Welcome to the week.
It feels more vital than ever to sort through the noise and focus on what truly matters. For us, that’s connecting science with meaningful action, finding hope in solutions, and building community among people who give a shit.
Here’s to making sense of things.
Let’s get to the news.
This Week
And more!
Have a great week,
— Willow
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🙋♀️ Vote!
What helps you maintain hope during challenging times?
Last week, we asked: Have you ever been involved in a campaign for a political candidate at any level?
You said:
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Yes, I've donated (38%)
“Though I don't have millions, have enough to share minimal amounts with causes & people I admire (notably non-mainstream media sources such as yourselves!) ... wish I could give more, but happy to do what I can do - now!”
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Yes, I've volunteered (10%)
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ Yes, I've donated AND volunteered (33%)
“I became part of the process this past year; it was rewarding.”
“By "volunteered" I mean I did some phone banking, so not the kind of door knocking that might be inferred.” (This 10000% counts! - W)
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Not yet (18%)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Other (please specify) (1%)
New Shit Giver Barbara is here because:
“1. I'm fed up with mainstream media's 'both sides are equal' attitude and am searching for 'real' news on my own.
2. I care deeply about the environment and the future but I'm old and can't be as actively involved as I would like but I want to learn all I can about what others are doing and finding ways to contribute.
3. I'm 2.5 years into long covid and want to understand it and see how to avoid future epidemics.
4. I want to encourage people like you to keep fighting.“
I love all of these reasons. Thank you so much for giving a shit.
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⚡️ Climate change:
House Republicans are starting to push back against clean energy tax cuts, as these credits have drawn billions in new investments to their districts (POLITICO)
🌎 Rising temperatures in the Philippines consistently increase the number of dengue fever cases (Mongabay)
AI weather forecasting companies still rely on NOAA’s data gathering and public services to function effectively (Heatmap)
Environmental organizations funded by the IRA have more to worry about than funding freezes — they now face potential criminal prosecution, with the FBI demanding correspondence and financial documents (Floodlight)
🦠 Health & Bio:
🌍 The US dismantling global health infrastructure has created dangerous blind spots for detecting and responding to disease outbreaks worldwide (The Atlantic)
This includes devastating global TB treatment programs, leaving thousands of patients without access to diagnosis or treatment while the disease keeps spreading (The New York Times)
Five years later, scientists now understand how inflammation caused by COVID can damage multiple body systems, from the lungs to the gut microbiome to the brain (The New York Times)
HPV vaccines could prevent 90% of cancer cases linked to the virus in the US, but misinformation, cultural stigma, and vaccine hesitancy are resulting in their underutilization (NPR)
🌎 In some tentatively more uplifting news, global air pollution has reached a turning point with almost all major pollutants declining from peak levels (The Cool Down)
💦 Food & Water:
🌎 Tanzanian farmers doubled mango yields and their incomes while reducing costs by using a solar-powered irrigation system (World Resources Institute)
The fossil fuel industry is pivoting to the food system as other sectors decarbonize, with oil and gas products embedded throughout food production, from fertilizers to plastic packaging (Civil Eats)
Getting your recommended daily servings of fruits and veggies is undermined by a corporate food system (Yes! Magazine)
Democratic Senators are urging the Department of Agriculture to restore canceled local food purchasing programs that provided over $2 billion to schools and food banks (Reuters)
Mississippi is the third state to ban lab-grown meat despite its limited availability in the US (The New York Times)
👩💻 Beep Boop:
Five out of six major AI voice cloning services have easily bypassable security measures, allowing users to impersonate anyone with just seconds of audio (NBC News)
Outsourcing thinking using AI is reshaping our brains and diminishing our critical thinking skills (which, looking around at everything else going on, don’t seem to be that strong as it is) (Vox)
AI search tools consistently cite news sources inaccurately, providing incorrect answers for over 60% of queries (Columbia Journalism Review)
TikTok now exists as two entities, one banned by the federal government facing a forced sale, and the other continually releasing updates and operating normally (Platformer)
🌍 Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has acquired Pokémon Go and other Niantic augmented reality games, raising concerns about the location data of 100 million players (404 Media)
🌎 = Global news
Compartmentalization for the win
Last week’s most popular Action Step was finding out how you can use your skills and experience to pivot your career and work on something that makes the world a better place.
Donate to the National Homelessness Law Center so the can keep fighting for the rights of unhoused people.
Volunteer to Run For School Board and have a direct impact on combatting book bans, protecting LGBTQ+ kids, gun control, teacher support, etc. etc. etc.
Get educated about all the ways you can recycle or trade in your e-waste.
Be heard about reversing the freeze on foreign aid so that programs fighting 100% preventable diseases around the world, like TB, can continue.
Invest in funds that aren’t contributing to deforestation and ecological collapse using Deforestation Free Funds.
NEW: Find the action steps that mean the most to you at WhatCanIDo.Earth
Together With Bookshop
Want to read what the people working on the frontlines of the future are reading?
Every week, I ask our podcast guest, "What’s a book you’ve read this year that’s opened your mind to a topic you haven’t considered before, or that’s changed your thinking in some way?"
And every week, we add their picks to a list on Bookshop, where every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores.
Want an ad-free experience? Become a Member!
We didn't always call our work science for people who give a shit.
But ever since we did, we've welcomed at least two types of people to our flock. The first is people who are deeply invested in science, but are unsure how to tie it into measurable action on the human level. And the second is people already fighting for a healthier, more equitable society, but who are curious about the evolving science behind our complex systems.
They all want to know a version of the most important question, what can I do?
It's a big question right now. And today, after almost 200 conversations and on this, our newly rebranded show, we're going to confront that question as some of our most vital human and humane systems are being put in the shredder.
My guest today is Dr. Ticora Jones. Dr. Jones has spent the last two years leading the efforts to expand the vision for science in the science office at the NRDC, to support the scientific and evidence based nucleus for organizational strategy and advocacy.
Before joining the NRDC, Dr. Jones served nearly 15 years at USAID, a little agency you may have heard about recently, in a number of roles, including most recently as Agency Chief Scientist, Executive Director for Innovation, Technology, and Research, and Managing Director for Research.
As the Agency Chief Scientist, which is really a hell of a title, Jones chaired the Research and Development Council, which was responsible for revising and instituting science policy.
She advocated for process changes to better support scientific integrity and research generation and use. And she led efforts to expand USAID's interagency role with international science and technology cooperation for deeper strategic partnerships with the U.S. government.
As of this month, that is all in serious trouble.
📖 Prefer to read? Get the transcript here.
▶ Or watch the full episode on YouTube.
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