Nearly 1 in 3 Americans are in wildfire country now
… plus curiosities from a Mexican taco stand, Japanese waterfalls, and more.
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Without further ado, here’s what’s on deck this week:
🔥 What’s different about wildfire season this summer
🌮 A taco stand with a Michelin star — plus more global curiosities
⛰️ The philosophy of a yearly personal challenge
🏃 I’m running a marathon to support Asian American and Pacific Islander journalists
But first, here’s a closer look at what’s been going on around the world lately:
18 — The total number of Michelin stars that a slate of restaurants across Mexico earned this year ever since the Michelin Guide debuted in Mexico this year. But one particular establishment has stolen our hearts: A couple weeks ago, the world’s first taco stand just earned the Michelin Star — Taquería El Califa de León, a 70-year-old sliver of a small business with standing room only, nestled in the San Rafael neighborhood of Mexico City. The current owner, Chef Arturo Rivera Martínez, keeps it simple: After waiting a couple of hours in line, customers receive an impeccable signature gaonera taco of thinly sliced meat cooked traditionally with lard, coarse salt, and a squeeze of lime juice — all of it laid atop a handmade corn tortilla.
“It’s about the meat and tortilla without any fuss or garnish to dress it up or hide behind. …Their technical ability shines, and since they only have four options on the menu, it allows them to maintain their standards throughout,” a Michelin Star inspector said in the Michelin Guide.
Felicidades a Taquería El Califa de León. You can read more about their claim to fame here.
238.9% — The percent increase that former New York Democratic congressman Brian Higgins’s portfolio went up in 2023. If that seems sus to you, then you’re not alone: Higgins and other career politicians like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Burr have eerily excellent timing with trading individual stocks. But now, plebeian investors like you and me can mirror the decisions of their favorite superstar investors with money manager apps like Autopilot. Founded by Chris Josephs, Autopilot allows users to automate their portfolio by copying top traders within the 45 days the law requires congressional staff to report their choices. Why eat the rich when you can simply sit at the table with them, right? You can read more about Autopilot’s mission in The New Yorker here.
17 — The percentage point margin that registered voters prefer former U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies over those enacted by current U.S. President Joe Biden, according to a mid-May Reuters/Ipsos poll. As election day approaches in November, Biden appears to be revving up immigration enforcement to the chagrin of migrant advocacy organizations. On Tuesday, Biden instituted an asylum ban on migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. Now, migrants could be deported or turned back to Mexico under the measure, with exceptions for unaccompanied children, people who face medical or safety threats, trafficking victims. (Yes, but don’t all asylum seekers fall under these descriptions? That’s what advocates are arguing.) U.S. officials are saying the restriction will not be permanent and will only be activated when the daily average of border arrests tops 2,500 in a week.
So, so many questions and legal technicalities remain. You can read into those technicalities here, here, and here.
“We intend to sue,” Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney told the Associated Press this week. “A ban on asylum is illegal, just as it was when Trump unsuccessfully tried it.”
What do you think? Are these sweeping policies related to Biden’s broader goals to overtake Trump in the polls? Election polls and experts say the jury is still out, and disengaged voters are alarmingly ambivalent for this late in the election cycle.
28.6 million — The total number of streams — and counting — that the TikTok comedian Megan Boni has earned for her social media video prototyping the TikTok sound turned viral summer hit, “Man in Finance.” Boni, whose TikTok handle is @Girl_on_Couch, now has a label deal with Capitol/Polydor/Virgin Germany due to the sound’s proliferation of a thousand remixes by the likes of David Guetta, Alesso, and Billen Ted. With this new label deal, Boni has licensed the audio of her April 30 TikTok video to the producers for official releases, like this one which was released May 17. Check out the original video:
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35 years — The amount of time that has passed since the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. On this day, tens of thousands of Chinese pro-democracy protestors gathered in Tiananmen Square seeking government reforms against hardline rule and were assaulted by Chinese government troops. A recent revealed estimate alleged that the Chinese army killed more than 10,000 protestors. The event conjured one of the 20th century’s most defining images.
And now onto the main course: New data shows nearly one third of Americans live in areas with high wildfire risk— a number that is larger than originally thought. Wildfires leave underserved communities, such as tribal communities and low-income communities predominantly occupied by mobile homes, disproportionately exposed. Even communities not directly close to wildfires are experiencing their impact. In May, wildfires raged on Canada’s west coast, blanketing some midwestern U.S. states in smoke.
