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Fireflies Are in Trouble

October 17, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Robert Ritchie, Unsplash via Living on Earth.
The streaks of light in this 30-minute timelapse image show fireflies in a Wisconsin field.

Where are the fireflies of our childhood? Although the population perked up around here this past summer, possibly because of all the rain, firefly lovers have reason to be worried about the long term. Today’s story explains what’s going on — and how we can all help.

Eric Berger writes at the Guardian, “Max Vogel, a 29-year-old public defense attorney, was picnicking with friends in early August at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, when he noticed flashes of light appear in the air around him.

“They were fireflies, bioluminescent insects that the Washington DC native had not seen while living in Oregon, where there are few, if any. For many Americans who live where fireflies do, their flashing lights at dusk are a tangible rite of summer – though one that may now be under threat. …

“Vogel said, ‘It’s like a shooting star that just is surprising and gives you the childlike wonder of how you felt when you first saw fireflies in your yard.’

“Even in areas of the US where there are typically fireflies, people are especially excited to see them this year because there appear to be more this summer after a steady decline in recent years, according to scientists.

“Despite that welcome news, researchers caution that it does not necessarily signal a reversal of the downward trend. They remain concerned about the long-term viability of the firefly family, which includes more than 2,000 species, some of which are at risk of extinction due to factors such as light pollution and climate change.

“ ‘It’s been really uplifting to hear all of the reports of huge increases in fireflies,’ said Candace Fallon, senior endangered species conservation biologist for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. ‘But they are also insects, and insects are notorious for having populations that bounce up and down each year, and so it’s hard to say that their populations are increasing from a single year of data.’

“Fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, are beetles that come out at night during summer and produce a bioluminescent gleam, primarily to attract a mate.

“Cultures around the world treasure the bugs, including in Japan, where they are symbols of love and fallen soldiers. …

“ ‘Catching fireflies is a relatively harmless thing that you can do that really connects you to your natural world,’ said Matt Schlesinger, chief zoologist with the New York Natural Heritage Program, which is participating in a project to identify which firefly species occur in state parks.

“Scientists in the US and Canada do not have baseline data on firefly species, which makes it difficult to quantify how much the population has decreased, and they must instead rely on anecdotal reports and documented habitat loss, which point to a downward trajectory, Fallon said.

“She and other researchers conducted a study published in the journal PLOS One which found that 18 species in North America are threatened with extinction. But the scientists also did not have enough data on more than half of the assessed species to determine their extinction risks. …

“The primary factor behind fireflies’ decline is habitat loss and degradation, according to the Xerces Society. That includes land being disrupted by development, light pollution and pesticide use. Artificial lighting at night makes it hard for the bugs to communicate and mate, Fallon said.

“Climate change, including an increase in droughts and rising sea levels, also affect firefly populations, she said.

“Still, there are some firefly species that appear to be doing ‘just fine,’ Schlesinger said [adding that] the kinds that specialize in particular habitats are the ones struggling. …

“ ‘If they can still have a big year, at least those species are probably doing fine and have the potential to recover,’ Schlesinger said. That said, ‘any single year doesn’t tell you about the long-term trajectory of firefly populations. …

“Kids should continue the tradition of venturing out with jars in the summer but should then release the bugs rather than collecting them, Schlesinger said.

“Other ways to help fireflies survive include: not using pesticides, reducing artificial lighting at night, and allowing the grass to grow long and the leaves to pile up in your yard.

“ ‘A lot of fireflies pupate in leaves, and so when we rake those and put them in bags, we’re destroying their habitat at a very small scale,’ Schlesinger said.

“Despite the concerns about extinction, Fallon is encouraged by master gardeners in Arkansas who created a firefly sanctuary, and by lawmakers in Maryland who approved legislation earlier this year which introduces new regulations on what type of lighting can be bought with state funds. …

“ ‘I think we have enough time to make a difference.”

More at the Guardian, here. See also the radio show Living on Earth, here.

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Jazz for a Delayed Flight

October 16, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Dave Koz.
Dave Koz and the Summer Horns perform on their summer 2025 tour. A video of their impromptu, in-flight performance went viral.

When I was in high school, Cousin Bob dated Ellen, a girl I knew who was good friends with Liza Minnelli. This was back when Minnelli was best known as the daughter of Judy Garland and not in her own right.

Well, Liza was already a good singer, and Ellen sang exactly like Ethel Merman. She was a little tiny thing, and it was amazing to hear that booming voice come out of her.

One day, the two of these girls were traveling together, and their plane was badly delayed. So Liza and Ellen started singing to entertain the other passengers, and it got in the paper that Judy Garland’s daughter had done this.

I think that’s the only story I know that’s similar to the one in this post, but probably you know of others.

Kelly McCarthy reported at ABC in August, “No one likes being stuck on an airplane longer than absolutely necessary, so when a famous jazz group aboard an Alaska Airlines flight was asked to help lift the spirits of their fellow severely delayed passengers with a live musical interlude, they happily busted out horns and played the unlikely venue.

“In a now-viral video, Dave Koz and the Summer Horns performed their rendition of Stevie Wonder’s ‘You Haven’t Done Nothing’ in an impromptu concert amidst a slew of delays, diversions and timed-out staff en route from St. Louis to their next tour stop in Seattle.

“The moment took place in the wee hours early [in the] morning on the tarmac after their flight was diverted to Boise, Idaho, the namesake saxophonist told Good Morning America. That’s when Koz said most people were ‘at their breaking point’ and ‘this wonderful flight attendant’ stepped in to see if their group would want to provide some in-flight entertainment.

” ‘Charlene was like, “Can you guys play?” ‘ fellow saxophonist Marcus Anderson added. ‘We end up getting our instruments out and everyone’s excited and all these phones are coming out — we’re just thinking about giving people a great concert on an airplane.’

“They selected a song from their show set list and played it with as many of the 16 band members who had carried on equipment. …

” ‘People were clapping. It was great vibes. It was great energy,’ Anderson said, adding that little kids recorded the video and were already watching it back in their seats after they concluded.

” ‘We got the video content from people, and I said, “Hey, Dave, I’m going to post it and share it.” By the time we get off the plane — it was trailing close to maybe 200,000 views,’ Anderson explained of the initial explosion in social media interest. …

” ‘We were just taking a moment trying to make lemonade with lemons, and it tasted very good,’ Anderson, whom Koz called ‘the future of the saxophone,’ said. ‘We brought the concert to all those incredible passengers, not just on stage, but on the plane as well.’

“Koz said he’s ‘never played on a plane’ before that, whereas Anderson once performed a solo version of ‘America the Beautiful’ on Fourth of July. …

” ‘This really taps into everybody’s sort of frustration right now of traveling in the United States, where you feel so out of control, and this feeling of like you just don’t know what to do,’ Koz explained. ‘We were able to sort of channel that energy and turn the vibe completely.’

“In 40 years of the music industry, this moment reminded Koz that he’s still ‘humbled by the power of music to change a mood.’ “

More at ABC, here.

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A Show of Rejected Art

October 15, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Burl Community Art Gallery.
Artist Julie Peters Krohn painted the rejected Minnesota State Fair entry “The Corn King” as an homage to Ron Kelsey, former superintendent of farm crops at the state fair.  It is on view for the “State Fair Rejects” exhibition at the Douglas Flanders & Associates gallery in Minneapolis.

