Update on previous topics
NYC trash
New York City has found a new way to take out the trash. America’s biggest city has—for as long as anyone can remember—piled its trash in large bags on the sidewalk. You learned in episode 638 that New York City was planning—planning—to do what other urban areas learned to do a long time ago: use containers.
Wow—revolutionary, right? It’s not as simple as it seems, since New York doesn’t have the back alleys that most cities have, and street parking is at a premium. But in June, the city collected its first bags of trash under the new system. Residents of the West Harlem neighborhood are required to put their trash into new containers. The big curbside containers hold about three cubic meters of trash each.
New, European-style trash collection trucks unload the bins automatically from the side. The city now has 1,000 bins on the streets and a fleet of 16 trucks that can load them. Residents give the new system positive reviews. City officials are calling it a “trash revolution.” But it’s a revolution that will come slowly to the rest of New York: it would take a decade and require removing 50,000 more parking spaces to serve every resident with the new containerized system.
Seine swimming
Speaking of trash, would you like to swim in a river that goes through the center of a major city? It’s not a crazy question. The 2024 Summer Olympics were in Paris, and some long-distance swimming events took place in the River Seine. Swimming had been banned in that river for over 100 years, due to pollution and contamination. Episode 671 was about the run-up to the Olympics, and how officials were still not sure if it would be safe enough for athletes to swim in.
In the end, it was—and the Olympic swimming events were a success. But swimming in the Seine was not a one-time event. Paris opened three swimming areas to the public this summer, 2025. One was close to Notre-Dame Cathedral, one close to the Eiffel Tower, and one in eastern Paris.
The initiative was so popular that city officials extended the swimming season. It was originally set to last from July 5 through August 31, but Paris allowed swimming into September at two of the locations. Over 100,000 people decided to take a swim and see the City of Lights from a whole new vantage point.
And it’s not just Paris: other cities are opening up their formerly-polluted waterways to recreational swimming. Brave swimmers have jumped into formerly-polluted rivers in Basel, Rotterdam, Melbourne, and Chicago.
Birkin bag
How much would you pay for a handbag? We explored the question in Episode 714, which was all about the Hermès Birkin handbag. The answer, for some people, is in the tens of thousands of dollars—or more.
And for one person in particular, the answer is much higher. The original Birkin bag—the one designed for and owned by the actress Jane Birkin—that bag sold at auction in July. The winning bidder paid…drumroll please…€8.6 million.
The winner was a private collector from Japan. The bag became the highest-priced fashion accessory ever sold at auction in Europe.
BTS is back
It was a sad time for music fans when episode 484 came out. One of the most famous bands in the world—perhaps the most famous band in the world at the time—was taking a break.
BTS, the South Korean boy-band, went on hiatus three years ago. That’s because all men in South Korea are required to perform military service between the ages of 18 and 28. No exception was made for these seven global superstars. All band members completed their service, and now BTS is back.
The band reunited for a livestream in June, in which they announced a new album and tour in the spring of 2026.
Assisted dying
Episode 745 was about assisted dying. In that episode, you heard that the British parliament took an important step toward legalizing assisted dying in England and Wales. Since then, the proposed bill has passed additional readings and is progressing toward passage.
Two other countries have taken steps toward legalizing assisted dying: Uruguay and Italy. Uruguay’s lower legislative chamber passed an assisted dying bill with a comfortable majority, and it passed a key Senate vote toward full passage. About two-thirds of Uruguayans favor assisted dying.
Things are different in Italy, where the regions are taking the lead. The legality of assisted dying is murky at a national level, but two regions—Tuscany and Sardinia—recently passed regional laws regulating assisted suicide. Umbria is expected to follow suit soon.
Ethiopia dam
They were ecstatic in Ethiopia on September 9, 2025. That’s when the country’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, inaugurated the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The dam sits on the Blue Nile, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile River. It’s expected to provide hydroelectric power to tens of millions of people, who otherwise would not have access to electricity.
They were not ecstatic that day in Egypt. Egypt is north of Ethiopia. That’s downriver, since the Nile flows from south to north. As you heard in episode 278, Egypt was concerned about the water supply to its 100 million residents, the vast majority of whom rely on the Nile for their drinking water.
When the episode came out in 2020, the two sides were still negotiating about what would happen in a drought: would Ethiopia release water from its massive reservoir or not? Many of the same questions that were raised five years ago are still open. But now, so too is the dam.
Jeff’s take
Couple more quick updates for you. The actor Matthew Perry died from an overdose of the drug ketamine, as you heard in episode 712. He got his supply from someone who called herself the Ketamine Queen. In September this year, the Queen herself pleaded guilty to five criminal charges, including one for distributing ketamine that resulted in a death. Four other people, including Matthew Perry’s live-in assistant, also pleaded guilty to related charges. All of them will be sentenced in November and December. Jail time is expected.
Episode 463 was about the TV series “Succession.” The episode was about the first three seasons. The fourth and final season came out in 2023; I finally got around to watching it in 2025, and I loved the ending. Just loved the ending. No spoilers, but I was pleased with the person who got the top job.
Great stories make learning English fun
