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For Culture, Leave Phones at the Door

July 16, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: Grace Coudal.
The Fulfillment Center organizers give attendees small cloth pouches to place their phones inside of for the duration of their “unplugged” events.

One day in the early 2000s, I was astonished to see a well-dressed woman walking down the sidewalk, apparently talking to herself. It took a moment to understand she was on the phone.

Before I knew it, there were numerous people on the commuter rail having long, loud, personal conversations as I tried to read a novel or sleep.

We’re not talking about that long ago. It was a time that many of us started to hate phones. Nowadays in Chicago, creatives are deciding to do something about the way phones have taken over.

Ambar Colón writes at WBEZ Chicago, “During the first weekend of May, dozens of people filed into a River North coworking space for what was billed as a hands-on, phone-free experience.

“After slipping their devices into small cloth pouches stamped with the words ‘Fulfillment Center,’ visitors made their way over to a pair of industrial shelves stacked with activity boxes labeled ‘make,’ ‘play,’ ‘read’ and ‘write.’ Inside the boxes, they found crafts, readable materials and games — plenty of things to do instead of scrolling endlessly on their mobile phones.

“Meanwhile, up in Edgewater, theater leaders from [producingbody] are introducing audiences to magnetically locking Yondr pouches, starting [in May] with the Chicago premiere of Spaceman. …

“If you want a deep dive into Chicago arts and culture, check your phone at the door: The ‘unplugged’ trend is growing locally among arts groups responding to a collective desire for more phone-free experiences. …

“For some Chicago cafes and lounges, such as Kibbitznest Books, Brews & Blarney and Verzênay in Lincoln Park, the unplugged trend is nothing new. These cafes are intentionally Wi-Fi-free, opting for board games and books instead of a sea of silent and disconnected remote workers.

“Major musicians such as Phoebe Bridgers and David Byrne have enforced no-phone zones at their events, too, using similar phone pouches, or in the case of Byrne’s ‘Theater of the Mind‘ theater installation in River North, requesting fans place their devices in lockers.

“The idea for the phone-free Fulfillment Center — a pop-up for people of all ages — started with a simple question, event creator and Little Council marketing co-founder Jessa Fuller said: ‘What if we took up a little bit of space in our communities with a center that was geared toward personal fulfillment?’ …

“After guests picked one of the four boxes [at the center], they took the box over to a table dubbed the ‘line’ and unpacked it. Inside, the materials and packing slip described the activity: ‘play’ boxes included classic games like Uno and Jenga, while ‘make’ boxes contained magazines and other supplies for collage-making.

“One box contained supplies for a game of ‘exquisite corpse’ — a drawing game invented in the 1920s, where artists come together to create a character without seeing the previous contributions. …

“ ‘Read’ boxes included articles from Chicago-based publications, such as copies of The Pub (which is print-only), or the Poetry Foundation’s poetry magazine. And inside the ‘write’ boxes, attendees received bios of older adults (through the group Love For Our Elders), and were inspired to write letters to friends and family. …

“Up north at the theater, [producingbody] founders Amy Carpenter and Taylor Dalton said their aim with the phone-free push is to restore the communal intimacy of traditional theater. …

“Plenty of humans are ‘addicted’ to their phones, even if just a little bit, Carpenter said. Though reminders to silence or power off phones are ubiquitous with pre-show warmups across Chicago theaters, devices are still a problem, she added.

“ ‘It’s tough because you want to believe that people will follow instructions, and then we just see time and time again that they don’t,’ Carpenter said.

“Spaceman, written by Brooklyn-based playwright Leegrid Stevens, is a solo show about an astronaut who’s traveling to Mars with the sole task of laying the roots for a Martian colony. All that alone time gives the astronaut plenty of time to sit with her own thoughts and fears about life on Earth and what might await her when she arrives on the red planet. Carpenter and Dalton want the phone-free experience to mirror the protagonist’s isolation.

Upon check-in, guests will receive a Yondr pouch and sit, without the comfort of doom-scrolling, for at least 15 minutes before the show starts.

“ ‘That will inevitably give the audience a taste of our protagonist’s experience,’ they said.

“Still, phone-free rules can be risky for businesses, especially when social media is the top source for information and news about cultural events. …

“ ‘It is a risk. But I think the hope here is to ultimately make it worth it for [audiences],’ Dalton said. ‘We wanna make the experience so special inside the theater that they forget that they don’t have access to their phones.’ ”

More at WBEZ, here.

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A Passion for Saving the Soil

July 15, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: Judith Jockel/Guardian.
Iranian-born Sousan Samadani learned about the Save the Soil movement at age 60 and jumped in with both feet. Here she is in her adopted home of Utrecht in the Netherlands. 

Once upon a time, most of us were pretty clueless about soil — what made for good soil and why good soil is important. Age 60 was the first time Sousan Samadani realized that modern civilization had been degrading soil and what that meant for the planet. She didn’t just feel shocked. She leaped into action.

Paula Cocozza writes at the Guardian, “Sousan Samadani was watching videos on YouTube one day when she came across a post about how the world’s soil was degrading so rapidly that it was in danger of extinction.

“The video – posted by the Save Soil movement – ‘was like a shock for me,’ Samadani says. …

“Samadani made a decision in that moment: she was ‘going to be with this movement, fully, 100%.’ According to Unesco, 90% of global soil could be degraded by 2050. Save Soil was launched by the spiritual leader ‘Sadhguru’ Jaggi Vasudev, who announced a trip in 2022 to raise awareness: a 19,000-mile motorbike ride through Europe, the Middle East and India.

“A team of volunteers had already been booked to accompany Vasudev – so Samadani, 65, who lives in Utrecht in the Netherlands, decided to make her own shadow journey. While Sadhguru travelled to 27 countries, Samadani made it to all those and more, continuing on to Nepal, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana, helping out at campaign events.

“Other than three flights, she traveled by bus and train, and even hitchhiked from Turkey to Georgia. She stayed in hostels or with volunteers, or in ‘the cheapest hotel I could find.’

“She travelled for three months, and sometimes went days without a proper meal because she would arrive at a station with her rucksack and rush off to campaign straight away.

“Samadani had never even been involved with activism before. So why soil, and why now?

“Ever since she was a child growing up in Iran, Samadani says, she has felt huge empathy for others – her stomach would churn at the idea of others suffering whenever she heard an ambulance, and she would pick up banana skins from the ground so people wouldn’t slip on them.

“She was born in Kermanshah, near the border with Iraq. Her father had a snack bar there, but when she was 19, the family, who are Bahá’ís, moved to Shiraz to escape persecution. … People of Bahá’í faith have been persecuted in Iran since the Iranian revolution, facing the seizure of property, imprisonment and even execution for their religious beliefs.

“Before the snack bar, Samadani’s father had a farm on which he grew wheat, and a garden full of fruit trees – ‘apricots, pomegranates, apples, plums, grapes – and there were sheep, cows, goats, turkeys and chickens. Everyone said it was an amazing, amazing garden,’ she says.

“The family left that property before Samadani was born. She never saw it, not even in photographs, but her parents talked about it, and the picture of it, the scent of all those blossoms, has lingered clear and fragrant in her mind.