Do you remember the Museum of Bad Art in Massachusetts? I wrote about it a few times (for example here). The art in today’s story about entries that were rejected by the Minnesota State Fair are not necessarily bad art; they just didn’t fit the taste of this year’s judges. It’s a nice challenge for the rest of us anyway. Would we reject these for an exhibition that doesn’t claim to offer high art in the first place?

A gallery in Minneapolis decided that some of these pieces really deserved to be judged by ordinary folk.

As Alex V. Cipolle reported at Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), “The Fine Arts Competition at the State Fair is one of the most competitive juried exhibitions in Minnesota. This year, artists submitted a total of 2,835 pieces; only 336 were accepted.

“Minneapolis artist Mike Welton says: Don’t take it personally. Welton submitted his painting, “QUEER,” part of a series of LGBTQ-themed signage that Welton has photographed around the country. It didn’t make the cut. In his career, Welton estimates he’s shown in about a dozen Fine Art Competitions, and been rejected from about seven or eight. …

“Welton has unique insight, too. Each year Jim Clark, the fine arts superintendent, chooses artists to curate the show. In 2017, Welton was one of those artists.

“ ‘The year I curated, I couldn’t even pick pieces I wanted to because not all of them could go in,’ Welton says.

“Welton — and many other artists — are taking their rejected entries elsewhere. “Queer” will be on view for ‘State Fair Rejects,’ an exhibition … at the Douglas Flanders & Associates gallery in Minneapolis. …

“ ‘There was a lot of professional artists complaining about being rejected all the time, and I thought, well, maybe we should do a reject show,’ Douglas Flanders says. Last year was the gallery’s first reject show with 50 artist submissions. This year, Flanders says there are almost 80 artworks, from sculpture and paintings to textiles and photography. …

“ ‘People loved coming and supporting it and having another opportunity, obviously, to show their work, too, at a gallery that maybe they would otherwise never have the chance to,’ [Gallery manager Syril McNally] says. “So this year, that’s even more popular, just [by] word of mouth.”

“Beth Stoneberg of the Burl gallery [in St. Paul] says it’s the fifth time they’ve hosted ‘Rejected!’

“ ‘It’s probably one of our most anticipated exhibits of the year. It draws a remarkable crowd. It sparks a lot of conversation,’ Stoneberg says. ‘People are really rooting for the underdog.’ …

“One of her favorite submissions this year is ‘The Corn King’ by artist Julie Peters Krohn. The painting depicts Ron Kelsey, Minnesota ‘corn historian’ and the former superintendent of farm crops at the fair’s Agriculture Horticulture building. Krohn has painted Kelsey with seed sacks (Kelsey may have the largest collection of seed sacks in the world at 1,400).

“ ‘I was inspired while attending the Minnesota State fair last year after I met Ron Kelsey and his scarecrow in the agriculture building,’ Peters Krohn said in her artist statement. 

“I learned about the fair honoring him with a lifetime membership for his many years of involvement, which has included, but is not limited to, corn producer, corn judge, seed art competition creator, scarecrow competition creator and the display of his collection of vintage seed bags. I saw humor in creating a painting of a sculpture of a man so involved but so little known.’ ” More at MPR, here.

You can find a piece that actually won a 2025 State Fair prize by clicking here. It’s called “There Might Be Dragons.”

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At the Ventriloquist Convention

October 14, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Phillip Jones/Vent Haven Museum..
In Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, there’s a haven for ventriloquist dummies.

Whenever I saw ventriloquist dummies in childhood, I was fascinated that they could seem to talk. You don’t see them nowadays that much, and it seems that fewer people are learning the skills that let them appear to “throw their voices” into those dummies.

Mina Tavakoli , a neophyte ventriloquist, writes at N+1 that there’s a place in Kentucky where the art is alive and well.

“A half-nude, three-foot figure called me to a table just beside the vending machines. … ‘I’m Dicky!’ he squeaked.

“I wagged my pen in front of his tight little face. ‘Dicky,’ I repeated. [It was then] right as Dicky’s jaw flung open, that his ventriloquist  —  his father, his frère, his semblable; the standard abbreviation going forward is vent  —  sneezed. At that second, Dicky did too. The vent trumpeted into his tissue and held it in front of his wooden child, who did the same, loudly and juicily. …

“We were all in Kentucky. Side by side by side, we stood near the entrance of the Vent Haven Ventriloquist ConVENTion. … Dummies were rising from zippered suitcases, lifted from velvet-lined trunks, coffined on banquettes with protective canvas bags on their heads, like prisoners expecting execution. Dummies congested every visible cranny of the Erlanger Holiday Inn in a huge interspecies fiesta of dwarves, worms, baboons, children, et cetera.

“The human delegation was only slightly less mixed. Many attendees were entertainers  —  clowns, cruise-ship performers, Santa impersonators, balloon artists (known in the trade as ‘twisters’), theme-park proprietors, theme-park employees, and (hugely overindexed) magicians  —  clapping one another on the back and nodding like Marines celebrating dockage on home soil. …his was the ConVENTion’s welcome reception, where the cream of ventdom was swarming the warm and ferny lobby to relive the lives and re-die the deaths of the vaudeville. …

“The man with the chef’s hat and meatball puppet … calmed hospital patients and veterans through a nest of spaghetti. Just past the gurgle of the lobby fountain was Barbie Q. Chicken, a 4-year-old bird who was both Broadway prima donna and antibullying activist. Beside the wall of potted plants was Danny, an underweight and barefoot hillbilly from the mountains of West Virginia, and further beyond him was Herman the Worm (pronounced ‘Hoiman Da Woim’), a cross-eyed caterpillar made out of a dryer vent hose. Beep, a monkey, was kitty-corner, behind me were Doodle the toad and the handsomely breasted showgirl Miss Trixie, and now approaching with tensed biceps was Rocco, the muscular pit bull from Staten Island. … Some had that sort of vaporizing charisma; some, one could tell, had the limper, more sheepish personalities of those whose lives are defined by long stretches of extreme silence. As the lobby mushroomed with figures of felt, wood, and PVC tubing, they formed a great chorus of flopsy [creatures] that would not shut up.

“First-timers formed lines against the marble  —  our official title was ‘red dotters,’ after the distinguishing round stickers on our name tags. … Men, eager to know what brought me to ventriloquism, showed me photos of daughters, wives, dogs, farms. Men, who were not full-timing entertainers, were retired dental hygienists, hairdressers, firefighters, ranchers. Retired anythings. …

“Northern Kentucky was never exactly a likely mecca for the ventriloquial arts. In the 1920s, barrooms across the nation boomed with the surrealist showbiz acts of American vaudeville. From Midwestern saloons and small-town beer halls to New York’s glitzy Palace Theater, most cities welcomed troupes where magicians charmed, plate spinners spun, contortionists contorted, and ventriloquists  … threw their voices across club circuits that sold the business of analog enchantment. When the theaters darkened in the Depressive ’30s, televised variety shows shuttled ventriloquism safely to the entertainment capitals of Los Angeles and New York, though the rise of more sophisticated special effects began to render dummies anachronistic as early as the mid-’60s. By the early ’70s, when vent-prominent programs like The Ed Sullivan Show had sunsetted to make way for sitcoms, the ventriloquist-and-dummy act was already approaching something like near-obsolescence.

