wasn’t “Let’s fix public safety.”
It was:

• 🚨 Flood D.C. with National Guard

• 🚨 Seize control of the city’s police

The response? The usual outrage and cries of “unnecessary and unlawful”.

Trump’s reply: “We're going to do the same thing in Chicago, which is a disaster.” (Yes, deep-pan pizzas are a crime, but not that kind).

🧐 SpeakEasy Take: Classic authoritarian playbook. Deploy troops → outrage → repeat until people shrug → no more voting.
A bit like the Chinese navy ‘drills’ off the coast of Taiwan. One day, they won’t be drills…(soon?)

💡 PRO TIP: If discussing authoritarian moves, focus on the pattern, not the politics. Ask: “So, what happens next?” It invites thought, not tribal rage.

⛔️ DON’T SAY: “Who’s your favourite dictator?” (That’s a red flag. Seriously).

WORD WISE

🤖 The C-Word

200 years ago, Luddites smashed textile machines to protect jobs. The British government's response? Prison, bullets, and one-way tickets to Australia (classic Brit diplomacy)

Their biggest mistake? Terrible branding.
They called them “obnoxious machines”. (Not exactly viral material.)

Fast-forward to 2025: Bots are back with AI brains and dating profiles. This time, they've got a slur that might stick: clanker.

It's spreading online — part insult, part warning for our robot-filled future.

Will “clanker” go mainstream? Or join “YOLO” in the internet graveyard?

🗣️ YOUR TURN: Got a better insult for our metal overlords-to-be?
Hit reply and send it in. The weirder, the better.

BECAUSE THE ROBOTS ARE COMING

🤖 Desk Pet Revolution

Meet the Reachy Mini: $500k in sales – day one!

For what? An 11-inch desktop robot that blinks, listens, and runs AI (and bobs its head – ahh, so cute…)
Starting at $299, it's basically a programmable pet.
Finally, a clanker that won't steal your job. Just judge your messy desk.

💬 FOLLOW-UP: What would you want it to do?

ANSWER

🎬 ANSWER: Psycho (1960)

Hitchcock’s shocker about Norman Bates and his “mother” at the Bates Motel. Lead gets stabbed mid-shower. Plot twist: mother’s been dead for years.

🍿 Cultural Impact: Changed horror forever. Invented the slasher. Made showers terrifying.

🧠 Deep Dive: Hitchcock self-funded it, banned late entry — and it became his biggest ever hit.

LAST WEEK

🗳️ POLL: How do you feel about small talk?

A) 😤 Necessary evil — I use it, but I don't like it — 25%
B) 🤷‍♀️ Not bad once you get past the weather — 25%
C) 😄 It's verbal foreplay — 50%

💬 Your Two Cents:

S.H: “I went to an elderly relative’s funeral a few years ago, and I swear 99% of every mourner’s conversation revolved around the weather that morning. Even the priest talked about the rain more than the dearly departed.”

Welcome back! What’s on your wall now?

THIS IS THE END

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