“In Shiraz, she played piano (sometimes for seven hours a day) at a cultural centre. When the teacher moved away, Samadani, then in her 20s, took over her job, giving piano lessons to 40 children a week.

“She married and had two children and, in 1995, at the age of 35, left with them for the Netherlands ‘as a refugee.’ In Iran, Bahá’í people are not allowed to go to university. …

“In the Netherlands, she taught piano and tended a garden that she rented by the year. ‘I had flowers. I had potatoes, tomatoes, onions, different kinds of beans and fennel and carrot,’ she says. …

“Samadani’s newfound love of campaigning has been transformative. ‘It’s where my life of adventure started,’ she says. To raise awareness, she has skydived and cycled almost 400 miles from Chennai to Coimbatore in southern India. … ‘My wish is to bring safe soil to Iran, because it needs it very, very badly,’ Samadani says.”

More at the Guardian, here. No firewall.

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Harlem Renaissance Revisited

July 14, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: William Greaves Productions.
The film Once Upon a Time in Harlem centers on a cocktail party William Greaves hosted in August 1972 with men snd women of the Harlem Renaissance who were still living. 

Many Americans know of the Harlem Renaissance as the flourishing of African American arts and culture in New York in the 1920s and 1930s. But a documentary about it was filmed mostly in the 1970s when William Greaves rounded up the remaining members of the movement and had a party.

Nadia Khomami explained recently at the Guardian, “In 1969, the pioneering documentarian William Greaves wrote of his fury over the racially degrading stereotypes that white film producers threw up on American screens. …

“Three years later, Greaves began work on what he considered the most important footage he ever shot: a feature documentary gathering surviving figures of the Harlem Renaissance to reflect on the movement they had built half a century earlier.

“Now, more than 50 years after cameras rolled, Once Upon a Time in Harlem is finally receiving its international premiere in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight – completed not by William Greaves, who died in 2014, but by his son David and granddaughter Liani.

“The documentary centers on a cocktail party Greaves hosted at Duke Ellington’s townhouse in Harlem in August 1972 – an attempt to capture the voices of artists, writers, musicians and organisers whose work had transformed Black American culture in the 1920s, but whose stories were already at risk of being sidelined.

“Greaves invited every surviving participant he could locate. Many had not seen one another for decades. They included the painter Aaron Douglas; the queer artist and writer Richard Bruce Nugent; the poet Arna Bontemps; the musicians Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle; the photographer James Van Der Zee; and Ida Mae Cullen, the widow of Countee Cullen.

“For four hours, Greaves filmed them as they laughed, reminisced and debated. The resulting film follows the rhythm of the party itself: tentative greetings and warm memories gradually giving way to animated debates over politics, language and legacy.

“David Greaves, who was there in 1972 aged 22, worked on the shoot as a cameraman under his father. …

“Duke Ellington himself was unwell and did not attend, but his sister Ruth was present. ‘There were four cameras, two crews circulating through the apartment catching conversations, these little moments between them,’ David said. ‘Mostly my father just let them freestyle, it was very fluid.’

“Among the film’s strengths is precisely that looseness. At one point, guests debate whether the term ‘Negro’ should be discarded in favor of ‘Afro-American.’ Elsewhere, they discuss Marcus Garvey and Langston Hughes and the global reverberations of anti-colonial struggle. Aaron Douglas reflects on jazz, telling the room: ‘It would be considered a revolution in relation to other music. It was not a revolution to us.’

“For David Greaves, those conversations feel strikingly current. ‘When they talk about whether to call themselves Black or Negro, that’s a discussion still happening now – you’ve got Black, African American, people of color. And then there is still this question of what the diaspora should do in relation to Africa.’ …

“The film also reminds viewers how recent America’s racial violence remains. David points to footage accompanying the anti-lynching poem ‘The Lynching,’ ending on a young white girl watching with what he calls ‘fiendish glee. … The US is not that far away from that time.’ …

“For him, the film arrives as Black history is once again being fought over in the US. … ‘They’ve been doing everything they can to erase the Black experience in America, even removing signage from park service sites. What this film does is show a group of wonderful people sitting around talking about a time 50 years ago, and about their own present. These giant intellectuals that the media didn’t even realize existed.’ …

“After William’s death, the material passed to his widow Louise, who continued working on it until her own death in 2023. David and Liani then took over, restoring and digitizing 60,000 feet of 16mm film. …

“When shaping the final cut, he followed one of his father’s principles: ‘My dad used to say if there’s something that affects you viscerally, go with it.’ …

“David, who has spent the past three decades publishing Our Time Press, a Brooklyn community newspaper focused on Black civic and cultural life, with his wife, Bernice Green, said he hoped to release the film in time for Greaves’ centenary in October, with retrospectives planned in New York and at the Barbican in London.

“ ‘My dad was appreciated by those who knew documentary film, but he didn’t have the acclaim that he has now,’ he said. ‘This film should cement him as a chronicler of the history of African Americans.’ ”

More at the Guardian, here.

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Summer Photos

July 13, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photos: John and Suzanne’s Mom.
Thank you for the birthday flowers, Erik. The mint smells great!

John tells me that the reason sand sculptures like the ones below survive for days and weeks is that glue is mixed with the sand. I have trouble picturing just how that works, how you shape sand that’s full of glue. But I love the results. And since I still haven’t gotten to the Hampton Beach display that the Nomad writes about, this handsome squid will have to do.

More on the squid at Atlantis Rising, here.

The next picture is from across the street and shows the working fishing port in Pt Judith.

My other photos are not in any particular order. I have a band tuning up at this year’s Porchfest, the parachutes at the subway stop in Porter Square, Cambridge, wildflowers by the train station, Old Harbor boats in New Shoreham, paddles at the Oar restaurant, sheep by watercolorist Susan L Johnson, and the results of last year’s berry picking (blackberry jam by Sandra, left, and wild grape jelly, right.)

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The Evolution of the State Fair

July 12, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: Albert Ting/Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
This cow was made out of about 700 pounds of butter and was on display at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. for a year. It was created by Sarah Pratt, the official butter sculptor of the Iowa State Fair.

When we lived in Minneapolis, one of the must-see events of any year was the state fair. We loved checking out the crazy foods on offer. Deep-fried jelly beans, Anyone? Watermelon tacos? We loved the sculpture of Princess Kay of the Milky Way, created out of butter, the seed art, and the livestock exhibits.

For state fairs, you can’t beat Minnesota.

Ayana Archie has wrote at National Public Radio [NPR] about the origins of these partly playful, partly serious annual celebrations.

“There’s something for everyone at a state fair — petting zoos, live music, fried foods. For many states in the U.S., summer to fall is the season for the annual state fair. The country’s first state fair dates to the 19th century, when locals would showcase livestock, crafts and agriculture.