“A tile salesman, one William Shakespeare Berger, homed his collection of dummies in his garage in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. Before his passing, in 1972, he donated his entire estate to establish Vent Haven, the world’s only museum devoted to ventriloquiana. The Vent Haven ConVENTion, now in its forty-ninth year, is presently six miles away from the original site of Berger’s family home, and functions as ventriloquism’s true earthly haven:. …

“The general act of learning ventriloquism is tedious, because the puppet is an instrument, and only one half of the theater routine. It is an ancient art, a maze of gestures and shadow gestures. … Nimble fingers tweak at little pinches and squeeze-boxes stuck inside the cavities of the ventriloquial dolls … while the tongue operates flawlessly under confinement. …

“There is no real ‘throwing’ of the voice, alas; the ear’s deficits are made up for by the eye, which focuses on the puppet’s moving jaw, forming the suggestion that whatever’s being said by you is said by your companion. The most problematic letters of the alphabet  —  there are five of them  —  inspire too much frottage between lips, which explains why puppets often have jeery, whiny, heavily accented, broken, or otherwise goofy voices: these are coping mechanisms, rerouted into hallmarks of the form.

“Take the letter p, an annoying plosive. Under the standard ventriloquial straitjacketry of (1) a relaxed jaw, (2) slightly open but stiffened lips, and (3) a closed set of teeth, a phrase like ‘I like to hike’ is shockingly easy to pronounce, whereas ‘I prefer puppetry’ is humbling. To dodge the automatic, upper-to-lower-lip kiss involved in expressing the letter p, ventriloquists hump the back of the tongue against the soft palate and vault air right through the back. In practice, this sounds much like the letter t. The ventriloquist thinks p, says their muffled t, and does this ad nauseam until the letter is strong and clear. (‘I trefer tuttetry.‘)”

Lots more at n+1, here. Did you ever try to do this?

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Bubble Art Rising Higher

October 13, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Robert Ormerod for the New York Times.
Graham Maxwell performing “The Flying Bubble Show” during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Nowadays, hearing or reading about something cool is generally good enough for me. As interested as I might be in a foreign country or a new play or a natural wonder, I don’t often think, “I wish I had been there.”

But today’s story on bubble art is different. I would have loved to see these performances and be in the midst of audience reactions. They took place at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.

Alex Marshall wrote at the New York Times, “In McEwan Hall last week, the atmosphere was riotous. For about an hour, some 400 adults and children were gasping, screaming and laughing as Louis Pearl, the Amazing Bubble Man, encased girls and boys in huge soapy globules, made bubbles levitate and wobble, filled many of the fragile spheres with smoke, and karate-chopped others in half.

“For the show’s finale, Pearl, 68, grabbed a long plastic stick with a ring on one end, dipped it into a vat of soapy formula and waved it above his head so that thousands of bubbles drifted over the audience. Children throughout the theater leaped out of their seats to pop them. …

“This year, four bubbleologists, as they like to be called, have shows on the Fringe. … Ray Bubbles has a show for disabled children and an ‘Ultimate Bubble Show‘; an act called the Highland Joker has the simply titled ‘Bubble Show‘; and Maxwell the Bubbleologist has a ‘Flying Bubble Show,’ largely performed midair.

“After his gig last Monday, Pearl posed for photos with fans and sold bubble-making kits outside the venue. ‘Bubbles are like dreams,’ he said later in an interview: ‘When you blow one, you go out of normal reality and this magical thing captures your attention until — boom! — it pops.’ …

“Born in San Francisco, Pearl said his bubble fixation began in the 1970s at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire when a roommate showed him a bubble pipe and they tried out some tricks like filling the bubbles with marijuana smoke.

“While working odd jobs after college, Pearl sold toy bubble pipes on the streets of San Francisco, and sometimes sold pot, too. His life changed in 1983 when he saw Tom Noddy, a bubble artist who once appeared on The Tonight Show, perform at the Exploratorium, a San Francisco science museum. Noddy’s tricks included creating a cube-shaped bubble, making smoke spin tornado-like inside a bubble, and blowing piled-up bubbles to form the shape of a goblet.

“Pearl said he spent ‘hours and hours’ replicating Noddy’s tricks and developing his own. During that time, Pearl recalled, he also had to work out the ideal mixture for bubble blowing. (His current recipe, he said onstage, calls for dish soap, water — and lube to make the bubbles stretchy.)

“At this year’s Fringe, Pearl is performing versions of some of Noddy’s best stunts. ‘In the bubble community, if you present tricks in a new way, it’s cool, Pearl said. ‘If you steal, it’s not. …

“When Pearl first took his ‘Amazing Bubble Man’ act to the Fringe, in 2007, he played a 100-seat venue. Now, he’s in an over-1,000-capacity hall, although he said a full house could be disastrous, in part because the heat generated by larger crowds creates air currents that make it harder to control the bubbles. …

“Yet Pearl is up against an even bigger challenge this year. For the first time, the most hyped bubble act at the festival isn’t his, but ‘The Flying Bubble Show,’ in which Maxwell the Bubbleologist blows hundreds of the iridescent orbs while flying on a harness around a circus tent.

“The spectacle’s performer, Graham Maxwell, 32, said in an interview that he had been putting on traditional bubble shows around the world for about a decade when, in 2024, he had ‘a vision’: He pictured himself suspended midair while using tai chi movements to make bubbles levitate, bulge and spin. That inspired him to train in a circus tent in Goa, India, where he learned how to use a wired harness. …

” ‘There’s a whole, deep world to bubbles, he said: Seeing one pop could prompt adults to recall their youth or dwell on their mortality, he said. How bubbles form and move can be used to understand fundamental scientific properties, he added, and for him, the act of blowing bubbles can induce a meditative state. …

“Last week, Maxwell performed his flying show to an audience of about 500. … As graceful classical music played, Maxwell — wearing a top hat and billowing velvet shirt — swooped overhead as the audience sat around a circular stage. Trailing behind him were elongated bubbles that he created by blowing through his soapy fingers or using ropes he had dipped in bubble-making fluid. During the hourlong show, he juggled bubbles midair, tried to create ‘the biggest bubble ever’ and performed his bubble-levitating trick.

“ ‘Bubbles, it’s such a lovely word,’ he said at one point. ‘You can’t ever say it without smiling.’ “

More at the Times, here. Amazing pictures!

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Creative Way to Give Dancers More Pay

October 12, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Julianna Slager/Ballet 5:8.

An ancient Greek philosopher once noted that you can’t step into the same river twice. What he meant, of course, was that the river is constantly changing. The drops of water that touch your foot when you step in are not the same drops you felt a few moments ago when you tested the temperature.

Here’s a story about the changing ballet world and how one company is adapting to the river.

Melody McTier Thomason at Dance Informa writes, “Since our last conversation with Julianna Slager, Artistic Director of Ballet 5:8, the company has experienced tremendous growth with an expanded repertoire, increased guest choreographers, and last year Slager was named a fellow at the School of American Ballet (SAB). Most notably, Ballet 5:8 recently announced a groundbreaking milestone for the 14-year-old company: full-time contracts for its dancers. …

“A dreamer at heart, Slager always had hopes of achieving full-time contracts, but it was in 2019 when vision casting began. ‘We moved into our new building in 2018. 2019 was the first time I was brave enough to share what was in my mind, and the board really took to that. Then COVID arrived. That threw me for a loop a little bit. It was a big test of faith to hang on to unseen things and allow myself to hope.’

“As Slager began to dig further into making her dream a reality, she uncovered a unique model to bring Ballet 5:8 to its next chapter. After reviewing the company’s finances, Slager realized the organization could shift resources from paying part-time contract employees who were doing administrative tasks, to paying dancers to do those same jobs. This shift would allow them to offer the dancers full-time contracts with benefits.

