#5SmartReads is a Webby-honored weekly news digest that amplifies underreported news and underrepresented perspectives. My goal is to help you stay informed without being overwhelmed, and to embrace nuance and reflection over picking a side.
Everything feels awful right now. I hope these offer you some hope, some joy, and to seek out the glimmers of goodness.
Before we dive in, I’d love your thoughts on 5SR. Are you loving the new format, do you miss the old one, or do you like both?
This week, we’re reverting to the old format (less commentary, a focus on underreported news and hopeful reads). Let’s dive in.
Beyonce’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Tour Inspires Black Women and LGBTQ+ Fans to Remix Patriotic Symbols (Capital B News)
Last year was brat summer. The year before was Barbie summer.
It feels like 2025 is ‘reclaiming patriotism’ summer, and I am here for it (as this summer’s theme, more so in general).
Last summer planted the seeds: the Olympics, the energy and joy from the Harris campaign, and Cowboy Carter’s release. Cowboy Carter is a love letter to this country (namely to Black American culture) and a necessary history lesson that many Americans need to learn.
One year after its release (and six months of the destruction of our institutions and protections for millions of Americans), Cowboy Carter boldly plants the stars and stripes in what America has always been, for better or worse. The audience matches the energy of the tour (the carefully planned stops, honoring Black Americans country artists and culture makers who have built and grown this genre).
The outfits are bold, beautiful, and wholly American. The message and the moment are even more powerful, which Jessica Wise perfectly describes:
“The very first person to die in the name of America was a Black man,” she said, referring to the American Revolutionary war hero Crispus Attucks.
“Reminding people that Black people have always been part of the fabric of America, that Black people have always been patriots even when America was not America to us — is a huge part of what this tour represents.”
Cotton-and-squid-bone sponge can soak up 99.9% of microplastics, scientists say (The Guardian)
In the wake of terrible climate and health policy news, this is a glimmer of hope.
Growing evidence shows the increasing threat that microplastics are having on our planetary and personal health. Most of the solutions are difficult to scale to what we need.
While this is still early stage, this cotton and squid bone sponge may be a key solution in helping filter microplastics from water. The materials for these sponges are cheap and it doesn’t require any specialized equipment to manufacture.
The best solutions are often the most simple ones, particularly when it comes to climate change. More trees help capture more carbon and help cool our populated areas. Restoring coral reefs can help address erosion and maintain a healthy ecosystem. Ultra white paint absorbs significantly less sunlight than even conventional white paint, keeping buildings cool and reducing the need for air conditioning.
Let’s hope these sponges’ potential meet the moment.
They're Literally Angry at Superman for Being Nice ()
We’re seeing Superman this weekend, but I’m already a fan of James Gunn’s adaption for a simple reason.
Superman is kind.
He frets over his cousin’s feral dog. He puts himself between a kid and an explosion. He wears his emotions on his sleeve and openly talks about them. Gunn wrote a Superhuman that’s mirrors the original comic.
Naturally, people are outraged by Gunn’s Superman, which
expertly unpacks:But this isn't really about Superman. It's about how conservative media takes the most innocuous statements and transforms them into culture war ammunition. It's about how the right-wing ecosystem has become so reflexively oppositional that even "basic human kindness" reads as a partisan attack.
And perhaps most tellingly, it's about what happens when you've built an entire media apparatus that needs a constant supply of things to be mad about — even if that means getting upset that Superman, of all characters, stands for truth, justice, and helping people.
I saw a Threads post that basically said ‘Superman is Barbie for boys and men,” and I agree. Boys need role models who show up with kindness and care as well as physical strength. When said role model can fly and is literally an alien immigrant? Even better.
In the Wake of the Big Beautiful Bill ()
’s essay about the OBBB is extraordinary.If you’re exhausted by it all—the never-ending news cycle of terrible news, the repeated ‘I can’t believe he said/posted that’, the intentional dehumanization of millions of our fellow Americans—you’re not alone.
Any effort to combat this torrent of horror seems impossible. That’s exactly what the other side is banking on. Joseph reminded me that we, as a country, have faced these challenges before. We’ve won before, and we will win again—but only if we do it together, with care and continued action.
“In dark times, hope resides in the everyday acts of resistance. In every moment we refuse silence, refuse despair, refuse defeat. Every time we show up for each other, every time we defy injustice, every time we speak truth even when our voices tremble, we chip away at the very foundations of cruelty. And we build something beautiful in its place: a future where dignity is non-negotiable, and justice is not a distant dream but a present reality.”
Movements are built by the small, repeated actions of many, and there is no action too small.
Astronomers capture the birth of planets around a baby sun outside our solar system (Associated Press)
Star Trek has made me an unapologetic space nerd and humanity optimist.
So reading about planets being born, and the brilliant scientists who captured and analyzed this phenomenon, makes me hopeful for the future.