“State fairs of today share the same elements, but have evolved into something like pop-up theme parks. They remain a favorite American pastime, contributing $30 billion to the U.S. economy each year, said David Grindle, CEO of the International Association of Fairs & Expositions. …

“State fairs began as agricultural competitions, which the British brought with them as they colonized North America, said Nick Pirro, who the New York State Fair has deemed its unofficial resident historian. … They served as spaces where farmers could show off their livestock and inform the public. …

“Once the colonies began developing governments and counties, county fairs took off. … In 1841, the state fair was born. The first one was held in Syracuse, N.Y. There were plowing competitions and animal exhibits. …

“Now, fair contestants show off all kinds of things — flowers, outfits and cakes … but agriculture is still everywhere at fairs.

” ‘The driving force is agriculture,’ Pirro said.

“Crafts have an early presence at state fairs, too. But back then, displays and demonstrations were a matter of function. They were useful for determining things like the types of wool a sheep might produce, or showing off the latest manufacturing or blacksmith techniques, said Mary Savig, the curator-in-charge of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery, an arm of the American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. …

“In the 19th century, Victorian hair wreaths (made from human hair) were all the rage throughout the country, said Savig. She traveled to various state fairs to curate the Renwick exhibit. She said more recently, ‘diamond’ art has become popular, in which people make portraits, or recreate famous artworks out of crystals.

And as a tongue-in-cheek homage to fair food, some crafters have begun constructing quilts-on-a-stick at the Minnesota State Fair, for example.

“They’re mini quilts about the size of a sheet of printer paper that artists poke skewers through. ‘It’s a pretty small project and it’s very accessible to people, especially new quilters,’ Savig said.

“In Mississippi, the Choctaw Indian Princess is crowned each year at the Choctaw Indian Fair, in which the contestants often make their own garments with elaborate beading and embroidery work. In Minnesota, there are contests for rosemaling, a Norwegian folk art, which is characterized by intricate patterns of flowers and swirls. …

” ‘On artists, [fairs] have had historically, a really important impact, just as far as validating an artist’s skills, also giving them a platform to show their work and be recognized,’ Savig said.”

More at NPR, here. Official butter sculptor of a state fair? Don’t you love the kinds of jobs that exist in our nutty, fascinating world?

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African American Mushroom Experts

July 11, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: Maria Pinto.
Maria Pinto with a burn morel mushroom, on Boston’s North Shore; right, Pinto with a Berkeley’s polypore mushroom in Weston, Massachusetts. 

Last fall, when my second cousin stopped by with his mycologist friend, they inspired in me a new interest in wild mushrooms. I don’t feel motivated enough to find and eat them, but I am definitely paying more attention to what pops up after a rainstorm.

Melissa Hellmann wrote recently at the Guardian about some serious mushroom hunters.

“On her typical walk in the woods in Newton, Massachusetts, something stopped Maria Pinto in her tracks. She spotted what appeared to be a glowing yellow figure with a metallic sheen among the pine needles on the ground. It was the first time Pinto was enthralled by a mushroom – the American yellow fly agaric, a poisonous fungus. …

“ ‘It forced me down on my knees to examine it further, because it didn’t look real,’ Pinto, a naturalist and writer, said. … More than a decade later, Pinto has dedicated much of her life to mycology, the burgeoning study of fungi.

“As a Jamaican American woman, Pinto stands apart in the mostly white hobby through her pursuit of exploring the African diaspora’s connection to mushrooms. In her recent book, Fearless, Sleepless, Deathless: What Fungi Taught Me about Nourishment, Poison, Ecology, Hidden Histories, Zombies, and Black Survival, Pinto interviewed Black people who are growing and documenting mushrooms throughout the Americas. …

“Pinto, Elan Hagens in Oregon and William Padilla-Brown in central Pennsylvania are a few Black mushroom enthusiasts contributing to the understanding of fungi and humans’ connection to them. …

“Fungi are essential to ecology. They act as decomposers, and without them, the earth would be filled with dead trees and animals. Mycorrhizal fungi, which grow in the soil, supply plants with additional nutrients and water. The organisms also have a storied role in African diasporic history and culture. Prior to the outlawing of slavery in the US, Africans who were escaping enslavement would consume an underground fungus to sustain themselves. …

“Pinto became interested in mushrooms by accident. As a self-identified ‘swamp rat; a little feral child,’ growing up in Jamaica and south Florida, she loved to pick fresh food from the ground and off of trees. A few years after her run-in with the yellow mushroom in 2013, there was a mushroom boom in the north-east US [that] reminded Pinto about her love for foraging wild food. …

“A friend of Pinto’s who grew up foraging for mushrooms in Poland taught her the basics of identifying and cataloging fungi. Pinto’s social media posts were soon filled with pictures of mushrooms she’d foraged, leading the University of North Carolina Press to approach her to write a book about fungi. …

“In her book, Pinto wrote about self-emancipated formerly enslaved people who consumed Wolfiporia, a fungus that produces an underground source of nutrients that resemble a small coconut. The organism uses the ball of nutrients to sustain itself during drought and cold seasons. Native Americans would help the formerly enslaved people find and dig up the underground food source.

“ ‘In these moments of being on the run and not wanting to make smoke or any indication that you’re hiding away,’ Pinto said, ‘this nutrient store underground, especially in the wintertime, was probably an incredible food.’ The fungi is still used in traditional Chinese medicine to promote calmness and to enhance digestion. …

“Hagens’ interest in mushrooms began when she was a young child growing up in the Portland [Oregon] area, where she attended environmental and nature-based classes starting in elementary school. Her love for fungi grew when she became a dog trainer in her mid-20s, after she participated in a CBS reality television show called Greatest American Dog in 2008. Though she didn’t win the $250,000 promised for the owner of the best-trained dog, Hagens learned during her time on the show that dogs could be trained to locate the odoriferous underground fungi, truffles. ‘This whole boom of truffles in Oregon and the United States was at its infancy,’ Hagens, 41, said.

“In 2011, she created her company, Temptress Truffles, to sell truffles found by her dogs and other foragers. … In her decades of foraging for mushrooms, one spring day in 2020 stands out the most.

“While walking her dog alongside a river in the Portland metropolitan area, she spotted a large oyster mushroom twice the size of her face. The fan-shaped fungi with sprawling gills rested high up on a tree several meters away. ‘People were walking and jogging in front of me, and nobody is seeing this mushroom,’ Hagens said. ‘It’s like the biggest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m flipping out.’ It began raining, so Hagens returned in the evening to remove the mushroom with a knife fastened to a long stick. She cut out the parts infested with worms and made the rest into potstickers that she ate for days.”

Lots more at the Guardian, here. The Guardian is free, but please consider donating. They are doing an amazing job.

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She Fought the Sugar Lobby

July 10, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: Helena Price.
Cristin Kearns, who took on the sugar lobby.

There’s an old-time hymn that goes in part, “Once to ev’ry man and nation/ Comes a moment to decide.” I heard a story at dinner the other night that made me think of that hymn. It was about a minister, a friend’s father. He had a parish in Memphis and was there when Martin Luther King, Jr., was killed. He overheard two parishioners using the N-word and saying the death was a good thing. He scrapped his planned sermon and preached against racism. Within months, he’d lost half his parish and had to move.

I greatly admire people who stand up, knowing it will make powerful people angry.

Here’s another brave soul. Alexandra Sifferlin interviewed Dr. Cristin Kearns for Time magazine.

