Protest merchandise on the streets of the Peruvian capital Lima on September 29, complete with the ‘One Piece’ flag that shows a grinning skull and bones wearing a straw hat. Image: ui-martin, Unsplash
This Week Those Books newsletter is chock-full of crucial context — from fiction and non-fiction — to the shouty, doomscroll news cycle.
Morocco and Madagascar are being shaken by the world’s latest wave of Gen Z protests against poor governance and political mismanagement and indifference, after young people in Indonesia, Nepal, Timor-Leste and Peru led the way, all waving a flag bearing a cartoonish skull.
That common flag — a grinning pirate symbol wearing a straw hat — is from the Japanese manga and anime series One Piece, recently relaunched on Netflix. It has become an international anti-government emblem.
