Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Kate Marvel @drkatemarvel.bsky.social · 10d

my takeaway from climate week nyc is that "climate storytelling" is a little too much "we must reimagine our deepest souls in relationship to mother nature and the moral abyss of the polycrisis into which we must now stare" and not enough "ok but get a heat pump"

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The 51st @51st.news · 11d

“I worry about climate change. But when I cut vines and save one tree, I worry less.”

Meet some of the volunteers who are restoring D.C.’s green spaces — and combating the effects of climate change, one tree at a time.

@samdelgado.bsky.social reports:

How volunteers are fighting the vines strangling D.C.'s trees

How local residents are restoring D.C.’s green spaces — and combating the effects of climate change.

51st.news

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Tom Phillips @tomphillips.bsky.social · 17d

“Huge crowds packed the squares and beaches of some of Brazil’s biggest cities to voice their opposition to rightwing endeavors to help Bolsonaro escape jail for his failed power grab”

Brazilians protest in their thousands against granting Bolsonaro amnesty

Huge crowds pack the streets to oppose endeavours to help ex-president escape jail

www.theguardian.com

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The Continent @thecontinent.org · 18d

The Nigeria leather industry is estimated to generate at least $600-million a year, but most of it goes to people in the middle. The shoes, bags, and belts assembled from this leather will bear labels like “Made in Italy” but give no credit to the Nigerian workers who did the dirty first steps.

Hide and seek

Meet the Nigerians who make your genuine ‘Italian’ leather.

continent.substack.com

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Will Anderson @wwanderson.bsky.social · 19d

Eve Babitz, posts from the 60s

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Will Anderson @wwanderson.bsky.social · 22d

New from me: With a little help, small enterprises across Africa can access domestic & intl markets. That means more $$$ in farmers' pockets!

Here's what $24m in contracts for 7 restoration champions taught us at @worldresources.bsky.social:

www.wri.org/update/respo...

Responsible Commodity Contracts Can Accelerate Africa's Restoration Economy

Offtake contracts can help restoration businesses build sustainable supply chains by guaranteeing attractive prices for their products.

www.wri.org

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Nanjala @nanjala.bsky.social · 25d

There’s a billboard in Nairobi advertising a luxury development with the tagline “luxury is waking up to lush green views”. And it really it goes to the heart of how neoliberal approaches to development screw over poor countries. They really are paving paradise to put up a parking lot.

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Capital B @capitalb.bsky.social · 25d

Willie Calhoun remembers the day, sitting at the dinner table when he was about 10. His longshoreman father, tired after a day on the barge, declared a warning almost as fact: “If a storm ever come up, it is gonna drown the Ninth Ward.”

How a $5 Billion Federal Project Could Sink the Lower Ninth Ward Forever

Decades after Betsy and Katrina, the community faces another threat — a canal proposal promising “progress” that could threaten its survival.

capitalbnews.org

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · Sep 3

"Bowser issued an executive order that requires local coordination with federal law enforcement “to the maximum extent allowable by law within the District.” The order gives no expiration date."

I, for one, would like a new mayor (and statehood)

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Bowser to provide indefinite coordination with federal law enforcement

Bowser issued an executive order Tuesday requiring local coordination with federal law enforcement “to the maximum extent allowable by law.” The order gives no expiration date.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Will Anderson @wwanderson.bsky.social · Aug 22

Stories like these lay bare the opportunities and perils of global supply chains, even in the tariff era. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/w...

The Rainforests Being Cleared to Build Your R.V.

www.nytimes.com

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The Marshall Project @themarshallproject.org · Aug 20

Transgender people are a tiny fraction of the federal prison population. But they are disproportionately targeted for abuse and assault.

3 Things to Know About Prison Violence Against Transgender People

Key takeaways from our story about one trans woman’s legal battle for accountability.

www.themarshallproject.org

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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · Aug 20

We deserve much better.

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · Aug 17

put street trees everywhere you can in a neighborhood, make curb cuts so that their roots can absorb storm water from the street, grow native plants around their base, check back in five years and count how many welfare and health measures have improved

Jeff Speck @jeffspeck.bsky.social · Aug 17

Rule 78: Put Street Trees Almost Everywhere

Street trees do it all, they...
Cut crashes by 45%
Raise home values 9%
Boost retail sales 12%
Clean air, cool streets, absorb stormwater, improve health, and make places more inviting

Walkable City Rules www.amazon.com/Walkable-Cit...