” ‘When we made the discovery that a big structural shift could be the answer to getting us where we wanted to go, we took pen to paper and looked at all the people we have in the organization,’ Slager explains. ‘If dancers are in rehearsal 25 hours a week, and additionally have 10 hours of either teaching or helping with administrative duties, social media, whatever, that still gives them five flexible hours for meetings or time they can spend to cross-train. We sat down and daydreamed a little bit about what it could look like, and then we slowly started talking to the dancers about it. …

” ‘We had a cohort of dancers along with a cohort of board members who created a caucus and talked through how this would work practically,’ Slager says. ‘Then, we rolled it out to the dancers and walked everybody through the process. Now, we are able to do a guaranteed salary increase every year, with a three-year contract which is super exciting so they have better job security. Because we have this stability, the board now can budget further out.’ …

“Combining artistic development alongside administrative tasks, extends beyond full-time company dancers to Ballet 5:8’s Trainee and Second Company dancers. ‘Because we want to make sure our Trainee and Second Company dancers are able to advance into the company and have a skill set, the Trainee directors have done a really good job of giving them a chance to job shadow in areas they’re interested in,’ explains Slager. …

“ ‘I really love working with everybody inside and outside the studio. I think it strengthens our bond as a team because we’re very focused on the goals and the mission. It also helps the dancers. They can see behind the scenes and better understand why organizational decisions are made. On the dancer side, we’re able to have more rehearsal time because everybody is full-time, so the roles they do outside of dance are a little smaller. … The “many hands make the load lighter” frame of mind is how it feels.’ “

More at Dance Informa, here.

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Gifts that Fans Send

October 11, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Amir Hamja for The New York Times.
Bracelets sent to Gabrielle Nevaeh, the former star of Nickelodeon’s That Girl Lay Lay, who is in Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway. “It’s a reminder that my work is reaching people,” she says.

Did you ever ask for an autograph? Mail a fan letter? Throw “jelly babies” at the Beatles?

I have sometimes written a letter to an actor or author, but mostly to argue about some interpretation. I am not sure anyone would consider me a true fan, but there are people out there who go to enormous lengths to connect to the object of their admiration.

At the New York Times, Sarah Bahr shares what she has learned about them.

“The fan mail landscape in New York theater is alive and well. Across the theater district, stage managers and theater employees collect fan art, stuffed animals and other gifts of appreciation that are sent to stars, ferrying the items to mailboxes and dressing rooms.

“ ‘It’s so cool that people still send me things after all these years,’ said Joey Fatone, the former ’N Sync singer who recently ended his run in the Broadway musical & Juliet.

“He estimated that each week he received about a dozen handwritten letters and several packages, including one containing a track suit emblazoned with “& Joeyet,” a play on his name and the jukebox musical’s. ‘I read as much as I can, but there’s so much,’ said Fatone, 48. …

Somewhat unexpectedly, these decidedly analog gestures have endured in the age of social media.

“Fans are combing stars’ Instagram feeds and TikTok reels for clues to their favorite snacks, their astrological signs and even the names of their pets.

“ ‘It’s surprising how well they know your interests,’ said Elizabeth Gillies, 32, the Victorious star who recently finished a five-month run as Audrey in the Off Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors.

“During the run, a fan sent her a large pillow with a photo of her French bulldog, Otis, and another got her a set of miniature cans of Canada Dry Ginger Ale, a favorite drink. She also received a custom hat with the plumbob mood icon that floats above characters heads in The Sims, which is her favorite video game. One even drew a picture of Otis dressed as Audrey, and her co-star Milo Manheim’s spaniel, Louie, dressed as Seymour.

“ ‘The creativity and the attention to detail are extraordinarily impressive,’ said Gillies, who framed the portrait. ‘It’s incredibly heartwarming to know that people are not only paying attention to your artistry, but they’re also paying attention to you.’

“Gabrielle Nevaeh, the former star of Nickelodeon’s That Girl Lay Lay who is in Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway, likes to read letters in her dressing room during intermission.

“ ‘It’s a reminder that my work is reaching people,’ said Nevaeh, 20, who plays the strong-willed high school student Patty Newby in the show.

“So what do people write to stars? Often, Fatone said, people express gratitude — for his music, for the joy his performance brought them, for his decades-long career.

“ ‘I get letters that say, “Thank you so much for being in my life all these years,” ‘ he said.

“Michelle Williams, the former Destiny’s Child singer who is playing the mysterious Viola Van Horn in the stage adaptation of Death Becomes Her on Broadway, said it makes her day when she reads a letter from a writer who is struggling and has found inspiration in her work.

“ ‘Someone sent me a letter last week saying, “I deal with depression and anxiety, and I see how you’ve overcome and you’re back on Broadway,” ‘ said Williams, 46, who took a break from the Broadway musical Once on This Island in 2018 to seek treatment for depression. …

“Some of the letters are typed; some are handwritten. Fatone said he also receives invitations to weddings and bar mitzvahs — or sometimes requests for him to sign the invitations themselves. …

“As much as the stars said they have appreciated the mail, it just isn’t possible keep all of it.

“ ‘I can’t throw away anything handmade or handwritten,’ Gillies said on a recent afternoon, shortly before clearing out her dressing room — including two large storage bins of fan mail — at the Westside Theater following her Little Shop run. ‘So I’m sort of an organized hoarder for all of the fan letters and fan gifts that I’ve received.’ ” More at the Times, here.

I once wrote René Auberjonois to see if my family could visit backstage at Big River. He wrote back a welcoming postcard, and we got to chat a bit after the show.

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Chamber Music in the 7-Eleven

October 10, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Lou Foglia for WBEZ.
Seth Boustead of the nonprofit Access Contemporary Music in Chicago describes the location they chose for their concerts: “The door dings when you walk in, like a 7-Eleven — we left that.”

I love stories about the successful repurposing of eyesore buildings. In today’s article, WBEZ’s Graham Meyer gives an inspiring example from Chicago.

“Not everyone looks at the long-vacant husk of a former convenience store and gets visions of string quartets and piano recitals. But that’s exactly how it happened for Seth Boustead, the head of Access Contemporary Music.

“In February 2023, in a cab traveling on North Clark Street, Boustead saw the familiar sight of the empty store at 4116, once a 7-Eleven, before that a White Hen Pantry. This time, the window had a ‘for rent’ sign. After the cab ride, Boustead zipped back on his bicycle and peered in the dark windows.

“ ‘This would be an amazing chamber music venue,’ he remembers thinking. …

“ ‘It’s pretty unrecognizable [now],’ Boustead said. ‘The door dings when you walk in, like a 7-Eleven — we left that. Behind the bar, there’s still, where the grease trap used to be, a door that goes down into the floor where they used to dump grease. I found a training poster for their employees, and we’re planning to frame it and put it in the bathroom.’

“ACM, now 21 years old, has always done many different things simultaneously. It gives music lessons, has a composer collective and presents concerts, such as the annual Sound of Silent Film Festival, where it commissions and live-performs scores for modern silent films. And once a year, it throws a classical music street festival called Thirsty Ears.