Alexandra Sifferlin
“You started investigating the sugar industry after attending a dental conference on diabetes. Why?

Cristin Kearns
“I got a government brochure about preventing diabetes, and the nutritional advice was to reduce calories, increase fiber, decrease fat. It didn’t say anything about sugar. One of the speakers had a fast-food nutrition guide, and [a sweet tea] got ranked as a ‘healthy.’ I asked him, ‘How can you characterize sweet tea, which has a ton of sugar in it, as a healthy drink?’ His response was that there’s no evidence linking sugar to chronic disease. I just looked at him like, What?

Sifferlin
“So that led you to start digging into how industry was affecting public-health messaging?

Kearns
“I came across all of these references to the Great Western Sugar Co. The company was based in Denver, and sugar beets were historically a major crop in Colorado, so the company decided to donate many of their records to local libraries. In the first folder that I opened, there was a confidential memo with the Sugar Association’s letterhead on it. I was like, What did I just find? Are you kidding me? …

“It was a memo the Sugar Association sent out to its PR guys at various sugar companies about a report they had put together called Sugar in the Diet of Man. The report, which they put together with consultants, was meant to be a review of all the scientific research about sugar, heart disease, diabetes, tooth decay, obesity, etc. Of course, it ultimately concluded that sugar didn’t have a role in any of those things.

Sifferlin
“Your most recent research showed the sugar industry funded studies blaming fat instead of sugar as the leading cause of heart disease.

Kearns
“I don’t think we realize how much we’ve been marketed to. The whole “low-fat is healthy” movement allowed products high in sugar to be promoted as healthy. I don’t think the average person really grasps that there is industry money behind many food- and health-related studies. …

“We’re in a time now where Big Soda is fighting the soda taxes, and the public is waking up to industry tactics. There’s a whole movement of trying to increase people’s awareness of food. …

“Even though the science is clear that sugar contributes to heart disease, we’re still having these same debates about the role sugar plays in people’s health. I think my research can help us understand why these debates have gone on for so long. The tobacco industry still funds research, but the more high-quality, respectable journals have refused to publish it. That hasn’t happened yet in the food world.

Sifferlin
“Has your own diet changed?

Kearns
“I used to drink soda instead of coffee. That was a long time ago.

Sifferlin
Do you consider yourself an activist?

Kearns
“That gets turned into sort of a bad word sometimes. I am taking action, let’s put it that way. I really want evidence to support what I’m bringing to light. I don’t want to just point the finger and say the sugar industry is bad. I want to document what they’re doing. I want the work to lead the way, and not have it be about me.

Sifferlin
“Many of your colleagues describe you as soft-spoken. Are you?

Kearns
“People don’t expect me to come out with the material I have. Because I am not preachy, people seem to trust me as reliable. I’ll take it. That’s who I am. I’m a proud introvert.”

More at Time, here, and at Sugar Politics, here.

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Peacock Invasion

July 9, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: Nicolas Brunetti.
Peacocks started roaming the streets of Punta Marina, Italy, during Covid. Now, love them or hate them, they’re there to stay. 

Around here we get too many Canada geese. A town in Italy, however, gets too many peacocks. Which would you rather have? From my experience at a friend’s home years ago, I’d rather have geese early in the morning. Peacocks are loud.

Angela Giuffrida writes at the Guardian, “Federico Bruni was sitting on a bench, eating a piadina romagnola (flatbread sandwich) and minding his own business, when a peacock strutted up in the hope of a few crumbs. High-pitched squeals emanated from the direction of a disused military barracks across the road. ‘That would be the call to love,’ Bruni said. ‘The male peacocks are courting the female ones – we’re in peak mating season.’

“As another couple of peacocks wandered by, their iridescent trains sweeping the pavement behind them, this could be mistaken for a wildlife park. But the scene is Punta Marina, a seaside town on the Adriatic coast of Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region that has been colonized by the birds, to the delight – or despair – of its approximately 1,000 residents.

“The birds have made their home in the gardens of abandoned properties and perch on rooftops and fences, or peek out from trees. They carefully navigate the traffic, sometimes tapping their beaks on the windows of parked cars after catching their reflection. …

“They don’t bother Bruni, who frequently comes to his holiday home in Punta. ‘It’s no different to seeing a cat, really, they’re part of the fabric of the town,’ he said.

“Others are less welcoming. ‘There are too many of them,’ said Francesco, who preferred not to give his surname. ‘They jump over the wall and on to my balcony, leaving excrement. But the main issue is the mating – the screams are keeping people awake.’ …

“Historically a symbol of immortality, peacocks feature in many of nearby Ravenna’s prized Byzantine mosaics, and over the centuries they became status symbols, once adding color to the resplendent gardens of Emilia-Romagna’s wealthy residents.

“How they settled in Punta Marina is a mystery – although there are reports they were brought in as pets by a resident more than 20 years ago. … For a long time, the peacocks lived in the sprawling pine forest behind the town. But then came Covid in 2020, and for months the peacocks roamed free while people were in lockdown. The occasional human they came across gave them food, enticing them to return. …

“Rosario Balestrieri, an ornithologist at the Naples-based Anton Dohrn zoological station, said … ‘Supplementary feeding actively provided by the local population has encouraged steady population growth.’

“While people were used to the birds’ more prominent presence at this time of year, the mating period, a recent social media post from a disgruntled female resident imitating the mating scream has gone viral, creating a media frenzy. A local police officer said some resulting reports – depicting an ‘invasion’ of peacocks forcing people away from the town because of a possible threat to public health – were wildly exaggerated.

“Still, the high profile tensions have left Ravenna city council, which in recent years has been grappling with how to manage Punta Marina’s peacock population, with a dilemma. An attempt to move them in 2022 was opposed, and after that, Clama, a voluntary animal rights association, was enlisted to protect the peacocks and encourage harmony.

“Clama has produced leaflets and put up signs to teach residents and tourists about the birds, saying they absolutely must not be fed.

“ ‘If they know it’s easier to come and snack on a sandwich in the town rather than having to forage for their own food in the pine forest, then of course they will keep coming back,’ said Cristina Franzoni, a volunteer with Clama, adding that people who fed the peacocks could be fined. …

“ ‘Peacock rangers,’ who can be called on to clean up poo from the streets, homes or the wheels of cars have been recruited to defuse tensions. …

“Other Italian regions have offered to ‘adopt’ the birds, but Franzoni said removing them was not the solution and would cause ‘trauma.’ She said: ‘We need to try to live with the animals instead of making them victims of our choices – they didn’t choose to come here, we brought them here and so must respect them.’ “

More at the Guardian, here. No firewall. Nice photos, including a charming peacock mosaic from Ravenna.

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Bristol Bay Tribes Don’t Give Up

July 8, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: Goldman Environmental Prize.
Alannah Acaq Hurley is a Yup’ik leader, executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, and winner of the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for North America.

It is inconceivable to most people in the modern world that if gold was lying around nearby, you wouldn’t help yourself to it. Indigenous communities are not “most people.”

