Pinned locations
If you haven’t heard of Trevor Rainbolt, here is a crash course: He is a 23-year-old player of GeoGuessr, a game that involves Google Maps’ Street View and a user’s knowledge of geography. With this skill, he now helps people identify locations in any video or photo (even meme). Rainbolt wasn’t good with geography but once he started playing GeoGuessr (geoguessr.com), he got so good he can identify locations anywhere in the world. The trick, apparently, is great memory and a strategic understanding of small, almost “boring” details that can differentiate countries (numberplates, road signs, landscape markers). It can be a dangerous skill in the wrong hands but Rainbolt deploys it through his social media @georainbolt to help people relive memories of childhood, or with loved ones they have lost. —Vangmayi Parakala
Niger EP Vol. 1 & 2
The toast of the African desert blues scene, Mdou Moctar stands out for the sinuousness and drive of his playing and the deep feeling of his compositions. His album, Afrique Victime, was one of the most critically acclaimed of 2021. He has followed this up with two shorter releases: Niger EP Vol.1 and Niger EP Vol.2. These tracks, most of them familiar from his earlier albums, have been recorded “at weddings, picnics, rehearsals, and even impromptu house concerts” in his home country of Niger. The lo-fi production only serves to focus attention on Moctar’s remarkable playing; some songs, like Asdikte Akal, emerge anew with the gloss removed. —Uday Bhatia
Funny sports shorts
There are so many sides to sport: action, drama, suspense. The Upshot, on Twitter (@UpshotTowers) and in a weekly newsletter, brings you its wild side— be it controversies surrounding footballer Neymar or the antics of Jimmy White in the world of snooker in the 1980s. These funny threads are not only informative (seriously!) but also give you a taste of the subplots in sport. One of my favourites is a thread on the 2022 Fifa World Cup’s biggest villains, where you will find everyone from Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez to the Belgium squad, who blamed each other and had a disastrous time in Qatar. After all, who doesn’t love a tackle from behind? —Nitin Sreedhar
New scents for the new year
I am not a scented candle sort of person but a Christmas gift from a friend changed that. It was a fancy candle from the Netherlands-based luxury beauty brand Rituals Cosmetics. I promptly put it away for a special occasion. Side note: I don’t quite know what to do with candles and have amassed a small collection (all gifts) over the years. But the opportunity to use the Rituals one came sooner than expected, in the form of a house party on New Year’s eve. I usually light incense sticks before guests arrive but that day I was in no mood to clean agarbatti ash. So I reached for the candle. It burnt for eight long hours, perfuming my home with the fragrance of mandarin and patchouli. The start of 2023 will be etched forever with those scents. And about two-thirds of the candle still remains to be used. I am now a convert. —Jahnabee Borah
