Everyone and their grandmother is going online to watch Squid Game.

Happening in the World: South Korean internet service provider, SK Broadband has sued Netflix—holding the company responsible to pay for the cost of maintaining its increased network traffic because of a traffic surge since the growing popularity of ‘Squid Game’. This comes after multiple South Korean lawmakers have voiced concerns against content providers who do not pay for network usage despite generation explosive traffic. Notably, Netflix and Google’s YouTube are South Korea’s two largest data traffic generators and yet they do not pay network usage fees, while Amazon, Apple, and Facebook do (Reuters).

Happening in the US: The 2021 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine was awarded to two American scientists, for discoveries relating to the human perception of temperature, pressure, and touch. The scientists were David Julius of University of California, San Francisco, and Ardem Patapoutian of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Scripps Research. The secretary-general of the Nobel Assembly said that this discovery explains how stimuli are converted to nerve signals at a molecular level—because of its pertinence in the development of treatments for chronic pain and other conditions, this is welcomed as a profound discovery (CNN).

Happening in NYC: The New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and Queens Public Library have all announced a policy change that would cancel all late fees on borrowed library materials. This policy applies not just to books but also to other materials, and will also clear any current late fines—allowing a clean slate to all library-card-holding New Yorkers. Notably, replacement fees for lost books are still in place, and materials are considered lost after being overdue for about a month—but no fees will apply in the event that the materials are returned. Previously, the library systems collectively collected about $3.2 million in late fines through 2019 (Gothamist).

Happening in the Columbia community: Today at 12:10 pm, civil rights lawyer and social justice activist, Chinyere Ezie will discuss her work on expanding the political power of Black women—in conversation with Columbia Law professors, Kerrel Murray and Katherine Franke. The event is in-person at the Jerome Greene Annex and grab-and-go lunch will be available. You can find more information about how to attend here.

Poem of the Week: I know I say this every week, but I love love love Danusha Laméris’ ‘Small Kindnesses‘ very dearly. This one’s about kind strangers and the teeny tiny redemptions that get us through our days.

Classic Binge Sessions via Bwarchives