Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at [email protected] and we just might feature it here.
The New York blueprint
“The future is in our hands,” said New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in his victory speech Tuesday, as he stood before a packed crowd and declared himself proud of everything he stands for, as the city’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest in a century.
In a city where rents are spiralling and the cost of living is exorbitant, Mamdani’s progressive pledges have energized many, reports Monocle in an article shared by RTBC Executive Editor Will Doig.
Mamdani might be tackling uniquely New York problems, the article says, “but if a metropolis of over eight million people proves that free buses, stabilized rent and subsidized childcare can work in an American context, it could provide a template for the rest of the nation.”
Will says:
It’s been a minute since a relatively unknown political leader ascended to such a powerful post on a wave of youthful energy and groundbreaking ideas. In the end it wasn’t even close, and the excitement in New York today is undeniable. Read our story about how Mamdani’s proposals have worked in other cities.
Adios astroturf
Daycare centres across Finland have been awarded a total of €1m (more than $1.14m) to rewild yards and get young kids more exposed to mud, wild plants and moss.
Yes, greater access to the outdoors is important for lots of reasons we might well already aware of. But a key aim of this particular initiative, reports The Guardian in an article shared by RTBC Contributing Editor Michaela Haas, focuses on a plus that might not immediately come to mind: How exposure to microscopic biodiversity such as bacteria and fungi benefit the human body, including the gut, skin and airways.
The findings so far? Children playing in the green kindergartens ended up with less disease-causing bacteria — such as Streptococcus — on their skin and stronger immune defences, and their gut microbiota showed reduced levels of Clostridium bacteria, which is associated with inflammatory bowel disease, colitis and infections such as sepsis and botulism.
Michaela says:
A fabulous story about the effect of bringing nature into a preschool. Let’s all move to Scandinavia!
What else we’re reading
👶 Could Smaller Families ‘Rewild’ the Planet — and Make Humans Happier? — shared by Executive Editor Will Doig from NPR
🎓 Teachers Unions Leverage Contracts to Fight Climate Change — shared by Interim Editorial Director Tess Riley from The Hechinger Report
🐮 Eating Seaweed Could Make Cows Less Gassy, Slashing Methane Emissions From Grazing by Nearly 40 Percent — shared by Founder David Byrne from Smithsonian Magazine
☀️ What if Walmart Turned Its Parking Lots Into Solar Farms? — shared by Interim Editorial Director Tess Riley from Mother Jones
In other news…
“If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?”
This was the question American singer Billie Eilish posed to a room full of VIPs at the WSJ Magazine‘s Innovator Awards in New York last week, including Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has a reported net worth of $226 billion.
“I love you all, but there are a few people here with a lot more money than me,” said Eilish, who has an estimated net worth of $50 million. “[…] No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.”
It was announced at the event that the 23-year-old musician would be donating $11.5 million to the Changemaker Project, a charitable initiative that addresses climate change and food insecurity.