It’s Free for ALL Friday! Each week I keep track of some of the off-the-path things I've found, and work extra-hard to make sure you never hit a paywall, using my own subscriptions, gift links, and other (legal) hocus-pocus.
An Interview With the Little Girl—Now All Grown Up—Who Inspired Olivia the Pig
Let’s start with something fun. If you’ve had a child in the last ... 30 years or so? ... I’m betting you know this book series. I had no idea that the anthropomorphic characters were based on a real family.
Back when Ian Falconer’s Olivia was published in 2000, it was evident that the headstrong, creative piglet at its center was based on a real little girl. In interviews, Falconer—a set designer and illustrator for the New Yorker—referred to his niece, also named Olivia, as the inspiration for his character, who went on to appear in almost a dozen books (10 million copies in total) and a hit TV series.
Twenty-five years later, I found the real Olivia, Olivia Falconer Crane, no longer a precocious little girl but a grown-up natural resource technician. I talked to her over the phone about what it was like seeing your own life reflected in a popular picture book, about separating yourself from the character inspired by you, and about her brilliant, cantankerous Uncle Ian. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Sorority Girls Are Cashing In Big for Their Viral Rush Videos
Like college athletes earning brand endorsements, sororities are now the target of companies looking to advertise products on social media.
Blythe Beardsley and her fellow Kappa Kappa Gammas were looking to reach sorority hopefuls when they posted a choreographed dance set to “The Sweet Escape” by Gwen Stefani in August. The clip ended up reaching far beyond the University of Arizona, with over 38 million views on TikTok, and garnering lots of comments about Beardsley, who is front and center in the dance formation. “Blythe could steal my man and I would be the one to say sorry” one person wrote.
Suddenly, Beardsley wasn’t just the queen bee of recruitment; she had a chance to be an influencer. Within a few weeks, she had a public TikTok and Instagram, and she and her mom were on a flight to New York Fashion Week, paid for by the Australian fashion brand Showpo.
Sorority recruitment, also known as rush, has become a social-media Super Bowl with massive moneymaking potential for college girls. Like college athletes earning brand endorsements, sororities are now the target of companies looking to advertise products on social media.
Those who go viral stand to gain a debt-free education, expenses-paid trips and a career path after graduation.
Maggie Kang Names Her Favorite Character and Reveals How She Injected Korean Culture Into Netflix Hit
‘Kpop Demon Hunters’ is now the number-1 most-watched film ever on Netflix (325.1 million views in the first 91 days), with a 9-song original soundtrack that has spawned at least 4 massive hits. Here’s an interview with the animator behind the sleeper hit.
When Maggie Kang had the opportunity to direct and pitch her own animated film, she knew exactly what was missing from Hollywood animation. After working in the industry for over a decade, the Korean-American filmmaker had never encountered a single Korean project. So she created “Kpop Demon Hunters” — Netflix‘s animated musical that became the first feature animation with all Korean characters and a global phenomenon that surprised even its creators.
Delivering a masterclass at the Netflix Creative Asia conference during the Busan International Film Festival, Kang detailed her journey from concept to worldwide success, revealing how she systematically infused every aspect of the supernatural girl group story with authentic Korean culture.
Creating Korean female lead characters was particularly meaningful for Kang, who worked to make them “both appealing and aspirational and unique, but most importantly, Korean.” Of her personal favorite, she singled out Mira: “I just think Mira is so cool, like, I just think she’s so beautiful in a totally different way that I look, and so I wish I was Mira.”
Tahiti on the Cheap
Inexpensive airfare and a house swap made a last-minute family trip to French Polynesia an unexpected bargain, with funds left over for splurges.
When my family’s spring break plans fell through at the last minute, I did what I often do: Googled cheap nonstop flights from our home airport in California’s Bay Area and let the results guide me.
To my surprise, airfare to French Polynesia, about halfway between California and Australia, was roughly the same price as it was to Hawaii or Mexico ($500 on French Bee). Better still, the time difference between the islands and our home was only a few hours. Immediately, I started sending requests for our preferred form of accommodation for my family of four: a house swap.
It seemed like a last-minute long shot. The places I saw on HomeExchange, a France-based company with an annual fee of $235, were dreamy tropical homes with beaches as their backyards or on volcanic hillsides overlooking South Pacific bays.
Not only did we get responses, but we soon had options.
The trip was so unplanned that I had almost no research to guide us on where to stay on Tahiti, the country’s main island, or which house to choose. This, I thought, is a ridiculous way to travel.
And it was. Delightfully so.
High Earners Age 50 and Older Are About to Lose a Major 401(k) Tax Break
Another WSJ article, but a little less fun: The option to make pretax catch-up retirement contributions is going away for those savers.
One of the biggest retirement-saving perks for workers age 50 and older is about to get new restrictions.
