Stories from around the web that found our fancy

At Paper Planes, we love to read — and we’re consistently drawn to great stories centred around design, books and culture. With ‘Things to Read’, we share with you the best stories from around the web.

These are strange and surreal times. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping through streets, towns and cities, and shutting us indoors, we’ve been reading a lot. These pieces comprise insightful observations around isolation, and are all relevant to this time. Read on.

Lockdown Love Stories: How To Date At a Distance
Milanese journalist Sergio Colombo explores how Italians are combating loneliness in the midst of this crisis in this illuminating piece in The Economist’s 1843 magazine. From couples sharing breakfast over video calls to meeting a date in line at the grocery store, people are finding innovative ways around the lockdown to forge connections. Read it here.

That Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief
The Harvard Business Review turned to David Kessler, the world’s foremost expert on grief, to talk about what we’re feeling right now, how to address it, and how to deal with it, at a time when the world as we know it — with all our support systems and coping mechanisms — is swiftly shifting. Read it here.

Writing Through Wordlessness in a Time of Isolation
Author Tishani Doshi writes in the Literary Hub about her isolating move to a rural coastal village in Tamil Nadu, about a history of women writing in secret and solitude, and how both made her rethink her place as a writer and a woman. Read it here.

The Silent Playground
Sports have always been linked with morale. This Scroll article examines the sudden halt in all outdoor sports and games — a phenomenon unheard of even in times of extreme unrest in the past. Read it here.

Deciem Fueled the Skin Care Boom. Then It Almost Went Bust
Isolation is also a time for self-care — and a good time for a deep dive into the beauty company behind the much-loved and much-talked about brand The Ordinary, and its eccentric founder, in this story in The Goods by Vox. Read it here.

Marijuana Edibles and Pounds (and Pounds) of Pasta: Jia Tolentino on Writing and Cooking
This one will leave you wanting your own giant plate of pasta. Jia Tolentino, staff writer at the New Yorker, writes in Bon Appetit about her experiences of getting away to work on her best-selling essay collection Trick Mirror for days of cooking, eating, reading, and writing by herself. Read it here.