At the environmental radio show Living on Earth, host Steve Curwood recently interviewed Goldman Environmental Prize winner Alannah Acaq Hurley, executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Steve Curwood
“In 2001, a Canadian mining company proposed a massive gold and copper mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, a pristine water system on the coast of the Alaska Peninsula that’s home to the largest sockeye salmon run in the world. The salmon support a thriving ecosystem and are a cultural and economic lifeblood for native Alaskans, who have stewarded the land and water for thousands of years. And as the company moved ahead with plans to build the largest open pit mine in North America, those indigenous communities joined together to bring it to a halt. In 2023 they secured a rare ‘EPA veto’ of the proposed Pebble Mine, and the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for North America recognizes an Indigenous leader in this fight.

Alannah Acaq Hurley
“My Yup’ik name is Acaq. My Irish name is Alannah Hurley. … Acaq is my great-grandmother’s name.

Curwood
“Alannah, before we start talking about your work protecting Bristol Bay, paint us a picture of the bay. What makes this such a special place? …

Hurley
“It has all the different types of terrain in all of Alaska, in one place. Where I live, at the mouth of the Nushagak and Wood River, we have everything from tundra and wetlands to mountains, freshwater lakes, freshwater rivers, the muddy waters of Nushagak Bay, the beautiful, crystal clear ocean waters as you go west towards Togiak and Twin Hills. … It’s so pristine you can still hunt and fish and pick berries and eat them straight from the land. You can drink right out of the lake and rivers. It’s paradise. …

Curwood
“It produces, what, more than $2 billion of annual revenue from Sockeye fishing alone. It’s also an important food source and cultural site for Indigenous communities, First Alaskans. Talk to me about what the bay means to the people in the area.

Hurley
“So there are three different Indigenous groups in Bristol Bay, the Yup’ik people, the Dena’ina people, and the Alutiiq people. And our homeland, you know, has been stewarded by our people for thousands and thousands of years. They’ve taken care of this place and entrusted it to us. Our lands, our water, and everything that that entails, the salmon, the moose, the caribou, the bears, us, our freshwater fish, our berries, our plants, our medicines, we very much view it as all very connected. So anything that happens to our lands and waters happens to us. And so it is everything to us. It is the health of our people, physically, culturally, spiritually, it sustains us. It nourishes us. We’re so blessed to be able to live in the ways that our ancestors have lived. …

Curwood
“In the year 2001 or so, the Northern Dynasty Minerals mining company proposed the development of what’s called the Pebble Mine. … What would have been the environmental impact of such a project?

Hurley
“The environmental impact of the Pebble project would have been devastation. … That picture is not a question of, if something will happen, but when, especially in an earthquake-prone zone, and in a very interconnected, you know, hydrologically interconnected place, they’re like the veins of the bay, like the body, everything is connected, all of that water is connected. …

Curwood
“Some say that there are literally hundreds of billions of dollars worth of copper and gold and other minerals in the area for the Pebble Mine. Sounds like a lot of money, but you didn’t see this as good news for your community if this got developed.

Hurley
“No, we did not. … Very early on, the vast majority of Bristol Bay’s people said, no, no way, this is not worth the risk. You cannot put a price tag on our water and what salmon mean to us as a people. …

Curwood
“Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but my understanding of a lot of Alaskan politics means that at the state level, there wasn’t a huge amount of pushback against this Pebble Mine proposal.

Hurley
“Yeah, our people’s concerns were really falling on deaf ears at the state level. We saw the state rewrite our area management plan illegally, without proper input or public process or consultation with our tribes. … And so because our concerns were falling on deaf ears at the state level, our tribal governments really saw the federal government as the place to put some energy, and that was where kind of the petition to the EPA came from, because the state was not listening. They were doing the exact opposite, to really grease the skids for the company to move forward. …

“The tribes petitioned in 2010 to prohibit all mines like Pebble within the Bristol Bay watershed. The EPA came back and said, we’re not going to act on a prohibition immediately under our authority under the Clean Water Act, but we are going to study Bristol Bay. We want to do an assessment. And we want to ask, is this place really unique, and what does this fishery mean to the state and people? … They took three years to do a bunch of studies. They were in a lot of different communities, there was a lot of peer review to answer those questions, and after that very long, drawn-out assessment, they determined what our people had been saying all along. …

“It was a bit of a roller coaster between the different administrations, but it’s really a testament to the dedication of our people and our region, that regardless of the administration, regardless of winning and losing court cases, they did not give up. And so the EPA, in January of 2023, finalized protections to stop the project.”

More at Living on Earth, here.

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Ordinary Folks vs Petrochemicals

July 7, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: Rhonda Dumas / PieFace Photography.
Cyclists gathering along the Mississippi Riiver are protesting fossil fuels and chemical plants in low-income Louisiana neighborhoods.

Sometimes it’s funny how we light upon a worthy cause that we end up supporting for years. Finding the Louisiana Bucket Brigade and being really impressed with the courage and success of people who appeared to have no resources was like that. It was a textile artist I was following on Instagram who introduced me to them. Here’s the latest from the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.

Sara Ravits writes at Gambit, “Cathy Laurino leads a group of cyclists to an ancient oak tree, just a few blocks from a massive Shell chemical plant along the Mississippi River in Norco, Louisiana. It’s the first stop along the seven-mile Down by the River Bike Ride in St. Charles Parish, a roving, interactive history lesson hosted by the environmental nonprofit and watchdog organization, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.

“Along the way, the group learns about the region’s history of slavery, Jim Crow, and the acceleration of climate change caused by the fossil fuel industry in the region known as ‘Cancer Alley.’ It culminates at the site of the largest uprising by enslaved people in U.S. history, which took place along the Mississippi River in 1811.

“The bike ride is pretty much for anyone, says Laurino, the program’s director, especially people interested in the petrochemical industry’s history in Louisiana and the people fighting against it. …

“In the shaded green space sandwiched between a chemical plant and its affiliated refinery, Laurino kicks off the ride on a somber note, telling the tragic story of Leroy Jones, a 16-year-old Black teenager who was killed following an industrial explosion in 1973. Unbeknownst at the time to the residents in the tight-knit Black neighborhood known as Diamond, there was a gas leak at the nearby plant, which had been in operation for about two decades. So when Jones went to rev up his mower and help his elderly neighbor Helen Washington with her lawn, the engine instantly ignited and engulfed him in flames. Washington’s house exploded, killing her instantly.

“Jones, meanwhile, ran toward the oak tree and collapsed as neighbors rushed to douse him, but he ultimately died as a result of his injuries. Fifteen years later, there was another deadly explosion.

“Laurino tells the group that following Jones’ death, his mother Ruth was given a $500 check ‘for her troubles.’

“That insulting act eventually became a galvanizing point in the Diamond community’s long— and ultimately successful fight — for relocation away from the plant, though it would take decades.

