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Farewell, neoliberalism This survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation is bad news for neoliberalism, but good news for people. We knew that society had transformed – we didn’t know by just how much. A huge majority of Europeans are now in favour of universal basic income, a bigger role for the state, a mandatory minimum wage, and a carbon-neutral society.

It also presents a worrying challenge for the climate justice movement: half of young Europeans put more faith in authoritarian states than democracies to tackle the climate crisis. That raises the question of how we can combine post-second world war mobilisation with bottom-up democracy.

But one thing is clear: we have no choice but to push for radical societal change. And the time to do that is now.

Rutger, Progress correspondent Europe’s Stories: ‘European opinions revealed’ (reading time: three minutes)
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You just put your lips together and blow I mean whistling, of course. But it’s much more challenging when that whistling is a language, and a dead one at that. This article has so many unlikely and surprising things together. A Romanian noir film about corrupt cops and reviving a dead whistling language called Silbo that is native to the Canary Islands. The cast of the movie had to learn the complicated letter substitutions, as does the writer, and in the process unravels the beauty of a language that perished with the lifestyle and economic system that sustained it.

Those who keep it going, the teachers who set up a whistling syllabus, lovingly keep the whistling and its heritage alive by imparting it to students. In the 90s, it became compulsory for those above the age of six. The success of the revival meant that the writer is bewildered as he sits in a class where kids are "chattering away in Silbo like manic songbirds".

Nesrine, Better Politics correspondent The Guardian: ‘Sing like a canary! The whistling consultant who taught Romanian noir gangsters a tune’ (reading time: 10 minutes)
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The greatest political scandal you’ve probably never heard of What is the biggest scandal of the last half century? Watergate? The Panama Papers? Anything Fifa does in their weird, parallel universe? Nope, all wrong! On 11 November 1975, Australia’s 21st prime minister was dismissed by the governor general, an unelected representative of the Queen of England (and er … yeah, Australia). “Well may we say, ‘God save the Queen’ because nothing will save the governor general,” began the impromptu speech of Gough Whitlam, the sacked prime minister at Parliament House, Capital Hill, Canberra.

This podcast tells the story leading up to that now-famous speech, including lurid office scandals, the raiding of ASIO, a spiteful relationship with Kissinger and Nixon, and a missed dinner opportunity with a small-town paper man, Rupert Murdoch. Come, learn about the best (subjective) and tallest (objective) prime minister Australia ever had.

Imogen, engagement editor ABC: ‘The Eleventh’ (listening time: 30 - 50 minutes per episode)
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A spiritual and civilisation-wide transformation In this short piece, Katlin Curtice introduces us to a concept that’s at the heart of a spiritual and civilisation-wide transformation that I think is already underway. In order for us to move forward as a species, we’ve got to re-learn how to practice consent with each other and with nature.

This is a very basic concept, but somehow it feels impossible to imagine at times. Curtice tells a short story of a habit she had of collecting tiny artifacts from hikes she went on with her family – stones, twigs, something to remind herself of the experience – but then was struck by how odd she felt afterwards. The only thing truly required of us with each other is our presence. That can help shift our mindset away from what we can take from each other.

Eric, Climate correspondent Sojourners: ‘The sacredness of the Earth as she is’ (reading time: five minutes)
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Like being trapped in a PowerPoint presentation on why billionaires are interesting You probably know Michael Bloomberg as the billionaire who recently ran as a Democratic nominee in the US presidential elections. And as the guy whose campaign was cut short by Elizabeth Warren in his first TV debate. (He spent $300m on TV ads to get there, making it probably the most expensive roast in history.)

But he’s so much more than that: he’s also not a very interesting person who doesn’t like people living in poverty. Jia Tolentino dissects the man and the myth in this acerbic (and funny) review of his book. One gem: "Reading [his book] feels like being trapped inside a PowerPoint presentation about why billionaires are interesting."

As always, Tolentino has a laser-sharp eye for the stranger nuances of US society. Because this piece is not just about one billionaire – it’s about what happens when money, politics, fame, and power collide.

Shaun, copy editor The New Yorker: ‘The PowerPoint platitudes of "Bloomberg by Bloomberg"’ (reading time: 12 minutes)