Dear members—
Thank you for your feedback on Monday’s field guide email! Overwhelmingly, you told us you’d like to see that format again. We heard you. We have a little more work to do to refine the concept based on your input—but we expect to transition every Monday email to that format soon.
BECAUSE CHINA
Hong Kong protesters are using technology in innovative ways to organize spontaneously, and evade the prying eyes of government mass surveillance. They strategize in online forums, make decisions using online polls, share updates on encrypted messaging apps, and preserve participants’ anonymity. The finale of Season 2 of Because China explores how this new model of internet-supported protest is playing out in Hong Kong, and elsewhere in the world.
Quartz’s Nikhil Sonnad reports from a rally in Hong Kong and walks viewers through how it was organized in real-time.
Quartz’s Isabelle Niu visited Catalonia, to learn how Hong Kong protesters’ tactics are inspiring activists’ campaign for independence. They, too, are organizing with the aim of preserving anonymity at a time when that’s getting harder and harder to do. “In the constant whack-a-mole game between states and their discontents,” Nikhil reports, “protesters are fighting to stay one step ahead.”
You can watch the finale here, and you can watch other episodes in our Because China series here.
INTRO TO FINTECH
Last week, we published a field guide on the fintech unicorns and the hype behind them. Today, we have published a Quartz presentation on the same topic. It’s a succinct introduction to fintech’s past, present, and future.
Although the fintech boom began in the US and Europe, its future is in emerging markets, including India, Brazil, China, and Nigeria.
But Big Tech is one of the biggest threats to fintech companies around the world. Giants like Apple and Google are expanding aggressively into financial services. Traditional financial services companies, meanwhile, are under siege from both tech giants and startups—and in some cases are investing in the latter as a way to deal with disruption.
You can view all of our presentations, which we produce exclusively for members, here. They’re designed to give you a fast read on a topic, which you can reformat and edit as you wish.
We’ll be taking next week off from new field guides, presentations, and conference calls. But on Monday we’ll be sharing a roundup of the field guides members most loved in 2019.
With best wishes for a relaxing and thought-filled weekend.
Walter Frick
Membership editor, Quartz