"As of right now, it is very hot, it is very dry. Parts of northern Alberta, northern British Columbia and the southwestern and northwestern territories are experiencing some significant fires as a result of very, very dry conditions," Jennifer Smith, the national warning preparedness meteorologist for the Meteorological Service of Canada, told ABC News. "These conditions are expected to continue into the spring and summer season."
Canadian wildfire smoke at peak season will continue to impact air quality in American states as far out as New York and Minnesota.
So, what’s the fix? Well, weed-eating goats on the drought-prone frontlines won’t cut it for much longer. Another fire study published last week takes a close look at an achilles heel for fires: reforestation, a.k.a. the act of planting new trees where old ones have withered away due to deforestation, fire, or natural causes.
Right now, there’s a massive shortfall — 3.8 million acres in all — regarding current reforestation needs as powerful wildfire after powerful wildfire rips through the U.S. Indeed, the top 20 most devastating fires in the U.S. have occurred since 2020. But research has shown that trees are a crucial way to restore areas that have been leveled by wildfires, re-cultivating precious ecosystems and making them more resistant to fires in the future. The study purports that we need a fast and effective action to restore the so-called “reforestation pipeline” for good.
In a few weeks, we’re publishing a story about the intersection of rural logging communities and the impact of mega-fires in California, written by Bay Area photojournalist Marcus Gabbert.
Beginning June 5 until June 16 — The Tribeca Film Festival occurs in New York City. This year, a number of highly anticipated pictures will have their premiere, including a Liza Minnelli documentary and a Japanese documentary about the environmental impact of clothing. But it’s the documentary “Black Table” that particularly has my attention this year. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court abolishing affirmative action this year, the piece has a decisive focus on Yale’s class of 1997, which had the largest class of Black students in the 1990s. Directors John James and Bill Mack tell the story of a group of Black students through the dining table around which they routinely congregated — one that “created [an] environment that provided an outlet for scholars who were learning who they were in the context of a university that often failed to see them,” the film’s festival page says.
On Thursday, June 6 — USAID Administrator Samantha Power will will lead a collaboration between the U.S. government and myriad small businesses to invest in solutions to reduce plastic waste and plastic use in an initiative called Circle ALLIANCE. Power will champion key legislation at a press conference that will guide U.S. efforts to combat ocean plastic pollution. You can tune in to the live streamed event here. The announcement comes amid “unprecedented” evidence that plastics entering the world's oceans could nearly triple by 2040 if no further action is taken.
By Friday, June 7 — Much of the Western United States, Mexico, and Eastern Canada will experience extreme heat, which research shows is being made more likely because of human-caused climate change. According to hour-by-hour studies by Climate Central, over 229 million people across North America will experience extreme heat by this day. All of it, an extension of ongoing heat in happening right now in Mexico (cue the falling monkeys 😢) and the Gulf of Mexico.
On Sunday, June 9 — The French Open ends in Paris. Much of the two-week-long major tennis tournament has been defined by the triumph of two newcomers: 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva of Russia and 28-year-old Jasmine Paolini of Italy, who will face off in their first Grand Slam semifinal on Thursday. I’m rooting for both of ‘em. 🤩 (P.S. The French Open banned alcohol in the stands this year after repeated disruptive behavior from fans).
There’s a concept in the Japanese religion, Shinto, called misogi. It’s a ritual where adherents travel to sacred waterfalls or lakes (often situated at a Shinto temple) and bathe themselves in the cold water. The ritual is meant to unify people with the kami around them, which are spirits or deities in Shinto practice. Misogi is a challenging act, often requiring a journey to the water source, that is meant to reconnect people to nature and the six elements that make up human beings in Shinto (the five senses and the mind).
In personal development communities the term misogi has adopted a wider meaning: that of doing one challenging thing a year that leads to personal growth and a reconnection with the self. While this interpretation of misogi is quite disconnected from its Shinto roots, I find the concept a powerful tool and motivator. This kind of misogi could be any challenge that you feel you almost might not be able to accomplish, like running a marathon (Go Kelly!), biking across a country, or painting every day.
What is a “misogi” that you want to take on this year? Drop ‘em in the Substack comments or reply to this email and we’ll share our favorites in next week's newsletter!
— Ben
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Until next week,
Kelly at Frame
P.S. I am running the New York City Marathon this year with the help of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). It was AAJA that helped me get my first job in the field years ago. Now I'm truly grateful to give back to the organization that helped me get my foot in the door. You can follow my running journey and check out my AAJA fundraiser here.