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PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
Earth’s Warriors, Young and Old, Keep Battling and Hoping (Maria)
The authors write, “They fight for Earth. Young and old, famous and not so well known, there are many people from around the globe who make it their mission to try to save the planet, especially from the ravages of climate change. They find themselves often pitted against powerful forces. One group is the generations that will live for decades with what Earth will become and are trying to keep it from getting overheated. Another is from a generation partly responsible for what’s happened and trying to clean up what they are leaving behind. … Here are some of those planetary warriors as people commemorate Earth Day. Even though 40, 50, 60 and even 70 years separate them, they have something in common: Hope.”
Top Tennessee Republican Who Voted to Expel Democrats Resigns Over Sexual Harassment Charges (Dana)
From The New Republic: “A top Tennessee Republican who voted alongside his party to expel three Democratic representatives for breaking House ‘decorum’ has resigned after the findings of a sexual harassment investigation became public.”
Washington State Officially Abolishes Death Penalty (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “Washington state has officially abolished the death penalty. Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5087 on Friday, which removes state laws that Washington’s Supreme Court determined are invalid or unconstitutional.”
The Deputy and the Disappeared (Laura)
From CNN: “A Latino man and a Black man went missing three months apart in Florida. Both vanished after getting in a patrol car driven by the same White deputy sheriff.”
Maryann Gray Spent Her Life Advocating for People Who Accidentally Killed Others (Al)
From NPR: “In July 2003, an 86-year-old man mistakenly drove his car through a farmer’s market in Santa Monica, California, and killed 10 people. The public was enraged. Some called him a murderer. Local resident Maryann Gray heard about the incident and wrote into NPR. Not with outrage, but with compassion.”
The US’ Educational Superpower Is Fading (Sean)
The author writes, “Behind this glittering facade of Nobel Prizes and gargantuan gifts, the US university system is beginning to molder. The problem is not just a few glitches here and there. That is to be expected in a giant system. It is that vital elements in a healthy academic system are failing at the same time.”
Montevideo Maru: Australia Finds Wreck of Japanese WW2 Disaster Ship (Roshni)
From the BBC: “Deep-sea explorers have found the wreck of a Japanese transport ship which sank off the Philippines, killing nearly 1,000 Australian troops and civilians in World War Two. It was Australia’s worst maritime disaster.”
The Origins of Creativity (Michaela)
The author writes, “‘Create’ and ‘creation,’ of course, are old words (not to mention, as Franklin, oddly, does not, ‘Creator’ and ‘Creation’). But ‘creativity,’ as the name for a personal attribute or a mental faculty, is a recent phenomenon.”