“The CheckOut [aims] to put on two or three chamber concerts a week, mostly self-produced. There are incipient plans for a jazz night on Thursday and for cabaret shows to fill the void left when Davenport’s abruptly canceled all its cabarets in April. …

“Unsurprisingly, a project of this magnitude had obstacles, money chief among them. Boustead said the rent for the CheckOut is close to the three music schools’ combined. And it quickly became clear that in addition to the renovations necessary to convert the space to a music venue, they would have to make up for upkeep that 7-Eleven had inconveniently deferred. …

“Then there were the administrative hurdles. The property was zoned for single-family houses, and the area had a liquor license moratorium. Both the odd zoning and the moratorium had the effect of funneling ACM through 46th Ward Ald. Angela Clay’s office, so that she and the community could weigh in before the project began. Boustead made a presentation to the Graceland West Area Community Association about lessons, rehearsals and concerts for 60 to 100 audience members filling the empty shell.

“ ‘Folks were excited about having this kind of small cultural institution in the neighborhood, but there’s a lot of red tape the city puts up,’ said Jesse Orr, director of infrastructure and development in Clay’s office.

“Boustead started checking boxes. With some hand-holding from Clay’s office, they hacked through the permits, inspections, zoning and other city tasks. And he worked on money. ACM landed a Community Development Grant through the city’s Department of Planning and Development for $250,000. They started a capital campaign, offering naming rights for the stage and chairs. …

“[In August] Boustead assembled a preview crowd and noted the irony that 7-Elevens play classical music to prevent people from loitering. This time, the 7-Eleven left, and the classical music stayed around.

“The Palomar Trio, part of ACM’s long-standing house ensemble, played piano-violin-cello music ranging chronologically from modern Dmitri Shostakovich to the of-the-minute 42-year-old Reena Esmail. With acoustical work still to be done, the room echoed more than would be ideal, and how to manage the sound of the air conditioning against the temperature of the room hasn’t been settled. But the music filled the space nicely, the louds excitingly loud and soft effects detectable. You’d never guess it had once been slinging slushies.” More at WBEZ, here.

If you are interested, Dylan Weinert at New City Music has a review of the opening, here.

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Melting Glacier Threatens Village

October 9, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Kim Willsher/The Guardian.
Pralognan-la-Vanoise in the French Alps is in danger from global warming. An engineering operation to prevent catastrophic flooding will cost about €400,000 ($465,000). 

As discouraging as it is to read another story about global warming, one has to feel a little hopeful that human ingenuity keeps tackling its effects.

Kim Willsher reports at the Guardian about how engineering is fighting back in France. I leave it to you to decide whether putting humans first or the glacier first would be best.

“The villagers of Pralognan-la-Vanoise in the French Alps know well the perils posed by the mountains that encircle them. Avalanches, rockfalls, mudslides, sudden crevices and torrents of water are within the living memory of most villagers, and every day the climate emergency throws up new dangers.

“Less than a year ago, an enormous lake formed by a melting glacier was discovered high above Pralognan that experts feared could inundate the village with more than 60,000 cubic metres [15,850,000+ gallons] of icy water. …

“As used to natural hazards as local people are high up in the Alps, they are not, however, an idle threat. The Swiss village of Blatten was wiped out by a rock and ice avalanche in May and last year a mountain lake swollen by heavy rainfall caused torrential flooding in La Bérarde in the Isère, forcing inhabitants to flee the hamlet. They have not returned.

“Today, an engineering operation is under way to prevent such a catastrophic scenario in Pralognan. Three workers have been helicoptered to the Grand Marchet glacier at an altitude of 2,900 metres [1.8 miles] to gouge a [narrow] ‘overflow channel’ in the ice. …

“ ‘The aim is to help the water find its way down the mountain gradually and avoid a rapid emptying of the lake,’ said David Binet, the director of the mountain land restoration service (RTM) for the northern Alps, part of the national forestry commission tasked with identifying and preventing natural hazards.

“ ‘What causes the problems and damage with torrents in the mountains is not the water but the stones, gravel, sand and even large rocks it brings down with it.’

“The glacier blocks the lake from spilling down the mountain but it is shrinking at a rate of 2 to 3 metres [6.6 to 9.8 feet] a year. There is also the risk that that the warmer waters of the lake could form a channel gush from underneath.

“Binet said his agency was examining 300 of the estimated 600 lakes in the Alps and Pyrenees one by one for such hazards. The Pralognan operation will cost about €400,000 [$465,000)]. …

“The idea of taking mechanical shovels to glaciers already shrinking at an alarming rate was deemed the least environmentally damaging option. Olivier Gagliardini, a glacier expert at Grenoble University, described it as ‘unfortunate, but necessary.’

“Martine Blanc, the mayor of Pralognan, said … ‘We asked ourselves could it wait but on the principle that prevention is better than cure we decided to go ahead,’ she said. ‘We decided to anticipate events rather than suffer them. Nature is nature and there’s no such thing as zero risk.’ …

“Local shopkeepers say the number of tourists and hikers this summer is down, possibly because the campsite is closed, but Silvere Bonnet, the director of the tourist office, said he had had very few calls from potential visitors concerned about the lake. …

“On a sunny day, the giant rock faces etched with shimmering cascades that rise almost vertically have a benevolent beauty. An hour later in a rapid change of atmosphere, the peaks are cloaked in dark clouds and loom intimidatingly.

“ ‘They can appear rather menacing at first to visitors because they are so sheer,’ [Bernard Vion, a 66-year-old Alpine guide who has watched the expanse of water grow and the mountain change over his lifetime] said. The 66-year-old knows these mountains ‘like his pocket,’ as the French say. He made his first high-altitude climb aged eight with his father, also a guide. Both his grandfathers were Alpinists.

“Vion first spotted what he describes as ‘a puddle’ of water on the Grand Marchet glacier in 2019. Every year since he has watched it grow; it now measures almost 2.5 acres. …

“ ‘We are on the frontline of climate change here. We know it is happening,’ he said.

“Blanc agreed. … ‘People here are used to natural hazards. We’re used to avalanches, falling rocks, torrential floods and mudslides because we’ve seen them and lived with them since we were young. Local people understand there are things we can control and then those we cannot.’ ”

More at the Guardian, here.

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Inventing a Self-Disinfecting Door Handle

October 8, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Rayvon Stewart.
Rayvon Stewart invented a workable model for a door handle that could disinfect itself after every touch. 

Ever since seventh grade, when my health teacher showed an educational animation about how disease could spread by touching things with germs on them, I’ve been wary of doorknobs. I even answered the question on an intelligence or psychological assessment truthfully, knowing it would trigger alarm bells. Test: “Are you afraid of doorknobs?” My brain: “Well, yes. Everyone should be afraid of doorknobs!”

Natricia Duncan writes at the Guardian about someone else who thought doorknobs were a problem.

“When the Jamaican university student Rayvon Stewart invented a workable model for a door handle that could disinfect itself after every touch, it was hailed as a potential gamechanger for hospitals, hotels and other businesses, with promising implications for controlling the spread of disease, particularly during pandemics like Covid-19.

“Speaking at a recent product launch, Alison Drayton, assistant secretary-general of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), a 15-member bloc of Caribbean countries, described the invention as a ‘meaningful solution’ for the region and a ‘life-saving design that fits our reality.’

“Stewart, now 30, was just 23 and a student at Jamaica’s University of Technology when he conceptualized the pioneering ultraviolet self-sanitizing door-handle model he calls Xermosol, which he says can kill 99.9% of pathogens but is safe for people and animals. Since then he has been working to bring the product, which benefits from a provisional patent protection under the patent cooperation treaty, to market, winning Jamaica’s Prime Minister’s National Youth Award and the Commonwealth Health Innovations Awards in the process. …

“Stewart grew up in a poor household with his grandmother, in the rural farming community of Mount Prospect. ‘Even though times were tough, we never really thought about that. We knew that we had something to do as a family,’ he said. The software engineer and his cousin were the first in their family to go to university.

