Feb 2: What Really Happened Last Week

Stop the doomscroll! #2 in a weekly series of news roundups, bright spots, action steps & advice

Flyers in North Brooklyn

Hello friends!
I’m introducing a regular Monday paywalled post! But I’m sending this week’s edition out early because tomorrow morning I think the markets are going to crash and all we’ll be hearing about is tariffs and the trade war.

For at least the first 100 days of this Trump term, there will be a weekly list of relevant news, bright spots, and action steps, focusing on the topics of this newsletter: caregiving, youth, climate change, human rights, mental health.

I’m also going to be answering your questions, so please let me know if you have any!

Don’t worry and please don‘t hit unsubscribe: my Friday essays will remain free for all. And if you want a paid subscription but can’t afford it, just hit reply and ask !

Here’s my criteria for this news roundup:

• Real events that have real consequences for real people now.

• I’m trying to avoid pseudo-events, commentary, purely symbolic gestures and speculation. So I’m leaving out some stuff you’ve probably seen elsewhere.

• I am presenting impacts alongside responses and solutions.

• I want to model healthy, balanced news consumption. I don’t know that I can become the only news you read, but I can at least point the way to a better news habit. I believe this is going to be crucial to our mental health and our ability to show up for others, including our kids, in this accelerating polycrisis.

In this week’s edition:

1. The authoritarian push

2. Protecting the vulnerable.

3. Some good news on climate

4. Wild card/More good news

I don’t have any good info yet on the trade war; with tariffs going into effect at midnight tonight (Tuesday), we’ll have more next week.