January 27: What Really Happened Last Week

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

Jan 28, 2025

∙ Paid

Hello friends!
I’m introducing a regular Monday paywalled post! People really liked my two posts last week about the news, so I’m going to try publishing a weekly list of relevant links, 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: the regular Friday essays will remain free for all. And if you want a paid subscription but can’t afford it, just hit reply and ask me. No questions asked.

this illustration is by my 13 year old, Lu. They want to lend their art skills to the resistance, so if you have a good cause that needs an illustrator, get in touch!

Here’s my criteria for this news roundup:

I am focusing on 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.

See last week’s post for more background.