Weglopers - people who walk away
Thursday, June 26th, 2025
Appetizers:
1. What two African countries have agreed to a peace deal that will end a decades-long conflict, perpetrated in large part by the rebel group M23?
2. What book subtitled "A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism" by Sarah Wynn-Williams has become a hit non-fiction memoir this spring?
Answers
1. RWANDA and the DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO have reached a peace agreement to end a decades-long conflict. YOK has spent a lot of space in this newsletter covering the M23 rebel conflict, including the 2025 seizure of Goma (North Kivu) and Bukavu (South Kivu).
Rwanda continues to deny widespread accusations that they have backed M23, which has wreaked havoc on the border between Rwanda and eastern Congo. The peace deal, signed in Washington, D.C., could open up the mineral-rich region to Western investment. The question now is whether peace will prevail.
2. CARELESS PEOPLE (subtitled "A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Los Idealism) is a hit memoir written by former Facebook director of public policy Sarah Wynn-Williams. Perhaps I'm a bit biased because I have a lot of friends in tech, but I've seen Careless People making the rounds on my social circle's Goodreads.
The memoir is a critical look at Facebook's internal culture, and Wynn-Williams accuses a number of Facebook executives of harassment and toxic behaviors. Since coming out in March 2025, Careless People has hit No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list, even though Meta has attempted to prevent Wynn-Williams from promoting it. I have yet to check out the book, and one of my friends tells me that it doesn't reveal anything new that we didn't already know about tech, but I love the title, which takes inspiration from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.
Entrees:
3. What hard-right nationalist of the Law and Justice (PiS) party won a narrow election to become the next president of Poland?
4. What country's governing coalition collapsed after Geert Wilders pulled out his hard-right Party for Freedom (PVV)?
5. What enormous mammal denotes an individual or entity who holds a large amount of cryptocurrency? These people have been targeted in an increasing number of "wrench attacks" aimed at extorting crypto passwords under duress.