“There, he discovered his love of inventing and entered a competition with his first idea: 3D modeling software that would allow people to virtually fit clothes before purchasing online. When he started volunteering in a hospital, his passion for innovation became about solving a problem.

” ‘I saw how patients were suffering, the assistance that they needed, and how difficult it was for the nurses,’ he said. This, he added was the inspiration for Xermosol.

“Dr Camille-Ann Thoms-Rodriguez, a University of the West Indies consultant microbiologist, said that, while the invention did not replace the need for World Health Organisation cleaning guidelines in hospitals, Stewart’s smart self-sanitizing door handle was an innovative tool that can be used alongside others, for infection control. …

“She said, ‘A lot of the innovation that we see in healthcare is often from a first-world country where there are more resources … but it doesn’t mean that we don’t have good ideas here.’ …

“Kirk-Anthony Hamilton, co-founder of Tech-Beach Retreat, a Caribbean-based tech platform that connects innovators, entrepreneurs and investors through summits, programs and investment, said there was a growing desire in the region to tackle ambitious tech projects.

“ ‘Young people in the Caribbean are seeing what opportunities they’re missing out on, and they want to be a part of it. They’re reading stories about a guy in a garage coming up with a concept, and two years in, the company is making $50m a year,’ he said. …

“In the broader field of digital technology, businesses such as the software development company BairesDev, which has a global workforce of more than 4,000, said it saw a 400% increase in applications from developers in the Caribbean between 2020 and 2024.

“One possible explanation for this, the company’s director of talent acquisition, Felipe Turra, said, was the increased demand for software engineers during the Covid pandemic as lockdowns drove innovation. ‘Companies started saying, hey … I need to develop new applications, because people can’t leave home,’ he said, adding that the Caribbean being largely aligned to the US, both in terms of language and culture, made it a good fit for its US-based clients.

“For Stewart, the shift in innovations and increasing digital talent is ‘challenging the myth that there isn’t awesome, life-changing technology in the Caribbean.’ “

More at the Guardian, here. (The Guardian relies on donations to continue delivering factual news.)

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Dog Identifies What’s Killing Bees

October 7, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Mike Householder/AP.
Sue Stejskal lets Maple, an English springer spaniel, sniff a bee-themed dog toy at Michigan State University’s Pollinator Performance Center. Maple is part of an effort to screen and diagnose diseases that sicken honeybees.

It seems that over the past few years, I’m hearing more and more about bees — their importance to the food chain, their worrisome diseases. On Instagram I’ve been following the intrepid Erika Thompson @texasbeeworks, and after Sandra told me about an inspiring bee tour, I added @bodhis.bees in Rhode Island. Then, there’s my friend AJ, who shares honey from his hives when the black bear leaves them alone.

Keeping bees and other pollinators healthy is an important job that’s getting increasingly difficult as unaware humans damage their environment. In today’s story, a specially trained dog is helping protect bees.

Ramon Antonio Vargas reports at the Associated Press via the Guardian, “Maple, a springer spaniel aged nine, is earning news headlines by helping Michigan State University (MSU) researchers identify bacteria that is harmful for bee colonies. …

“Maple landed the role after spending seven years detecting human remains for a sheriff’s office. She had to retire from the sheriff’s office after suffering an injury on the job – leaving her handler, Sue Stejskal, in search of something to keep Maple busy.

“ ‘She’s a very over-the-top, enthusiastic, sometimes hard-to-live with dog because of her energy level,’ Stejskal, who has been training dogs for law enforcement and other uses for more than 25 years, said to the AP.

“Fortunately for Stejskal, MSU professor Meghan Milbrath was seeking out tools to screen and diagnose diseases that sicken honeybees, which her lab studies. A veterinarian who had taken part in a training about honeybees later put Stejksal and Milbrath in touch.

“And soon, the pair hatched a plan by which Stejskal taught Maple to apply her police canine detection methods in beehives to uncover American foulbrood – a bacterial disease that poses a deadly threat to honeybee larvae.

“The work Maple has since done for MSU’s Pollinator Performance Center has been crucial, with bees and other pollinators in a years-long decline stemming from diseases, insecticides, a lack of a diverse food supply and climate change driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases.

“ ‘American foulbrood [harms] young developing bees, and when a hive gets infected, it actually basically leads to death,’ Milbrath, an assistant professor in MSU’s entomology department. …

” ‘Beekeepers have had to burn tens of thousands of dollars of equipment due to this disease,’ Milbrath said to WILX.

“Maple carries out her duties in a distinctive, yellow protective suit. Her gear includes a veil for her head and four bootees worn on her paws to shield Maple in case she steps on a bee. …

“About 465 bee species are native to Michigan alone. Among the goals of training Maple to spot American foulbrood for the Pollinator Performance Center was to create a guidebook with which other dogs could be similarly taught, WILX noted.

“Stejskal told the AP, ‘I was over-the-moon excited because my dog would have joy in her life and would still be able to work,’ Stejskal said.” More at the Guardian, here.

You probably know there are things we can all do to help bees.

Many homeowners, for example, are giving up pesticides and herbicides. They are leaving the leaves on their lawns in fall to provide pollinator habitat in spring, and they’re committing to No Mow May. After all, as Bee City tells us, “The start of the growing season is a critical time for hungry, newly emerged native bees. Flowers may be hard to find. By allowing it to grow longer, and letting flowers bloom, your lawn can provide nectar and pollen to help your bee neighbors thrive.”

Please add bee tips if you know of some not covered here.

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Preserving Gullah Music

October 6, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: AP/Luis Andres Henao.
“Voices of Gullah” members, Joe Murray, from left, Minnie “Gracie” Gadson, Rosa Murray and Charles “Jojo” Brown, sing Gullah spirituals at the Brick Baptist Church, St Helena Island, South Carolina.

Not long ago, I read a fascinating memoir called The Water Is Wide, by Pat Conroy, about teaching poor children on a South Carolina island in 1969-1970. The depravation on that island was troubling to read about.

Today’s story about a different South Carolina island shows a different side. The island elders in this article about preserving tradition have agency.

Luis Andres Henao writes for the Associated Press (AP), “Minnie ‘Gracie’ Gadson claps her hands and stomps her feet against the floorboards, lifting her voice in a song passed down from her enslaved ancestors who were forced to work the cotton and rice plantations of the South Carolina Sea Islands.

“It’s a Gullah spiritual, and the 78-year-old singer is one of a growing group of artists and scholars trying to preserve these sacred songs and their Gullah Geechee culture for future generations. …

“On a recent summer day, her voice rang out inside Coffin Point Praise House. It’s one of three remaining wooden structures on St. Helena Island that once served as a place of worship for the enslaved, and later, for generations of free Black Americans.

“Gadson grew up singing in these praise houses. Today, as a Voices of Gullah member, she travels the U.S. with others in their 70s and 80s singing in the Gullah Creole language that has West African roots.

“ ‘This Gullah Geechee thing is what connects us all across the African diaspora because Gullah Geechee is the blending of all of these cultures that came together during that terrible time in our history called the trans-Atlantic slave trade,’ said Anita Singleton-Prather, who recently performed and directed a play about Gullah history.

“The show highlighted Gullah contributions during the American Revolution, including rice farming and indigo dying expertise. At the theater entrance, vendors offered Gullah rice dishes and demonstrated how to weave sweetgrass into baskets.

