Is this a Tik Tok video? It will be as soon as you learn the dance. On Anik Khan and Robin Dey’s new single, the Bhangra dance duo Bfunk and Afrobeats choreographer Izzy Odigie animate a fusion of beats in split screen, and their dance is so entrancing that you almost don’t notice the lyrics about grinning blindly through an illicit relationship. Watch the video here and bookmark the tab for your weekend choreography needs.
We all love Oatly, don’t we? The Swedish oat milk company has charmed America with adorable branding, disarming advertisements, and the low-low-low environmental impact of its main ingredient. This month, they’re discovering the challenge of a socially conscious fanbase: they hold leaders accountable.
People have been boycotting Oatly since the company announced a $200m fundraise that includes Blackstone Capital, a private equity firm that’s contributing to the Amazon’s deforestation under its chairman and prominent Trump backer Stephen Schwarzman. (Other investors, Oprah, Natalie Portman, Howard Schultz, and Roc Nation, are all pretty much on brand.) Unfortunately, the boycotts have had little effect beyond spurring Oatly to publish a blog post defending their decision to follow the money: “This investment will help us push the plant-based movement even further, while also steering global capital into sustainability instead of something else.” As if Blackstone had limited funds.
If you’re invested in an ETF or a mutual fund, chances are you own companies whose practices you disagree with, from environmental and social impact to corporate governance. Since you have about as much control over this as an Oatly boycotter, a new sustainable investing startup called Arnie just released a free tool that lets you at least find out what you’re really invested in. Just enter your fund name or ticker in their search tool and find out if you own companies that are high fossil fuel emitters, weapons manufacturers, lacking in board diversity, and on and on.
Arnie is run by two sisters in California who, by the way, haven’t taken on any outside investment. Soon, they’ll release an automated portfolio builder to help you align your investments with your values. Stay tuned— and for now, check your monies.
While we’re on investigative tools, you might as well also know about Blacklight, a website privacy inspector that tells you which companies are tracking you and how, and where they’re sending your data. Keep it right, keep it tight, folks.
Ok, one last resource: my friend and voting rights reporter Spenser Mestel just launched a newsletter that gives you the good and bad news of the week in voting, alongside action items for ensuring a fair vote. (This newsletter inspired me to sign up to work the polls this November, which you should totally do if you can— did you know it’s a paid gig?) Spenser’s Super Tuesday is quick and charming and ever so useful. Sign up here.