Bickering In Bangladesh; Curling; Glow-In-The-Dark Tattoos
The online magazine Ozy covers people, places and trends on the horizon. Co-founder Carlos Watson joins All Things Considered regularly to tell us about the site's latest discoveries.
This week, Ozy deputy editor Eugene Robinson fills in for Carlos to tell NPR's Arun Rath about two dueling divas in Bangladeshi politics, the rising popularity of an obscure winter sport, and tattoos that you can wear to work.
The New And The Next
The Dueling Divas Of Bangladesh
Courtesy of Ozy.com"Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia. They had this phone call, where there were these great hopes for rapprochement. There's a transcript that we have where they're arguing — about arguing — while they're arguing. So there's this vocal jockeying and they make reference to the red phone. 'I called your red phone,' Hasina says. And Zia says, 'My red phone has been dead for years. You run the government, you should know that!'
"So right at the outset you know that things aren't going to get much better in the short term for these two. It's petty bickering ... and what makes it kind of shocking is that they've been doing it for about 20 years."
A Winter Sport On The Rise
Courtesy of Ozy.com"The genius of curling is that everybody watches it and they go, 'Hey, I could do that!' ... However, there are curling clubs. And membership is up in the states ... it's about 48 percent up from 2001. And it gets these big bursts every time there's an Olympics. You've got 165 clubs in about 42 states, so it is approaching being a big deal.
"It does take a lot of skill. And we're expecting big things from the U.S. team, at the very least, in the next Olympic cycle."
Glow-In-The-Dark Tattoos: Very SFW
Courtesy of Ozy.com"Sixty-one percent of hiring managers are saying, 'Well, you know, I don't want a guy with a tattoo on his face sitting at my front desk.' So I remember meeting this guy and he says, 'I've got a tattoo — we were talking about tattoos, and I myself am tattooed.' And I go, 'Where?' He goes, 'It's on my face!' And I'm like, 'I might miss a lot, but I don't see that you have a tattoo on your face, sir.' And he goes, 'No, no, no. It's a glow-in-the-dark UV tattoo.'
"So they have phosphorus inks, or UV inks, that are only activated under black light. So you can be totally tattooed and go to work and have nobody be any the wiser. And then you go to a club — and you are the hit of the club! ... And the interesting thing about it is, it only stays glow in the dark for a period of time and then it kind of fades. So I guess if you are inconsistent in your desire for permanent artwork, this might be a great thing to have."