FT Weekend Magazine - June 4, 2022

58 Pages·2022·14 MB·English

UTOPIA
Cruelty.
Sexism.
Exploitation.
Finedining’s
overdue
reckoningin
thecuisine
capitalof
theworld
JUNE4/52022
24-PAGE
DESIGN
SPECIAL

June4/52022
FEATURES
16. 20. 29.
Themultiverseofsynonyms Kitchenconfidential ▶MilanDesign
Didanexperimentinhalingnitrous Copenhagen’sculinaryscene Sustainabledesign,Milan’sSalone
oxideinspireRoget’sThesaurus? confrontsitsdemons. delMobile,Oslo’sNationalMuseum
ByThomasWHodgkinson ByImogenWest-Knights –andtheperilsofofficefurniture
INTELLECT APPETITES WIT&WISDOM
7 TimHarford 12 SimonKuper 53 TimHayward 60 RobertShrimsley
Successisnottheend Thepushbikeandthemegacity Food,controlandsubmission IntroducingmyRobertar
8 TimBradshaw 14 GillianTett 54 Recipe 61 Games
Reality,virtual,augmented Thecomingquantum Salmonwithcoconutgreens 62 TheQuestionnaire
andotherwise revolution 57 JancisRobinson TahmimaAnam,novelist
10 Gallery Vineyardscopewith andanthropologist
RobBallatthe theclimate
Englishcoastline 59 FantasyDinner
byMarieLeConte
Issuenumber974•Onlineft.com/magazine•FTWeekendMagazineisprintedbytheWalsteadGroupintheUKand ONTHECOVER
publishedbyTheFinancialTimesLtd,BrackenHouse,1FridayStreet,LondonEC4M9BT©TheFinancialTimesLtd2022 IllustrationbyFedeYankelevich
Nopartofthismagazinemaybereproducedinanyformwithoutthepriorexpresspermissionofthepublisher
Marginaliaby
PPurobdliuschtiniogn::DDaapnhnnyeMKaocvkalcins,,ahdevaedrtoisfiandgvperrotidsiuncgt,ioFnT–Wdeaenkieenl.dmMacakglianz@infet.–codmapohrnme.akgosvcaocps@[email protected] NadineRedlich @FTMag
FT.COM/MAGAZINE JUNE4/52022 3
Letters
Inpraiseofsaladcream feelsniceisaformofegoism,which reflectonamonarchythat,60years
byTimHayward Irealiseisaslightlydifferentangle ago,Ineverthoughtwouldhave
Saladcreamisnosubstitutefor fromthatarguedhere. fallensolow,dueinlargemeasure
goodqualitymayonnaise,either LSJviaFT.com tothefailurebythosemembers
madechezmaisonorprovidedby oftheroyalfamily(Iexcludethe
aqualityFrenchproducersuchas Gallery:thegreatBritishpicnic sovereign)properlytounderstand
Bénédicta,whichcontainsDijon byTimHayward the“messageofservice”tothe
mustard,vinegar,eggyolksandoil TimHayward’sremarksonthe Britishpeople.
–sonotbland. appearanceof“strainedgentility” Bylateafternoon,thesunshine
IthinkthegiveawayisTim’s andthe“squinting”atthesun, andthat“treacle-dark,richlyfruity
recipe.HeaddsWorcestershire overlooktwopoints.First,shutter andstrong”beerwillhavedone
sauce,apinchofcurrypowder speedswereslowerthen,sothe formeandbroughtmypartytoan
andsomechoppedchives.That camerapersonwouldsay“Hold earlyclose.
shouldthoroughlydisguisethe it”beforeclicking,resultinginthe AlastairConan,Coulsdon
tasteofthesaladcream.Andhis ratherfrozenlook.
recipeforsaladcreamincludes Second,theshadowsmakeit Ifitain’tbroke,don’tfixit.Should
sugaranddoublecream!Hardly clearthatthesunisnotbehind wedecidetoendthemonarchywe
thehealthyoption. thecamera,soit’sprobablyonly ▶ MAY28/29 wouldneedtohaveapresident.