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Dave Zirin @edgeofsports.bsky.social · Aug 15

Wrote about how both dangerous and ineffably stupid everything is right now in these DC streets. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

The Perils and Absurdities of Trump’s DC Occupation

Trump compels his followers to endorse obvious lies. It’s accelerating the country’s descent into authoritarianism.

www.thenation.com

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World Resources Institute @worldresources.bsky.social · Aug 14

An AI breakthrough offers a major leap forward in how we monitor the world's land🛰️🌍

@aiatmeta.bsky.social, with support from @worldresources.bsky.social Institute, has created DINOv3. It’s a game-changer for geospatial monitoring.

Learn more: go.wri.org/ai-finance-f...

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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · Aug 7

"Reducing our dependence on whales as an energy source will send us sliding down the slippery, spermaceti-lubricated slope to socialism. If we give up whaling, what will those lackwits come for next? Will I have to surrender my peg leg for a titanium prosthetic?"

I’m Captain Ahab and I Say We Must Never Transition Away from a Whale-Based Energy Industry

When I heard that the globalist oligarchs and fat cats in the Washington marshland were conspiring to invest in alternative, non-whale-based energy...

buff.ly

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Labor Notes @labornotes.bsky.social · Aug 2

Immigrant workers in Prato, Italy have mounted a series of strike days this year against exploitative conditions like 14-hour workdays, union busting and dangerous machinery.

They've already won a 40-hour work week in 68 fashion workshops and warehouses: labornotes.org/blogs/2025/0...

In Italy, Immigrant Workers Launch a Wave of Strikes for a 40-Hour Week

Since early April, immigrant workers in the Tuscan city of Prato have staged a wave of strikes demanding their right to a 40-hour work week, or “8x5.” Organized by the union SUDD Cobas, these walkouts...

labornotes.org

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Reporterre 🌍 | Le média de l'écologie @reporterre.net · Jul 30

La famine a poussé 90 000 personnes dans une immense migration interne à Madagascar depuis 2018.

Les racines de cette crise remontent à la période de la colonisation française, dénonce Amnesty International.

Lire l'article ➡️ https://l.reporterre.net/pMZ

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Rabih Alameddine @rabihalameddine.bsky.social · Jul 28

Soutine - The Tree - ca.1939

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Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · Jul 28

The U.S. has led the world in science since the mid-20th century for two reasons: funding & welcoming students and researchers from around the world. The Trump administration is destroying both advantages (1/2)

Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · Jul 28

Science is the most international endeavor in human history.
This flagrantly racist administration is destroying the U.S.'s lucrative and life-saving leadership. www.thetransmitter.org/policy/what-... on @thetransmitter.bsky.social

What U.S. science stands to lose without international graduate students and postdoctoral researchers

Neuroscience in other countries will strengthen—at the United States’ expense—as rising visa restrictions and rejections block many international students from enrolling at U.S.

www.thetransmitter.org

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Will Anderson @wwanderson.bsky.social · Jul 29

I’m looking for recommendations for newsletters on the Brazilian economy!

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Kim Kelly @kimkelly.bsky.social · Jul 21

After an eight-day strike, DC33 reached a tentative agreement with the city of Philadelphia last week. Tonight, we’ll find out the results of the membership vote.

I wrote about the human costs of the strike and the cruelty of the city’s response for @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/soci...

Something Is Still Rotten in the City of Philadelphia

Philly workers went out on strike—and came back with a deal that nobody seems to like.

www.thenation.com

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Will Anderson @wwanderson.bsky.social · Jul 22

Knock the AC! Windows open!

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Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · Jul 21

Climate change is bad for agriculture and food security.

This study found that even considering adaptation and development, crop yields are likely to decline by 2050 and 2100 (vs. baseline projected yield growth with no climate change) in every region of the world. 🧪

Climate change will hurt the richest farmers—and the poorest

Even with realistic adaptation, crop yields will fall as temperatures rise

www.economist.com

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Alex Taliadoros @alexctaliadoros.bsky.social · Jul 18

🚨🚨🚨 from @streetsensedc.bsky.social:

"DC began telling migrants they had to leave the only operating migrant shelter earlier this summer, according to shelter residents, after Mayor Muriel Bowser’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposed defunding the Office of Migrant Services, a $39.8 million cut."

Residents at D.C.'s last operating migrant shelter told to leave

By the end of the summer, families at the District’s last city-funded migrant shelter will have had to find somewhere else to go.

streetsensemedia.org

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