Starting next year, the extra catch-up contributions that those workers use to stow money in their 401(k)s will have to go into their accounts after tax for high earners. The Internal Revenue Service issued final rules this month on a 2022 law, which set the threshold for a high earner at more than $145,000 in wages.
This change means many workers will pay taxes on their catch-up money upfront during high-earning years instead of in lower-earning years in retirement. The money would go into a Roth account, where it can later be withdrawn tax-free.
It is the first time the tax code is mandating Roth savings, which give the government its cut up front.
The worst-case scenario is for high earners who don’t have access to a Roth 401(k). They won’t be able to make catch-up contributions at all.
My Day in America’s Murder Capital, Where 12-Year-Olds Have Weapons
A British reporter’s ride-along with police in Jackson, Mississippi, which has a homicide rate 15 times the national average.
“The majority of our homicides are committed where the victim and the suspect know each other, domestic situations,” says the city’s deputy police chief. “It’s never just random shootings happening.”
She says that children are upgrading semi-automatic handguns and rifles into automatic weapons using “switches”, allowing them to spray bullets in imitation of the gangster videos they have seen on TikTok and Instagram.
The youths, some as young as 12, can rarely cope with the powerful recoil on their weapons, making them poor shots but often resulting in a careless burst of gunfire into surrounding homes and vehicles. “We have actually arrested more juveniles than you can imagine for capital murder or murder that were using switches,” she says.
On a sultry afternoon in a Jackson shopping mall, John Knight, 48, an ex-leader of the Vice Lords gang, mentors impoverished children.
The teenagers, some as young as 12, are snacking on pepperoni pizza. Knight’s slouching audience includes children accused of armed carjacking. The more minor miscreants have brought guns into school.
“The National Guard has gone to Memphis now,” Knight tells the Jackson youth. “Y’all know our governor. Loves Trump. There was a big thing on the news the other night from the White House. The White House lady that always do the talking, [she] was talking about Jackson, Mississippi. I don’t want none of y’all to get caught up in this situation.”
By organising ten-pin bowling trips and outings to local museums, his organisation, Living with Purpose, tries to rescue children from Jackson’s gangs. But in a spread-out city with rampant gun crime and limited economic opportunities, escape often feels like a distant possibility in Jackson, where children have been known to respond to the slightest provocation — a $5 debt, a mildly insulting Instagram post — with murder.
“None of y’all are bad kids,” says Knight. “You just make bad decisions.”
Why I Left Silicon Valley: Chinese Tech Workers Talk About Returning Home
Chinese-origin tech workers are abandoning the American dream and returning home, where state-led incentives and ambition are plentiful.
China’s long-standing efforts to bring back talent are starting to pay off at a time when its tech and science rivalry with the U.S. has intensified.
According to a Stanford University study, nearly 19,955 Chinese-origin scientists who built their careers in the U.S. left the country between 2010 and 2021, with many returning to China. Departures among engineering and computer science professionals spiked in 2021.
President Trump’s threats to revoke Chinese student visas, tamper with the H-1B visa program, and sanction TikTok have dampened Chinese professionals’ enthusiasm for building careers in the country.
Beijing, meanwhile, has been luring Chinese-origin software engineers, tech entrepreneurs, and researchers to build their careers at home. The Chinese government has dished out generous relocation subsidy programs.
Rest of World spoke with Chinese returnees from Silicon Valley to hear what pushed them to reshape their career paths. The quotes have been edited for length and clarity.
The only story I clicked on due to interest was China - I have a daughter-in-law who is Chinese. She was born here, but her parents & older sister immigrated here, but didn't get their US citizenship until the sister was in high school (the sister insisted). The parents for a long time wanted to return to Hong Kong. However, then grandchildren were born & Hong Kong was again taken over by China so those desires are no longer part of their plans.
Those returning to China, imo, the dollar is speaking louder than anything. For instance, Hong Kong is now following China:
Limited political dissent: Following the 2020 National Security Law and the subsequent Article 23 legislation in 2024, freedom of expression and assembly have been significantly curtailed. Public protests have effectively ceased, and many pro-democracy activists have been jailed or fled abroad.
Rising "soft resistance": Authorities are increasingly targeting what they define as "soft resistance"—subtler, innocuous expressions of discontent—through official warnings and media campaigns.
Increased Beijing alignment: The political system has been reconfigured to ensure only "patriots" loyal to Beijing can hold office. Curriculums in schools and training for professionals, like social workers, now include national security components.
Emigration and cultural shifts: A large number of residents have emigrated, and some report that Hong Kong's unique character is diminishing, with more Mandarin heard in public and a more muted nightlife
and before anyone tries to do a TRUMP thing, Trump is ONE MAN, not a total government. Trump will be gone by 2028, if not sooner. So no comparison, absolutely none.