Justice
How to Build Community Spirit Through Public Nudity
And other civics lessons from Reykjavík's unconventional former mayor.
As of June 16, 2014, Jón Gnarr is no longer the mayor of Reykjavík, Iceland. That is not the real news, though. The news is that Jón Gnarr ever became the mayor of Reykjavík at all.
Gnarr, who has spent much of his life working as an actor and comedian, got into politics in a most unusual way. After the global financial meltdown of 2008, in which Icelandic banks were disastrously involved, the small island nation was roiled by unprecedented protests. People took to the streets, banging on pots and pans to express their anger at the way the financiers had gambled with the nation's economic destiny.