Andpleasedon’tconfuse theladyatthetablewho’saffected Foodanddrinkspecial Anelectedpresidentwouldno
Hellmann’swithrealmayonnaise. byit.Ihaveplentyofoldphotos doubtdemandrestorationof
LatecomerviaFT.com whichconveythefrozenlook,but manyexecutivepowersenjoyedby
whichdefinitelydon’treflectthe monarchshistorically.Notmany
Lagertransformed ex-cameramoodofthesubjects. Britscannametheprimeministers
byAliceLascelles JohnTippler,Spalding ofFranceorRussia.Alternatively,
AliceLascelleswrites:“Beerwent anappointedpresident,presumably
frombeingoldandabitfartyto Thejubileecurse byparliament,risksusgettingthe
beingsexyandcool”. byRobertShrimsley biggestdonortotheToryparty.
Goodtohearthatbeermanaged Whatasplendidideatoholda HelenHotchkiss,Lichfield
tocompletetheexactsamejourney special“notthejubilee”party.
thatI’mnowundertakinginmy ThoughnotEnglish,I’ve Insidethemindofapig(May21/22)
middleage. livedherefor40years.And byHenryMance
MasalBugduvviaFT.com whileIdonothave“grievances Cowsareclevertoo.Myfather’s
againstEnglandingeneral,orthe herdallansweredtotheirnames,
Whydoesitfeelgoodtodogood? monarchyinparticular”,a“not knewwhentheelectricfencewas
byTimHarford thejubilee”partywillaffordme offandhadahierarchythatmeant
Thephilosopherandtheologian achancetoletoffsteamabouta theyalwayswentthroughagatein
JosephButler(1692-1752)argued coupleofissues. thesameorderwiththematriarch
thatthereisnothingimpureabout First,thinkingofthat atthefront.Elevenofmy12
givingbecauseitfeelsgood.Ifyou unprincipledgovernmentwe researchcowslearntin12hours,
feelgoodaboutdoingsomething havetosuffer,IthoughtIshould withtranspondersroundtheir
itmeansyouvalueit.Igetawarm becomedeeplymaudlin,cryinto necks,whichwastheirindividual
fuzzyfeelinghelpingmyneighbour myUtopianDoppelbockbeer, feedstation.Theoneexception
becauseIvalueourrelationship: sobeautifullydescribedinAlice triedtobreakeverything!
maintainingthatrelationship Lascelles’tastingnote,thinkof Aherdwasfedatnoon.Iwatched
ismyultimategoal,thefuzzy ThomasMoreandhisUtopia, them,fromhalfamileaway,look
TOCONTRIBUTE
feelingwouldn’texistifIdidn’t andthen,likethose18thcentury attheirwatches,getupandwalkto
valueit.(Compare:Idon’tlikemy Frenchphilosophers,wishfora Youcancommentonourarticlesonline thebuildingsatexactly12o’clock.
[email protected].
neighbour,sohelpinghimbrings perfectworld. Therearemanysuchtales.Don’t
Pleaseincludeadaytimetelephone
nojoy.)Butlerwasarguingagainst Second,asIslipfurtherinto underestimateanyanimal.
numberandfulladdress(notfor
theviewthatdoinggoodbecauseit mydeckchair,Ishallattemptto publication).Lettersmaybeedited. DavidWhitaker,Edinburgh
DidyouknowFTWeekendhasapodcast?Weexploretoday’s mottoblleB=)seiresVT(mottoB+lleBassenaV
ziuqerutciP
culture,bigideas,nuancedquestionsandwhatitmeansto
dirGlanoitaNehT.01noituloS.9
liveagoodlife.Joinusforinspiringconversations,in-depth marganA.8knalByteknalB.7eulCat’nevaHIyrroSm’I.6
sretteLepatwercSehT.5nedraGerauqSnosidaM.4
storytelling,abitofescapismandalotoffun.Search‘FT ”esrevinUehtssorcA“.3rettes)deRro(hsirI.2nwoD.1
Weekend’whereyoulisten,orft.com/ftweekendpodcast smretdetaler-drowssorcsawknilehT
srewsnaziuQ
4 FT.COM/MAGAZINE JUNE4/52022

IInside:xnxxxxp12 tellect
UndercoverEconomist
TIMHARFORD
Whygoingbacktothedrawing
boardisnobadthing
Ifatfirstyoudon’tsucceed,goestheoldsaying,try,tryagain.
Goodadvice,uptoapoint.Butletmeofferamodification:even
whenyoudosucceed,try,tryagain.Temptingasitistodeclare
victoryandmoveon,inmanyendeavoursthereismuchtobesaid
forrethinkinganapparentlysatisfactoryformula.
