Hump day recommendations, Feb. 12, 2025

Read and Listen: “The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak.” This terrific Substack, which started in 2023 and now boasts over 130,000 subscribers, focuses on the human side of the war in Ukraine, reporting stories as diverse as the first play-by-play of December’s major drone assault, a feature on “Why do Ukrainians smile less than Americans?” and the tale of a jazz club in Odesa that refused to shut down. Mak, a former NPR reporter and US combat medic, publishes fresh content three times a week with his team live from Kyiv, including podcasts, and has become a go-to source for readers wanting behind-the-scenes stories of the ongoing war. – Tasha

Watch: “Flow.”OK so hear me out. It’s a 90-minute-long animated movie about a cat that gets caught in a flood. It has no dialogue. It has no people. But it does have a capybara, a quasi-magical bird, and some questionable dogs. It’s from Latvia and it was nominated for an Oscar, and it’s completely hypnotic. At some moments, the animals’ expressions and motivations feel vaguely human, at others they are veiled by a kind of basic and impenetrable natural mystery. You can watch it here. – Alex

Read: “The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings,” by James Baldwin. First published in 2010, this collection of Baldwin’s previously unpublished work reveals again the elegantly expressed outrage and provocative musings of a great American writer. – Willis

Listen: "The Blueprint with Jen Psaki." If you’re a fan of Jack Schlossberg’s social media antics and have been wondering what on Earth is going on with him, you need to check out Jen Psaki’s latest episode, “Why are we so Cautious? With Jack Schlossberg.” JFK’s grandson tells Psaki about his social media experiments — he taunts, teases, and dances a lot, for the uninitiated — and compares his approach to how Republicans use social media while noting that Dems need to be far more daring. Did he really get dumped? Nope. Is he Justin Baldoni’s lawyer? Nah. Is he studying ballet? Yep, and he’s poking holes in the notions surrounding masculinity with every twirl. Does he have a bigger project brewing? Listen to find out. – Tracy

More from GZERO Media

​A Russian army soldier in the Kursk region.

A Russian army soldier walks along a ruined street of Malaya Loknya settlement, which was recently retaken by Russia's armed forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Kursk region, on March 13, 2025.

Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

The Russian leader has conditions of his own for any ceasefire with Ukraine, and he also wants a meeting with Donald Trump.

Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of the media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University on June 1, 2024.

REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

The court battle over whether the US can deport Mahmoud Khalil, the 30-year-old Palestinian-Algerian activist detained in New York last Saturday, began this week in Manhattan. Khalil, an outspoken activist for Palestinian rights at Columbia University, was arrested Saturday at his apartment in a university-owned building at Columbia University by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and he is now being held in an ICE detention center in Louisiana.

The Israeli Air Force launched an airstrike on Thursday, targeting a building in the Mashrou Dummar area of Damascus.
(Photo by Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto)

An Israeli airstrike destroyed a residential building on the outskirts of Damascus on Thursday in the latest Israeli incursion into post-Assad Syria.

Lars Klingbeil (l), Chairman of the SPD parliamentary group, and Friedrich Merz, CDU Chairman and Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, talk at the end of the 213th plenary session of the 20th legislative period in the German Bundestag.

Germany’s government is in a state of uncertainty as the outgoing government races to push through a huge, and highly controversial, new spending package before its term ends early this spring.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, a Republican, speaks as the U.S. vice president visits East Palestine, Ohio, U.S., February 3, 2025.
Rebecca Droke/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

On Wednesday, Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin redefined the agency’s mission, stating that its focus is to “lower the cost of buying a car, heating a home, and running a business.”

Paige Fusco

Canada has begun thinking the unthinkable: how to defend against a US attack. It suddenly realizes — far too late – that the 2% GDP goal on defense spending is no longer aspirational but urgent. But what kind of military does it need? To find out, GZERO Publisher Evan Solomon spoke with retired Vice Admiral Mark Norman, the former vice chief of defense staff in Canada and currently a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

The energy transition is one of society’s biggest challenges – especially for Europe’s largest economy – according to a survey commissioned by the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt and undertaken by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research. Sixty percent of those polled believe the energy transition is necessary but have doubts about how it is being implemented. A whopping 63% would like to be more involved in energy-transition decisions affecting their region. The findings strongly suggest that it’s essential to get the public more involved in energy policymaking – to help build a future energy policy that leads to both economic prosperity and social cohesion. Read the full study “Attitudes Toward the Energy Transition” here.