When storm prep is left up to citizens

This is an edition of The Weekly Planet, a newsletter that provides a guide for living through climate change. Sign up for it here. Last month, at the start of hurricane season, I invited my inner circle to a hurricane-preparation dinner. Over a supreme pizza and a bottle of wine, my girlfriend, our roommate, my … Read more

Headway scores $100M, more than doubling its valuation to $2.3B

New York-based mental health platform Headway announced it secured $100 million in Series D funding, more than doubling its valuation to $2.3 billion.  Spark Capital led the round, joined by existing investors a16z, Thrive Capital and Accel, and new investor Forerunner Ventures. The company also announced its plans to expand its services for individuals with … Read more

Why I Buy German Toothpaste Now

For as long as I can remember, I have bought into the gospel of fluoride, believing that my teeth would surely rot out of my head without its protection. So it felt a little bit illicit, recently, when I purchased a box of German fluoride-free kids’ toothpaste for my daughter. The toothpaste came in blue, … Read more

Retirement Gets Harder the Longer You Wait

When President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he was ending his campaign for reelection, he took pains to describe his choice as one meant to serve the greater good. “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country,” he wrote in a statement. His decision seemed calculated to prioritize … Read more

Lead Like a Bird – Your Work, Your Way

Writing for Inc. Magazine online, workforce performance expert Henna Pryor made up a term that is not only poetic, but useful for any leader. She says “birdsong leadership” is a way to make your employees feel safer and become more productive. She writes, “I was listening to the birds on my back porch last week … Read more

There Are No Good Options Left With Bird Flu

Of all the news about bird flu, this month has brought some of the most concerning yet. Six people working on a chicken farm in Colorado have tested positive for the virus—the biggest human outbreak detected in the U.S. The country’s tally is now up to 11 since 2022, but that’s almost certainly a significant … Read more

The View Matters – Your Work, Your Way

I’ve worked in both a cramped cubicle and a spacious corner office with a view. There’s no doubt that my view of the treetops (3rd floor) and blue skies while sunshine poured in made me happier and my work easier. Whoever dreamed that workers would choose to return to the office to go back into … Read more

The Sad Future of Grocery Shopping

A well-stocked grocery store is a wondrous place. Among the gleaming pyramids of fruit, golden rows of bread, and freezers crammed with ice cream, time and space collapse. A perfectly ripe apple might have been picked a year ago; a cut of beef may have come from an Australian cow. Grocery stores defy seasons and … Read more

What 129 Degrees Feels Like

A large digital thermometer sits at the entrance to the gleaming mid-century-modern visitor center in Furnace Creek, California. When I arrived on Sunday afternoon, it was thronged with people with their phones out, taking pictures. A mood of anticipation hummed through the crowd. A few hours east of us, in Las Vegas, temperatures would rise … Read more