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Without further ado, here’s what’s on deck this week:
🐝 Just another day of ~ saving the bees ~
🌈 Why Pride is more than glitter in the air
🧠 The anatomy of memory
But first, here’s a closer look at what’s been going on around the world lately:
Kelly Kimball for Frame. // Wikimedia Commons
3.8 million — The current number of bee colonies in the United States — an unexpected record high — according to the USDA’s Census of Agriculture. Since the early 2000s, bee colonies have been hit hard by pesticides, decreases in pollinating plants, and rising temperatures, all of which are exacerbated by human-caused climate change. These threats have risked the complete extinction of an insect that is instrumental to one third of the world’s food supply.
For those reading this in the United States, don’t forget to thank our local beekeepers: It’s largely because of their guerrilla efforts thatAmerica’s decades-long bee shortage was reversed in a matter of five years. But the jig isn’t up. Overall, bee populations are still declining worldwide. Here and now, I am declaring a new internet trend: Goodbye coastal grandma. Hello beekeeper auntie.
Maps and cartograms showing the outsized population of bees concentrated in North America and Western Europe. Darker areas demonstrated higher populations of bees. // Source: Current Biology
$1 million — The amount of money awarded to the cancer researcher and Harvard Medical School professor Catherine J. Wu earlier this year for her groundbreaking research that could create personalized vaccines to fight cancer. Our immune system is hardwired to attack foreign anomalies in our body, but cancer cells come from the body’s own tissue. Wu’s vaccine aims to convince a patient’s immune system to attack its own cells that are cancerous through “genomic approaches.” (Basically, the vaccine will be able to spot the cancer by sniffing out these things called immunogenic peptides that tumor mutations make.)
“I hope that sometime in the not-too-distant future our patients can go to a clinic and say, ‘Order me up a vaccine personalized for my cancer,’ and we’ll be able to administer it on site,” Wu told the Harvard Gazette in February.
4.6x — The increased likelihood of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders receiving late or no prenatal care, according to recent numbers reported by the Department of Health and Human Services. People of color in the United States, including those who are Indigenous, are at outsized risk of maternal mortality due to the knock-on effects of racism, sexism, and inequities in healthcare.
An ongoing court case hopes to protect Indigenous Hawaiian mothers: In Kahoʻohanohano v. State of Hawaii, a group of nine midwives is suing the state of Hawaii to challenge the new Midwifery Restriction Law that went into effect this week. While the law is meant to standardize maternal healthcare by requiring licenses for midwives, some maternal health advocates fear it will put rural and Native Hawaiian communities at risk, as unlicensed midwives have been a cultural tradition within Native Hawaiian communities for generations.
Home births have increased in Hawaii over time. // Source: CDC Wonder Online Database
0-0 — The soccer score between the Chilean and Canadian national teams during Saturday’s Copa America game on Saturday. Chile is not happy with the results and has filed a lawsuit against Wilmar Roldan, the referee who oversaw their three games in the competition so far. In the team’s complaint, Chile described its “deepest annoyance and dismay” (which is a term I will use ad nauseam from now on) over Roldan’s refereeing decisions. For the time being, Chile is officially out of the tournament.
And now onto the main course — Over the weekend, Pride Month came to a ceremonious end. When I rifled through the obligatory, rainbow-laden Pride photo series across majornewspublications, I couldn’t help but notice the glaringly obvious: The photo selections were, well, flat. There could be many reasons for this, but the one I believes matters most is this: American newsrooms still struggle to prioritize and act on diversifying their photographer pool and the stories their photos tell.
The numbers show this, too. In 2023, data collected by the international photographers association Women Photograph found the percentage of women and nonbinary photographers leading the top fold of major U.S. news publications staggered just above 21%.
Source: Women Photograph
These imbalances can have major impacts on the photos that are chosen for news events and, as a result, influence how readers like you interpret the world around them. While, yes, Pride is flamboyant and eye-catching and campy, a photo editor that only chooses photos that speak to the glittery exterior has fooled themselves into thinking that that is all there is. The Associated Press chose this photo to represent Thailand’s Pride month, but I would sooner choose this one, or this one, or this one to punctuate Thailand’s immense political milestone in becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize gay marriage.