“More than 5,000 descendants of enslaved plantation workers are estimated to live on St. Helena Island, the largest Gullah community on the South Carolina coast where respect for tradition and deep cultural roots persists.

“Singleton-Prather [says] that despite slavery’s brutality, the Gullah people were able to thrive, ‘giving our children a legacy — not a legacy of shame and victimization, but a legacy of strength and resilience.’ …

” ‘It’s important to preserve the Gullah culture, mainly because it informs us all, African Americans, where they come from and that it’s still here,’ said Eric Crawford, author of Gullah Spirituals: The Sound of Freedom and Protest in the South Carolina Sea Islands.

“For most of his life, he hadn’t heard the word Gullah. That changed in 2007 with a student’s master’s thesis about Gullah culture in public schools.

“ ‘As I began to investigate it, I began to understand that “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” “Roll Jordan Roll,” “Kumbaya!” — all these iconic songs came from this area,’ he said.

“Versions of these songs, he said, can be traced back to the 19th century when ‘Slave Songs of the United States,’ the first book of African American spirituals, was recorded on St. Helena Island. …

“He was so curious that he traveled to St. Helena, where he met the singers and began recording their music. … Crawford said, sitting on the original wooden pews of the island’s Mary Jenkins Praise House, ‘They were forced to go to their owners’ church and stay in the balcony. But then in the evening, typically on Sunday evenings, Tuesday and Thursday, they had this space by themselves, away from the watchful eye of the owners, and they could engage in their own songs.’ …

“At a recent concert they clapped their hands in one rhythm, stomped the floor in another and swayed, singing at the island’s Brick Baptist Church.

“ ‘These singers are as close as we would ever come to how the enslaved sang these songs,’ Crawford said. ‘That authenticity — you just cannot duplicate that.’

“He began to take the singers on tour in 2014. Since then, they’ve performed across the U.S. as well as in Belize and Mexico. The touring band’s members include Gadson; 89-year-old Rosa Murray; 87-year-old Joe Murray; and their son, Charles ‘Jojo’ Brown.

“ ‘I’m gonna continue doing it until I can’t do it no more, and hope that younger people will come in, others younger than me, to keep it going,’ said Brown who, at 71. …

“His mother agrees. Sitting in her living room, surrounded by framed photos of dozens of grandchildren, she said she’ll continue singing for them.

“ ‘I hope and pray one or two of them will fall in my footsteps,’ she said.”

More about the Gullah culture at AP, here.

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When Blue Whales Stop Singing

October 5, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Nick Ut / AP.
A blue whale, the largest mammal on Earth, surfaces in the Pacific Ocean near Long Beach, California.

Whether we’re talking about Jonah and the whale or Pinocchio or the lobster fisherman’s uncomfortably close encounter in 2021, we humans have always been fascinated by the largest mammals on Earth. And the blue whale is the most massive of them all. But what is going on with Leviathan of late?

Shola Lawal writes at Al Jazeera that it is not singing as much as it used to.

“Unlike our musical sounds, those produced by whales are a complex range of vocalizations that include groans, clicks and whistles and that can sound like anything from the mooing of a cow to the twitter of a bird. These vocalisations can be so powerful that they can be heard as far as 10km (6 miles) away, and can last for half an hour at a time. …

“For researchers, these complex sounds are a window into whale behavior, even if humans don’t yet know exactly how to decode them.

“The frequency of songs and their intensity can signal various things: an abundance of food, for example. In recent studies, however, researchers have been alarmed to find that blue whales, the largest whales and, indeed, the largest mammals on Earth, have stopped singing at specific times.

“Their eerie quietness, scientists say, is a signal that ocean life is changing fundamentally. The most recent study, conducted by scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California in the US and published in February, examined three types of whales. Researchers found that blue whales, in particular, have become more vulnerable to this change.

“Whale songs are critical for communication between males and females when mating and among schools of whales migrating. …

“The first study, conducted in the sea waters between the islands of New Zealand between 2016 and 2018, was led by scientists from the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University in the US. Over that period of time, researchers tracked specific blue whale vocalizations linked to feeding (called D-calls) and mating (called patterned songs).

“Researchers used continuous recordings from underwater devices called hydrophones, which can log sounds over thousands of kilometers, and which were placed in the South Taranaki Bight – a known foraging spot for blue whales off the west coast of New Zealand.

“They discovered that during some periods, particularly in the warmer months of spring and summer when whales usually fatten up, the frequency and intensity of sounds related to feeding activity dropped – suggesting a reduction in food sources. That decline was followed by reduced occurrences of patterned songs, signaling a dip in reproductive activity.

” ‘When there are fewer feeding opportunities, they put less effort into reproduction,’ lead researcher Dawn Barlow told reporters. The results of that study were published in the journal Ecology and Evolution in 2023.

“Then, in a study published in the scientific journal PLOS One in February [2025] researchers tracked baleen whale sounds in the California Current Ecosystem, the area in the North Pacific Ocean stretching from British Columbia to Baja California. Blue whales are a type of baleen whale, and the study focused on them, alongside their cousins, humpback whales and fin whales.

“Over six years starting in 2015, the scientists found distinct patterns. Over the first two years, ‘times were tough for whales,’ lead researcher John Ryan, of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California, noted in a press statement, as the whales, particularly blue whales, were found to be singing less. Over the next three years, however, all three whale species were back to singing more frequently, the study noted.

“Both studies found one main reason for the reduction of whale song: food or, in this case, the lack of it. It turns out that the research, conducted between 2015 and 2020, captured periods of extreme marine heatwave events that killed off krill, the small shrimp-like animals that blue whales feed on.

“Those heatwaves are part of a looming environmental catastrophe … caused by high-emission human activities, chief among them being the burning of fossil fuels. …

“Krill, which blue whales primarily feed on, are highly sensitive to heat and can all but vanish during heatwaves, the studies found. Their movement patterns also change drastically: instead of staying together, as they usually do, krill disperse when it is hot, making them harder for predators like blue whales to find.

“Typically, when foraging, blue whales sing to others to signal that they have found swarms of krill. … Heatwaves can also trigger harmful chemical changes in the oceans that encourage the growth of toxic algae, which causes poisoning and death to mammals in the oceans and sea birds, researchers have previously found, suggesting that blue whales are also at risk of being poisoned.

“In the more recent study in California, researchers found that in the first two years when whales were singing less frequently, there was also a reduction in other fish populations. …

“ ‘Compared to humpback whales, blue whales in the eastern North Pacific may be more vulnerable due to not only a smaller population size but also a less flexible foraging strategy,’ Ryan, the lead author of the California study said in a statement. …

“It is likely, both studies say, that blue whales need to spend more time and energy finding food when it is scarce, instead of singing.”

At Al Jazeera, here, you read about climate change effects on other species, too.

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The Library Business Model

October 4, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Emil Widlund/Unsplash.

Funny how quiet, unassuming institutions like libraries keep getting in the news! Today’s story is one example. But it’s not about libraries as sanctuaries during riots or about mild-mannered librarians standing up to book banning. It’s about the way libraries run themselves and how companies could learn something from them.

Criag Shapiro writes at Fast Company, “Walk into a library and you’ll feel it right away. It’s quiet but alive. People are reading, learning, applying for jobs, finding shelter, escaping for a moment into a story. No one’s selling anything. Yet the value being created is enormous.