“ ‘It ignited a fire in the community,’ Laurino tells the group. ‘They were like, “Absolutely not. We will not let this go. That’s completely unacceptable.” ‘

“The Louisiana Bucket Brigade has long conducted ‘toxic tours’ of the region for journalists, environmental lawyers and other activists, but in 2010 Executive Director Anne Rolfes decided to turn it into a bike-forward event and open it up to the public. The program has since grown its curriculum and partnered with local universities and professors, including Lisa Flanagan from Xavier and Tulane’s Laura Murphy and Kristen Wintersteen. …

“The ride has two tracks: an exploration of history and the telling of present-day environmental justice work. That latter track is updated by Harry ‘Pastor Joe’ Joseph, an activist and nearby resident who is involved in rallying against a petrochemical complex taking shape in nearby Ascension Parish. …

“The Down by the River Ride also leans into the activism and leadership of Margie Richard, a former resident of Norco and a retired teacher who led the charge against Shell for years. … Throughout the next five stops along the way, much more of Richard’s story comes to light. That includes the tales of her enslaved ancestors, who participated in the 1811 slave revolt and whose energy Richard has long channeled in the fight for environmental and racial justice.

“In 1989, Richard founded the group Concerned Citizens of Norco, which eventually teamed up with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. She was also behind the successful push to get the residents of the Diamond community finally resettled in 2002.

“She remains legendary when it comes to organizing against the petrochemical industry. She famously once showed up to an international meeting in the Netherlands to confront a Shell executive while carrying a sealed container of air that she’d collected in her hometown.

“ ‘She said, “You’re polluting us, and you’re pretending like it’s not happening” … . And she singled out this executive specifically and said, “You’re going to do something about this, right?” And he said (in front of everyone at the meeting) “Yes.” And that’s when she knew the relocation was going to happen,’ Laurino says.”

Lots more at the Gambit, here.

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Hooray for World Cup Fan Zones

July 6, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: Carlos Muñoz.
Cape Verdean fans watched the national team play at the PVD Fan Zone in Providence, R.I.

I’m into the World Cup more than usual this year, mostly because the kids and grandkids are but also because so many fun things are happening close to home.

Carlos R. Muñoz wrote recently at the Boston Globe that the fan zone in Providence, Rhode Island, for example, has not only been fun but a great unifier.

“Since the World Cup began,” he wrote, “fans of international football have flooded into the PVD Fan Zone at Station Park in Providence, turning an underused green space into what Mayor Brett Smiley calls the best display of the city’s ‘rich diversity.’

“The Fan Zone has attracted more than 70,000 visitors, and after the FIFA Fan Festival Boston shut down following the end of the World Cup group stage, the Providence spot is the only remaining FIFA-sanctioned event outside Boston Stadium.

“FIFA required host cities to run fan festivals throughout the tournament, which ends with the World Cup Final on July 19, but relaxed its requirements because of funding, according to the Sports Business Journal.  

“ ‘From the outset, FIFA worked closely with Host Cities and local stakeholders to help shape meaningful fan experiences beyond the stadiums that are community-led, fan-oriented and aligned with the spirit of the FIFA World Cup,’ FIFA wrote in an email. …

“A fan festival costs about $1 million a day to operate, according to Fortune. The PVD Fan Zone costs about a third of that amount, according to Joe Wilson, the director of Art, Culture and Tourism for the City of Providence, and producer of the Fan Zone. City officials have committed to keeping it open for the full World Cup.

“Wilson said that cities struggled to pay for security and to make sure that city service costs were being covered. Station Park is located between the Amtrak/MBTA train station, the State House, and Providence Place mall and is an open area that is not typically used for events.

“ ‘Every city who had some kind of interface with FIFA and the World Cup were grappling with a variety of challenges related to budgets, scheduling, and safety,’ Wilson said. ‘One piece that made us say “39 days” is that we already have infrastructure footprint that we cannot move without using cranes that we’re securing 24/7. If we have to secure it, we might as well be open.’

“Providence did an economic impact assessment of life in the city two years ago, according to Wilson, and found that between 5 and 9 p.m. the city is ‘as international a city as Los Angeles’ with communities that have rich, strong immigrant populations who love football. …

“Wilson said the state’s ‘built-in audiences’ and proximity to Boston Stadium attracted groups like the Tartan Army and Ghana fans to Providence. Ghana’s national football team is staying at the Graduate Hotel [in Providence] and practices at Bryant University [in Smithfield].

“ ‘This is the first time this format of a World Cup is taking place over a continent, so even down to the logistics of this, we’re producing the singularly largest sustained event in the history of the city,’ Wilson said. …

“The World Cup has been a unifying event, Smiley said. ‘In the context of a moment where there’s so much stress and strife and division, this has been a really wonderful moment for communities to come together,’ he said. ‘It’s been entirely peaceful and family friendly, and just a nice and joyful occasion.’ …

” ‘We’re not doing this to make money for the city itself, and if the Fan Zone proper breaks even in terms of city impact, but all our businesses thrive, then it will have been a success,’ Smiley said. ‘We’ll have a full accounting of the city’s investment in the Fan Zone by the time we’re done and I’m optimistic that we’ll cover a lot of our expenses.

“City Councilman John Goncalves, whose ward covers much of downtown Providence, said the Fan Zone has been an incredible celebration of soccer, culture, and community.

“ ‘As Team Cape Verde, we’ve seen firsthand how the Fan Zone has united thousands of people around pride, identity, and joy,’ he said. ‘The energy has been incredible.’ …

“Smiley said the turnout for the Cape Verdean matches is one of his tournament highlights.

“ ‘That was a near record attendance night,’ he said. ‘We think we had about 8,000 fans that evening, and not only did I get to see and experience that energy, but to have 8,000 fans at night in a place with adult beverages and have zero issues.’ ”

More at the Globe, here.

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Why Teens Are Swarming

July 5, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: USA Network/Reuters.
“Crush Reloaded” event at Tybee Island, Georgia, in April.

Every year, the town of New Shoreham, Rhode Island, braces itself for the Fourth of July and the likely arrival of crowds of underage teens hauling kegs to the beach. This year they arranged for extra state police to come to the island to support local police, who vowed to be firm about any risky activity. (I assume whoever stole a car July 2 and dismantled a stone wall on the West Side has learned what that means. But by the way, who leaves their keys in an unlocked car over the Fourth?)

‘Most of us experienced [teen years] as a tough time in life. We should be reminded of that. We need some patience,’ says Mr. Martinez.

Patrik Jonsson at the Christian Science Monitor wrote about a recent Georgia “swarm.”

“For Cabriel Lewis, it was an ‘epic’ teen takeover. When he was just 15, he joined tens of thousands of other teenagers to rush onto tiny Tybee Island, Georgia, a barrier island beach town with only one causeway road on and off. They were trying to take part in ‘Orange Crush,’ a controversial, annual spring break beach bash here. Gridlock ensued, people were injured, ambulances got stuck, and mayhem ruled deep into the night.

“ ‘It was a lot of fun,’ says Mr. Lewis, now 18. ‘But I also feel lucky to have gotten off the island alive.’

