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Erica Buist
Erica Buist

1.1K Followers

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Published in

P.S. I Love You

·Mar 28, 2020

Zombies and Tribes: The Fragile Art of Friendship During the Acoughalypse

London is on lockdown and I’m going to a friend’s house for dinner. Something about it feels like a renegade move, like I should arrive wearing shades, boots and a bullet belt slung across my chest. But I comb through the government advice and find I’m not the rebel I…

Coronavirus

6 min read

Zombies and Tribes: The Fragile Art of Friendship During the Acoughalypse
Zombies and Tribes: The Fragile Art of Friendship During the Acoughalypse
Coronavirus

6 min read


Published in

Human Parts

·Oct 1, 2019

In Madagascar, the Dead Are Dug Up so They Can Party With the Living

Music, food, and love are poured into the Famadihana festival — I’m teetering on the roof-edge of a concrete tomb. The air is filled with the scent of sweat and rum, and I’m being jostled from all sides by excitable, dancing men, hollering announcements in Malagasy to the surrounding crowd of two or three thousand people. They wave their arms, swaying…

Spirituality

7 min read

In Madagascar, the Dead Are Dug Up so They Can Party With the Living
In Madagascar, the Dead Are Dug Up so They Can Party With the Living
Spirituality

7 min read


Published in

OneZero

·Jun 10, 2019

The Personal Newsletter Fad Needs to End

I know it feels nice to write about you. But really, it’s just another bloody thing to read. — If 2018 was the year of the personal newsletter, it would explain why 2019 is the year of inboxes crammed with newsletters we just don’t have time to read and can’t bring ourselves to unsubscribe to. Sure, 2018 arguably perpetrated worse crimes against human sanity — children trolled for not…

Newsletters

4 min read

The Personal Newsletter Fad Needs to End
The Personal Newsletter Fad Needs to End
Newsletters

4 min read


Published in

OneZero

·Jun 3, 2019

Why My Job Is Safe From the Robots

In a world of automation and algorithms, human authenticity will be worth more and more — The saving grace of the approaching robot jobpocalypse might be that nobody, yet, is taking it literally. The regular flare-ups of the “immigrants are taking your jobs” rhetoric has led to actual hate crimes, but even amidst exaggeration around the automation of millions of jobs, no one has yet, to…

Automation

4 min read

Why My Job Is Safe From the Robots
Why My Job Is Safe From the Robots
Automation

4 min read


Published in

OneZero

·May 17, 2019

Language Is the Latest Weapon Against the Climate Emergency

A former ‘Guardian’ journalist on how revisions to the British paper’s style guide can alter our view of the climate crisis — The language of our impending environmental disaster is changing. In a note to staff, the Guardian on Friday announced it was responding to increasing concern about climate change by calling it the “climate emergency” instead. The email, as tweeted by BuzzFeed reporter Mark Di Stefano, reads: “Use climate emergency, crisis…

Climate Change

4 min read

Language Is the Latest Weapon Against the Climate Emergency
Language Is the Latest Weapon Against the Climate Emergency
Climate Change

4 min read


Apr 17, 2019

Restoring Notre Dame is About Rich People’s Mortal Terror

I thought I was crying because of our memories. Walking past it every day, learning French at a school around the corner, giving way too much of our money to the famous bookshop opposite (which doesn’t need another mention). I thought I was crying because I’d lived nearby, because it’s…

Notre Dame Fire

3 min read

Restoring Notre Dame is about rich people’s mortal terror
Restoring Notre Dame is about rich people’s mortal terror
Notre Dame Fire

3 min read


Published in

OneZero

·Apr 9, 2019

This Is How It Feels to Go Viral on Twitter

As the likes from a tweet passed 100K, I received love and hate — but mostly felt raw terror — Imagine you’re at a party, chatting with people. Most you met there, while a few you met before you arrived. You make a comment. People nod enthusiastically, maybe laugh. Some reply. Then the walls surrounding the party crack and tumble away, revealing thousands, even millions of people. You look down…

Social Media

7 min read

This Is How It Feels to Go Viral on Twitter
This Is How It Feels to Go Viral on Twitter
Social Media

7 min read


Published in

Human Parts

·Feb 12, 2019

How I Became Pen Pals With the Kid Who Stole My iPhone

Was it phishing? Or was it friendship? — I’d always wanted to go to India. So I was pretty outraged when, in 2011, my iPhone went without me. I think it’s only fair to place around 5 percent of the blame on my friend Blair. A group of us were in a London wine bar pretending to be…

Security

6 min read

How I Became Pen Pals With the Kid Who Stole My iPhone
How I Became Pen Pals With the Kid Who Stole My iPhone
Security

6 min read


Published in

Human Parts

·Dec 12, 2018

We Won’t Text Back When We’re Dead

I am really, really good at using technology to make sure people are still alive — I’m in a London branch of the Apple Store, about to buy a pair of Apple watches. And not for any of the standout apps or ludicrously expensive straps, but because it has a “send your heartbeat” feature. “Place two fingers on the screen until you see and feel your…

Technology

6 min read

We Won’t Text Back When We’re Dead
We Won’t Text Back When We’re Dead
Technology

6 min read


Aug 26, 2018

All Eyes Are Almond-Shaped

And other truths travel writers need to internalize — If there’s one thing a travel writer needs, it’s fear. Caution. A decent sense of self-doubt. This is especially true for travel writers from any country which have historically barged into nations where people lived, claimed to have “discovered” them, and then begun a campaign of mass murder. Travel website…

Travel

7 min read

All Eyes Are Almond-Shaped
All Eyes Are Almond-Shaped
Travel

7 min read

Erica Buist

Erica Buist

1.1K Followers

Writer, journalist, author. First book THIS PARTY’S DEAD coming in Feb 2021 from Unbound. Preorder: unbound.com/books/deathtivals

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