“In 2022 (the most recent year for which we have data), there were 671 million visits to public libraries in the United States. … Despite changes in media habits, younger generations use libraries more than any other cohort (54% of Gen Zers and millennials in the U.S. reported visiting a physical library in the past year). And that’s not counting the millions more who use the myriad digital services public libraries offer. …

“We’re living in a time of rapid change. Trust in institutions is slipping. … AI is transforming the nature of work. Economic pressure is rising for employees, founders, and leaders alike. Against that backdrop, it’s tempting to think only in terms of efficiency, cost-cutting, and optimization.

“But there’s a deeper opportunity. What if long-term success is more about building environments where people feel inspired, curious, and connected? That’s what libraries do. And that’s what the best organizations of any kind are learning to do, too.

“Libraries don’t ask you to justify your interests. You can check out a book on astrophysics or attend a poetry reading. No one’s measuring your productivity. The door is open, and the invitation is simple: Explore.

“Great companies operate with a similar principle. They give people space to think. To chase ideas that might not have an immediate return. Not because it’s soft or unfocused, but because it leads to better breakthroughs. 

“On the way to becoming a company worth more than $2 trillion, Google famously gave employees ‘20% time,’ encouraging them to pursue passion projects without immediate commercial goals. This freedom led directly to innovations like Gmail, Google Maps, and AdSense. …

“A library is not about monetization. Yet its value shows up everywhere: literacy rates, employment readiness, civic health. The best organizations understand this. They offer more than a product. …

“Patagonia demonstrates this principle powerfully through its environmental activism, which goes far beyond selling outdoor gear. The company’s bold stances — from suing the government over environmental policies to donating profits to climate causes — might seem risky from a traditional business perspective. Yet Patagonia’s sales have quadrupled in the past decade to more than $1 billion annually. Patagonia’s commitment to meaning over pure profit resonates deeply with its community, strengthening brand loyalty and trust. …

“Libraries recognize that people are more than readers or borrowers. They offer after-school programs for children, job training for adults, and social services for those in need. They understand visitors have complex lives, and that growth rarely follows a single, predictable path.

“The best organizations understand this, too. Work is not just work. It’s identity. It’s purpose. It’s how people spend the majority of their waking hours. When leaders recognize that … people stay longer. They perform better. They build things they’re proud of. …

“Healthy people build healthy organizations. The modern library is more than books. It hosts résumé workshops. Offers tax help. Provides warmth in the winter. It meets people where they are. That’s a powerful concept for any organization.

“Consider Airbnb. What began as a way to find short-term lodging is steadily evolving into something broader: a platform for travel, connection, and cultural exchange. Now the company is expanding from where you stay to how you explore, offering everything from pasta-making in Rome to wildlife walks in Nairobi. It’s a bold attempt to transform a transactional service into a layered, participatory ecosystem that reflects the ways travelers want to feel at home in the world. 

“What if you stopped thinking of your offering as a single product or service? What if you thought of it as a foundation people could build from?

“Libraries remind us that value isn’t always immediate or measurable in quarterly reports. But it’s real. The impact accumulates over time, quietly compounding. The same can be true for any organization willing to think more expansively.

“Invest in culture. Make room for imagination. Support your people. Serve your community. Not because it looks good, but because it works.” More at Fast Company, here.

At this moment of pervasive anxiety in the US, I’m not sure businesses or employees can relax enough to experiment with being like libraries and librarians. What do you think? Is the analogy a stretch?

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Fashion from Textile Waste

October 3, 2025 by suzannesmom

Photo: Durrie Bouscaren/The World.
Inspired by Istanbul’s “deadstock” shops, OhSevenDays uses small batches of fabric to create womenswear. Designer Megan Mummery is pictured above inside OhSevenDays in Turkey.

According to public radio show The World, the textile industry generates an estimated 92 million tons of waste every year — equivalent to a garbage truck full of clothing every second. But today’s article suggests a way to give textiles a second life. 

The whole time I read this, I was picturing Cinderella’s little friends among the birds and mice turning the ugly sisters’ cast-off fabrics and ribbons into a gown for the ball. You remember the Disney Cinderella? I’m talking about the pretty gown the sisters destroyed, causing the Fairy Godmother to step in.

Durrie Bouscaren reports at The World, “In the backstreets of Istanbul’s garment districts, there are stores selling bolts and bolts of leftover fabric. …

“These 100-meter rolls of fabric, known as ‘deadstock,’ are the discards of Turkey’s largest clothing manufacturers. And to a growing cohort of designers, they hold the key to reducing waste in the fashion industry.  

“ ‘There are big manufacturers in Turkey that do production runs of 30,000 to 50,000 unit pieces. So, the precision in that production is something else,’ said Australian Canadian designer Megan Mummery.

“At that scale, fabric rolls with small tears, stains or other imperfections are immediately removed from the machines. And if a brand miscalculates and orders too many rolls of a specific fabric, it will end up with a surplus.

“In most cases, deadstock fabric rolls are incinerated or dropped off at a landfill. …

“ ‘It’s minuscule for them — one roll is 100 meters,’ Mummery told The World. ‘But for us, it’s gold.’

“Inspired by Istanbul’s deadstock shops, which she explored after moving to the city with her husband in 2015, Mummery began using smaller batches of fabric to create womenswear designs. She named her brand OhSevenDays — a reference to her earliest collections of only seven pieces at a time, and a play on the Turkish word ‘seven,’ for ‘one who loves.’  

“ ‘It was really slow at the beginning,’ Mummery said. … ‘And I remember, an influencer once wore a top and posted it, and we got like 20 orders in a day, and it was the most exciting thing ever!’ 

“Today, Mummery’s designs are a tasteful blend of classic neutrals and airy patterns. Signature bralette tops are paired with matching high-waisted skirts and summery cotton shorts, perfectly at home in the historic Istanbul apartments and garden balconies often featured in her photo shoots. A line of maternity clothes offers options for both the office and casual wear. 

“As with many small-scale sustainable brands, OhSevenDays’ price point is higher than that of major retailers. A popular blue patchwork Darcy dress is priced at $240, and a dark denim jumpsuit sells for $150. A breathable, white cotton maternity blouse is $124. …

“Turkey is among the world’s largest exporters of clothing, and a significant amount of deadstock fabric is available in the country, according to [Sibel Ege, an Istanbul-based fashion industry expert who runs a textile consultancy called REN Sourcing]. But few brands are incorporating it into their practices, and even fewer customers are aware of what it is. 

“ ‘After COVID, the customers became more aware of the importance of (sustainability), and started to pressure the brands,’ Ege said. ‘But if the customer doesn’t know what it means, it doesn’t make a value at the sales.’ 

“Mummery and her team work together out of a shared studio that is no larger than 700 square feet. A line of dresses hangs above the machines, while tailors measure, steam and cut fabric — making the pieces from start to finish.  That makes the work harder, but more interesting, said tailor Türker Pehlivan. 

” ‘It’s challenging,’ Pehlivan said. ‘But in the end, something beautiful comes out — and we’re happy because we made something beautiful.’

“[Mummery] has found ways to use the small size of OhSevenDays to her advantage.  Custom sizing can be done according to a shopper’s measurements at no extra charge, if fabric is available — the website notes. …

“Deadstock-sourced pieces are also popular among clothing subscription services, where subscribers receive a selection of clothes every month that can be kept or returned. This reduces the risk of disappointing customers if a popular item runs out quickly. …

“ ‘We say, you know, there might be a little color discrepancy between the products — and most of the boutiques love that actually,’ Mummery said. ‘Because when there’s a dress on the railing and two slightly different colors, they have a story to tell, even in the store.’ “

More at The World, here.

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