Over time, U.S. newsrooms have slashed the budget put toward hiring full-time photographers, leaning instead on wire agencies to attain photos. // Source: Women Photograph
Since Pride’s founding, the month of June has inherently been a protest, illuminating human rights causes that intersect with the rights of LGBTQ people. Amid yet another year that has posed unprecedented threats to the safety and human rights of LGBTQ people, Pride is more so about dignity, community, and social and economic justice than, perhaps, ever before. I have yet to see a headline or photograph from a major national news publication mentioning the fact that NYC’s Dyke March, an event that has been attended by tens of thousands in the past, was centered on the fight to stop genocide worldwide.
Images and stories that speak to these nuances matter. The people who are tasked with choosing the photos and stories that speak to the state of our world should be as diverse as the people they cover.
On Thursday, July 4 — Independence Day occurs in the United States. But this year the traditional firework display is incrementally being replaced by drone shows, which are more eco-friendly, less noisy, and safer overall. The leading drone company Sky Elements reports there will be 35 of these new shows in major cities across the country. Check out an example of a drone show from last’s year’s Independence Day in Lake Tahoe:
Beginning this week — The United States and Panama start a partnership to return refugee- and asylum-seeking migrants traveling through the Darien Gap back to their home countries.
“I won’t allow Panama to be an open path for thousands of people who enter our country illegally, supported by an international organization related to drug trafficking and human trafficking,” said Panama’s brand-new president, José Raúl Mulino, during his inauguration speech on Monday.
Here’s a closer look at why migrants are leaving their home countries: Triggered by climate disasters, political instability, corruption, and a lack of job prospects at home, over half a million migrants from Central America crossed through this 100-mile-long stretch of dense and dangerous forest in hopes of starting a new life in the United States and elsewhere. While Panama has agreed to work with the U.S. to arrange return flights for migrants spotted in the Central American country, experts warn these already record-shattering migrant numbers will increase “as socioeconomic conditions continue to worsen across the region.”
Major pathways taken by migrants worldwide. // Source: International Organization for Migration
On Sunday, July 7 — Navy Day, which celebrates the founding of the Ukrainian Navy, occurs in the war-torn country. Since the start of Russia’s invasion over two years ago, the Ukrainian navy has wiped out nearly one third of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet without even having its own large naval vessels on active duty. On Tuesday, U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. will soon announce a $2.3 billion military aid package in new security assistance for Ukraine. So, maybe one day the Navy will get new digs while it continues to David-and-Goliath against Russia’s seafaring power.
On Monday, July 8 — Applications close for Australia-based job-seeking hopefuls to apply to become a professional wombat walker in Bicheno, Tasmania. In efforts to bring more tourism during the off seasons to the island, Tasmania’s touring industry has offered a slate of odd jobs that represent the most distinctive features of Tasmania’s nature, culture, and popular attractions. According to the job’s terms and conditions, the position is unpaid but room, board, and travel to the island is covered. All you’ll need to do is “take our wombats on their morning waddle” and “keep them [the wombats] motivated with encouragement and snacks.” (Wow. Am I no different than a wombat? Because this sounds like something I need, too.)
A cheeky wombat. // Source: Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service
Also on Monday, July 8 — A sneak preview on 35mm of the highly-anticipated horror film “Long Legs” screens in New York City. Early reviews have been glowing, with critics saying it may be this generation’s “Silence of the Lambs,” which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1992. The internet has exploded with hype around the film’s promotional campaign, which has featured real-life phone numbers that lead to eerie voices messages and culture reporters receiving fake bloody promotional packages courtesy of the Long Legs marketing team. As someone who loves horror so much that I hosted my own murder mystery party, it’s safe to say I’m chuffed by the film’s buzz.
There’s a phenomenon in psychology called the peak-end rule, which I find helpful for thinking about memory and designing experiences.
The rule posits that humans’ memory of an experience is created by how we feel at the peak of it and at the end of it, as opposed to all the moments throughout it or the length of the experience.
Say for example you go to a concert, you’ll most likely remember that concert experience because of the most intense moment (whether good or bad) and how you felt when the concert ended.
I find the peak-end rule fascinating when thinking about performance, since I think we sometimes think that if let’s say you botch your guitar solo during a show, everyone is going to think your whole performance is a wash. But the peak-end rule shows if you then have another peak moment that outweighs the error, and you end on a bang, people will probably remember your performance positively.
I imagine this is what Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is hoping for, too. If President Biden can have several more peak moments where he appears to have mental acuity (in debates, interviews, etc.) and ends the campaign on that same note, maybe voters won’t be thinking as much about last week’s alarm-ringing debate as they head to the polls.
— Ben
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