ConsidertheadviceforjobinterviewersinTalent,anewbookby
economistTylerCowenandventurecapitalistDanielGross.They
suggestaskingaroutinequestion,suchas“givemeanexample
ofwhenyouresolvedadifficultchallengeatwork”.Thenaskfor
anotherexample.Andanother.Thepatanswerswillbeexhausted
quickly,andthecandidatewillhavetostartimprovising,digging
deep–orperhapsadmittobeingstumped.
“Ifthecandidatereallydoeshave17significantdifferentwork
triumphs,”writeCowenandGross,“maybeyoudowanttohear
aboutwhatnumber17lookslike.”
Indeed,onewaytodescribethistacticisthattheinterviewer
isaskingforanswersinparallelratherthananswersinseries.
Insteadofstringingtogetheralogicalsequenceof17questions,the
interviewerisaskingfor17differentanswerstothesamequestion.
Itiscounterintuitiveadvice,butthelogicisclearenough
anditseemssimpletoexecute.Sowhydon’twedoit?First,
we feel uncomfortable. Second, demanding 17 different
answerstothesamequestionmayseemsillyorfruitless. ▶
FT.COM/MAGAZINE JUNE4/52022 ILLUSTRATIONBYGUILLEMCASASÚS 77
Intellect
◀Whiletheapproachisunconventionalinjobinterviews,itis NotesfromtheCuttingEdge
commonpracticeamongdesigners.Theywilloftenproduce TIMBRADSHAW
severaldistinctattemptstomeetagivenbrief,ratherthan
immediatelyfocusingonwhatseemstobethebestidea.In I’vegivenupwaiting
doingso,thedesignersforcethemselvestoexplorethefull
forvirtualrealityto
rangeofpossibilities,toavoidtheriskofcommittingtooearly
toaconceptthatseemsattractivebutwhichmayeventually changetheworld
beadeadend.
ResearchersStevenDow,AlanaGlasscoandothersatStanford
Universityexploredthisideabyaskingexperimentparticipants
tousesimplesoftwaretodesignawebadvertforamagazine.
Halfoftheparticipantsworkedinseries:theysketchedfive
prototypeadverts,receivingfeedbackaftereachone.Theother
halfworkedinparallel:theysketchedthreeprototypes,then
receivedfeedbackonallthreeandthensketchedtwomore Pop into Snap’s offices and you Some colleagues swear by VR
beforereceivingfeedback. might see some curious things. workoutapps.Butdespitehardware
Dowandhiscolleaguesaskedexpertstoratethequalityof Butterflies fluttering around the improvements,Istillstruggletofind
thefinaladvertsandtestedthemontheinternet,measuring lobby.Zombiesinthecanteen.The reasonstobootupmyOculus.
click-through rates. They rated the diversity of the adverts entiresolarsystemontheterrace. Nevertheless, Silicon Valley is
andtheyalsoaskedtheparticipantsfortheirconfidenceafter Snap,whichbeganlifeasphoto- gearing up for another attempt
finishingtheprocess.Ineveryrespect,theparallelprocessads messagingappSnapchat,hasbeen to convince us that the future of
weresuperior:thefinaldesignslookedbetterandearnedmore apioneerin“augmentedreality”. computingisonourfaces.Apple,
clicks;theinitialsketchescoveredagreaterrangeofideas;and But instead of peering through Facebook-ownerMetaandGoogle
thebuddingamateurdesignersgainedinconfidenceasaresult a smartphone app to view these areworkingonglassesandheadsets
Aofprototypinginparallel. effects, I saw them through what in all shapes and sizes. Snap’s
almostfeltlikenormalglasses. Spectaclesareaharbingerofseveral
strikingexampleofparalleldesignisthecre- Snap’s newest “Spectacles”are ARdeviceslaunchingthisyear.
ation of the Windows 95 start-up sound. notwidelyavailable,butthedemo All of them face the same
Microsoft was looking for an opportunity Ihadshowedpromise.WhenIheld impossiblechoices:bettergraphics
to show off the burgeoning audio capabili- outmyhand,abutterflyappeared meanheavierheadsetsandbatteries
tiesofthecomputersoftheday,sosomewhat tolandonit.Iclickedabuttonon thatrunoutsooner.Compromise
implausiblyitcommissionedBrianEno,whose the frames and the on optics and the
previouscollaboratorsincludedDavidBowie,TalkingHeads, glassestoldmewhat utilitydisappears.