“Unruly teen gatherings have long been an integral part of American culture … but driven by social media organizing and the potential for viral fame, a new wave of teen ‘takeovers’ is presenting big problems – and opportunities – for communities across the U.S. …

“Like the often artistic ‘flash mobs,’ in which a group rushes in, performs an unexpected act (like the 4,000-person silent disco in London’s Victoria Station in 2006, or the five-minute frozen pose by some 200 people in New York’s Grand Central Station in 2009), modern ‘teen takeovers tend to be social-media-driven gatherings that happen fast, with kids disappearing into crowds when police arrive. That makes it difficult for authorities to hold the youthful participants accountable for any property damage – including dented car roofs from stomping on them or unruly other behavior. …

“Questions are being raised about how communities can tweak responses to the often unruly teen takeovers, rather than just punishing errant teens or their parents. City leaders also acknowledge they can do better. After all, they say, hanging out, taking on risky adventures, and prioritizing peers’ attention over possible consequences are deemed normal behavior for teens trying to establish independence.

‘“This is the kind of thing we, as teenagers, have always done,’ says Jennifer Breheny Wallace, a fellow at the Center for Parent and Teen Communication at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, referring to the youth gatherings in malls and parking lots.

“But times are different, these leaders note, and some teens talk about a sense of irrelevance, whether related to changing media norms, invasive, high-stakes technology, or a polarized political environment – a tricky mix for young people.

“ ‘When we are made to feel like we don’t matter, we can either withdraw or act out in extremes,’ says Ms. Wallace. Teen takeovers ‘are a collective assertion of this need to matter.’

“Here on Tybee Island, a teen takeover on the beach pier in early April ended when gunfire erupted. The teens fled and the police chased, but no one was arrested and no bullet casings were found. The TV show ‘Inside Edition’ even asked Mayor Brian West for a comment.

“ ‘I think [the producers] were expecting this shocked, unprepared small town mayor who was horrified by all of this,’ says Mr. West, who, years ago, became the legal guardian to three teenagers who had nowhere else to go. ‘They didn’t get that. I said, “Look, we do this every year. It’s a big deal, but we know how to handle it.” ‘ (Interestingly, he says, the interview never made it to air.)

“While Mayor West said his goal was to end Orange Crush, citing safety risks, drug and gun concerns, and traffic gridlock, he refocused on creating safe spaces for teens to gather, even as they push boundaries. That revamped gathering, held this year, is now rebranded as ‘Crush Reloaded.’

“Other cities and towns are learning on the job. … Focusing solely on either curfews or parental accountability can fall short, according to research by Charlotte Gill, a criminology professor at George Mason University, who has found that crime sometimes increases during curfews.

“Former Chicago police officer Louis Martinez, now an associate professor of criminal justice at Oakton College in Des Plaines, Illinois, agrees. The call, he says, is to address a mix of needs around discipline, respect, and meaningful relationships in families, schools, neighborhoods, and communities. …

“Many communities, in fact, are moving to balance their response. …

“ ‘Have fun,’ 2nd District Council member Marquinn McDonald said to teens at a news conference in Chicago announcing one such event. ‘Come out, kick it, do your thing, but do not destroy.’ ”

More at the Monitor, here.

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Remote Village Powered by Ingenuity

July 4, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: Mark Saludes.
Rodolfo Sagban stands inside a newly built micro-hydro facility in remote Nabuangan village, Philippines.

The Iran war has been a fiasco in almost any way I can imagine. Except for the increased focus on renewable energy, energy sources that don’t have to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, newly weaponized by Iran.

Mark Saludes writes at the Christian Science Monitor, “In a mountain village in the northern Philippines, electricity does not arrive through transmission lines or come from burning imported fossil fuel. It flows from a local river.

“Each night, as lights flicker on inside scattered homes, the power is generated by a small turbine turning steadily in the dark – built, maintained, and managed by the community itself.

“ ‘We don’t have to rely on outside power facilities. We decide when to switch it on and off,’ says Rodolfo Sagban, chairman of the Lapat Micro Hydro Power Association in Nabuangan village, located in Apayao province. ‘Most importantly, everyone in the village can access it, regardless of economic status.’

“The Iran war that began in late February has drawn attention to the Philippines’ fragile, import-dependent economy, as electricity costs, transport fares, and even food prices continue to climb. Roughly 3.6 million households across the Philippines live off the electrical grid – including about 1.2 million that rely on government-run, diesel-fueled power plants. These households have been hit especially hard by the global energy shock. 

“But in Nabuangan, these big-picture pressures barely register. Decentralized, renewable-based systems such as the one built here are shielding some communities from energy price spikes and grid instability – and they could offer a way to strengthen the country’s overall energy resilience.

“ ‘The real solutions are already here: community-led, small-scale energy systems that live in harmony with nature,’ says Joan Carling, a co-founder of Indigenous Peoples Rights International.

“Nabuangan’s first micro-hydro system – a simple, streamside structure – began operating in 2002. Water is diverted into a narrow intake and collected in a small reservoir. From there, it flows quietly through a long pipe that slopes downhill. Gravity creates enough water pressure to spin a small turbine inside a concrete enclosure. Power lines carry the electricity to homes across the village. 

“Over time, the system has expanded to two other villages in the area, Bubog and Sitio Simud. A fourth facility is under construction to provide electricity to Sitio Lapat, and is expected to be operational within a few months.

“Together, these water-powered energy stations form a small but stable network. 

“ ‘If other villages want a micro-hydro, we will teach them,’ says Mr. Sagban. ‘We will teach them how to manage it because management is what’s important.’

“Community members contribute labor to build and maintain the local systems. Decisions are made collectively. The forest that feeds the river is protected, because it is essential to the system’s survival. 

“Faith Joy Bonifacio, a resident of Sitio Lapat who has worked overseas as a contractor, runs a small internet hub powered by the village’s micro-hydro system and solar panels. The setup allows locals to charge personal devices, access all kinds of information, and stay connected without leaving the village.

“ ‘We don’t have a mobile signal here,’ she says. In the past, ‘we had to climb mountains just to send a message.’

“Reliable electricity also extends working hours, supports small businesses, and improves access to education. The changes have been gradual and they make a real difference. But they would not have been possible without a commitment from the community. 

“ ‘Unity among the people is very important,’ Mr. Sagban says. ‘Without it, these projects would not have been possible.’ …

“Says Gerry Arances, executive director of the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED), ‘Every disruption in supply quickly ripples through the economy.’ … Mr. Arances says decentralization is one part of a practical response to the current uncertainty in global energy markets. 

“ ‘This does not mean dismantling the national grid, which remains essential for large industries and urban economies that require high-capacity power,’ he says. ‘But for much of the country, especially remote and underserved communities, decentralized and community-managed systems can serve as a strong complement.’ ” 

More at the Monitor, here.

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How Art Slows Ageing

July 3, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: David Levene/The Guardian.
A man engages with Laure Prouvost’s art installation ‘Above Front Tears Oui Float’ at the Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo, Norway. 

I can’t get enough of emerging research on what activities are good for your brain. It’s interesting that so many of the studies focus on the role of art.

As Denis Campbell wrote at the Guardian in May, “Singing, painting or visiting a gallery or museum helps people age more slowly, according to the latest study to link taking an active interest in art and culture with improved health. The findings are the first to show that both participating in arts activities and attending events, such as viewing an exhibition, lead to people staying biologically younger.