There’sanargument
U2,DevoandRoxyMusic. I was looking at. What struck me
thatanyone’sfirst
Enorecallsreceivingabrief,requestingmusicthatwas“inspi- Imageswerebright with Snap’s demo
rational, sexy, driving, provocative, nostalgic, sentimental… andclear–although demoofvirtualor washowcomfortable
therewereabout150adjectives.Andthenatthebottomitsaid, a big limitation is augmentedrealityis itsglassesare.They
‘andnotmorethan3.8secondslong’.” thebatterieslastjust justtoogood lookprettysci-fibut
Enodescribeshimselfasbeing“completelybereftofideas”at 30minutes. arenowherenearas
thetime.Hefoundthebriefbothhilariousandinspiring.Inthe Snap’sSpectacles bulky as other AR
endhecomposedmorethan80tinypiecesofmusic.Thefinal are the latest in a long line of headsets,cominginatlessthana
resultwasamusicalsignaturethathasstoodthetestoftimeand intriguingheadsetprototypesIhave quarteroftheweightofMicrosoft’s
aliberatedEno.“Itreallybrokealogjaminmyownwork,”he triedoverthepastdecade.Sofar, HoloLens2.
toldtheSanFranciscoChronicle. noneofthemhasgoneontobecome Google recently demonstrated
Nodoubtthatwaspartlyaresponsetothetightconstraintof ahit.Ifirsttriedanearlyversionof similarlyunobtrusiveglassesthat
a3.8-secondpiece,butsurelyitwasalsothecreativeresponse theOculusvirtualrealityheadsetat seemed to show near-instant
totryingtoproducethe83rdcomposition.Whenitwouldhave theConsumerElectronicsShowin transcriptionandtranslationofa
beeneasytoputhisnosetothemixingdesk,obsessingover 2014.Itremainsthemostimpressive foreign language as it is spoken.
thetiniestvariationsoftoneandtiming,Enoforcedhimselfto demoofanewtechnologyIhaveever “Kind of like subtitles for the
explorethepossibilities. experienced.IfeltlikeIhadputmy world,”accordingtothepromotional
BillBurnettandDaveEvans,intheirdelightfulbookDesigning headinsideavideogame.Iwasn’t video.Bycontrast,AppleandMeta
YourLife,suggestanexerciseinwhichyousketchoutavisionfor the only one. Mark Zuckerberg appear to be opting for the full-
thenextfiveyearsofyourlife.Whatwillyoubedoing?Where likedOculussomuchheboughtthe fatexperience:high-resolutionAR
willyouliveandwithwhom?Areyouhopingtorunamarathon? companyfor$2bn. headsets that look more like ski
Startabusiness?Writeanovel?Getmarried? It’sbeenadecadesince“virtual gogglesthanglasses.
Thisisoftenastraightforwardactofimagination,butwhat reality”re-enteredthelexicon,but There’s an argument that
makestheexerciseexcruciatingiswhatcomesnext:Burnettand thetechnologyhaslargelyfailedto anyone’sfirstdemoofVRorARis
Evanswantyoutodoitagain,onlythistime,it’sdifferent–the breakoutintothenormalworld. justtoogood.Thefirsttimeyouturn
ideaattheheartoftheplaniscompletelyforbidden.Backtothe In2016,GoldmanSachspredicted yourheadinVR,orseeholograms
drawingboard.Andthenathirdtime. therewouldbealmost100million in AR, it is incredible. Only on
I’vetriedthismyselfandseenotherstryit.Peoplesquirm. VRandARheadsetsinuseby2020. repeat viewings do you realise
Theyprotest.Sometimestheycry.Andthen,soonerorlater,the Thenumbertodayisestimatedat howcumbersomethehardwareis.
ideasstartpouringout. closerto10million. Thenext12monthsmaydetermine
Wecontainmultitudes,allofus.Butwedon’talwayslet While Facebook’s founder whetherthatturnsouttosimplybe
themseethelightofday.Perhapsweshouldtryproducing remainsmoreenamouredthanever anewplatform’sgrowingpainsor
answersinparallelmoreoften.Evenwhenyoudosucceed,try, byVR,Ihavegivenupwaitingfor thetechnology’sepitaph.
tryagain. therestoftheworldtobewowed.
There are several fun VR games, TimBradshawistheFT’s
TimHarford’slatestbookis“HowtoMaketheWorldAddUp” suchasRecRoomandBeatSaber. globaltechcorrespondent
8 FT.COM/MAGAZINE JUNE4/52022