“ ‘These results demonstrate the health impact of the arts at a biological level. They provide evidence for arts and cultural engagement to be recognised as a health-promoting behavior in a similar way to exercise,’ said Prof Daisy Fancourt, the lead author of the research and the head of the social biobehavioral research group at University College London.

“However, slower ageing does not necessarily mean someone will live longer. … Previous studies have suggested a link between arts engagement and longer lifespan, but much more research would be needed to establish potential causal effects on longevity.

“[A new test] showed that those who undertook an arts activity at least once a week were on average a year younger biologically than those who rarely engaged in such pursuits. Those who exercised once a week were only six months younger by that measure.

“The benefit the arts confer on the pace at which people age is so dramatic that it is comparable to the difference between smokers and those who have given up smoking, the researchers say. …

“Said Dr Feifei Bu, a senior author and also a UCL academic, ‘This builds on a growing body of evidence about the health impact of the arts, with arts activities being shown to reduce stress, lower inflammation and improve cardiovascular disease risk, just as exercise is known to do.’

“The results, published in the journal Innovation in Aging, are based on blood test and survey response data from 3,556 adults taking part in the UK Household Longitudinal Study. It uses blood samples to estimate people’s biological age and the pace at which they are ageing.

“Participants were asked how often over the last year they had taken part in singing, dancing, painting, photography or crafting, or had attended an art exhibition or event, visited a heritage site such as a monument or historic building or park, or been to a museum, library or archive. …

“Evidence is emerging that the arts can improve both mental and physical health. In 2019 the World Health Organization published a report, by Fancourt and Saoirse Finn, which highlighted initiatives such as playing music to patients before surgery and using the arts with people with dementia. In the latest study, the middle-aged and older adults aged 40 or above received the biggest boost to the pace at which they aged as a result of taking part in the arts.

“ ‘Across the arts sector we have known for a long time that getting creative yields extraordinary benefits for our health, and this latest research adds a vital new piece to the puzzle, proving that arts and culture can even slow down the biological clock,’ said Mark Ball, the artistic director of the Southbank Centre, a multi-arts venue in London.

“The Southbank complex was born in 1951 out of the Festival of Britain. Its description as ‘a tonic for the nation’ was not a coincidence, Ball said. ‘It was an explicit recognition that, after the destruction and gloom of the second world war, the country needed to be convened through the arts to find a sense of optimism and healing. That sentiment is enduring and is needed now, more than ever.’ ”

More at the Guardian, here.

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An Affinity for Accents

July 2, 2026 by suzannesmom

Photo: De’Andre Bush via Unsplash.
Some movie actors have a natural gift for accents. Do you?

Back when I was involved in community theater, it often seemed to me that asking an amateur to learn an accent was too big an ask. The actors usually wanted to do it, but the results could be painful. Today’s story is about learning to do dialects successfully.

At the BBC, Sophie Hardach wrote, “Some people can pick up new accents instantly. How do they do it? And can I learn to speak like an office worker in Cincinnati with the help of some new science? Jennifer Scapetis-Tycer, a dialect coach, is smiling at me from my computer screen as she prepares me for my first-ever attempt at acting.

” ‘You’re an American office worker who lives in Cincinnati,’ she says, ‘and you’re coming home and you’ve got armfuls of shopping, and you have to get everyone’s attention because you want people to put the shopping away.’

“She briefly pauses, then switches to an American accent as she gives me my line: ‘Hi, I’m home! Where is everybody?‘ 

“In real life, I’m a German-born journalist living in England, I’ve never been to Cincinnati, and I’ve never tried speaking in an American accent in my life. But we’re having a video call because Scapetis-Tycer, who is an associate professor in voice, speech and dialects at the University of Connecticut, has co-authored a research paper on what makes some people so good at changing accents. And the best way to fully grasp her insights is, surely, to have a go myself. …

“Since ‘American accent’ can mean many things – there are, after all, countless different accents spoken in the US – she picks a version some call General American, which can for example be heard in Cincinnati but also other places. 

“Over the next few minutes, Scapetis-Tycer teaches me to raise the back of my tongue, project my voice diagonally forward and up, widen my mouth, change my ‘o,’ and create an American ‘r’ sound with my tongue and back teeth. … My first efforts produce an oddly strangled sound that’s nothing like her sample line. Clearly, I’m going to have a lot to learn from her research. In fact, as it turns out, there’s a lot of hidden, complex work all of us do when hearing and voicing accents – even without being professional mimics.

“A basic definition of an accent is that ‘it’s a way of speaking that’s shared by members of a language community,’ says Emily Myers, a professor in speech, language, and hearing sciences at the University of Connecticut, who teamed up with Scapetis-Tycer for the paper on accent imitation. This could be a group of people from the same region, city, country or age group, Myers explains. The accent may include pronouncing words in a certain way, but also, aspects such as melody, a high or low pitch, and fast or slow speech. …

“In a performance accents matter because ‘they are telling us part of the story, where the characters are from, what identities they hold.’ says Scapetis-Tycer, who trains actors at the university’s drama department, as well as at a theatre.

“Hearing and understanding the accent, and its regular sound patterns, is the first step in trying to imitate it. ‘For instance, where I’m from in the Upper Midwest, people will say something like “baig,” with the vowel like in “bagel,” for “bag,” ‘ Myers says. If you hear that accent for the first time, your brain has to figure out that this Midwestern ‘baig’ is the same as your ‘bag,’ and that this pattern probably also applies to other ‘a’ sounds.

“Considering this complex brain work, it’s no wonder listening to speech in an unfamiliar accent involves a bigger cognitive effort than hearing a familiar one. But it gets easier with practice, research suggests: the more we hear a given accent, the less effort we have to make to understand it. Studies suggest that we may even unconsciously start to mimic the other accent a little, because humans often adjust to each other’s ways of speaking.

“Once your brain has figured out how the accent works, the next step is to try and produce it. … In the case of my fake Cincinnati-based accent, for example, one of my core tasks was to move my voice further towards the back of my mouth to create a more American English sound, rather than using the front part, which produces a more British English sound, according to Scapetis-Tycer, the dialect coach.

“Accent imitation ‘is an incredibly complex system that involves this internal model and then somehow, feeding it out,’ Myers concludes. And, she says: ‘Some people are extraordinarily good at it.’ 

“To find out what their secret is, Myers, Scapetis-Tycer and their colleague Hannah Olson asked 92 north American English speakers to imitate samples by native speakers of three different accents: Yorkshire, England; Edinburgh, Scotland; and the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. 

“The researchers also tested the participants on a selection of skills thought to potentially play a role in being good at accents, including whether they had a good ear for music, and how well they were able to rapidly produce sounds in a tongue-twister test. … The researchers also tested the participants’ personalities for traits to do with being open to new experiences, and enjoying social interactions.

” ‘Interestingly enough, the very best predictor of whether you would be good at [imitating accents] is the tongue twister task,’ Myers says. People who were able to move their mouth very, very quickly to copy the rapid-fire sound of the tongue twister, also did well in the accent-imitation task.”

Lots more at the BBC, here. I have a brother who moved from the East Coast to the Upper Midwest and seemed instantly to start talking like a native. Are you a sponge for accents?

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