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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.
Meet the Teenager Who Helped Push Florida Toward Cleaner Energy (Maria)
The author writes, “For most of his 15 years, Levi Draheim led a beachy life on a barrier island on Florida’s east coast, swimming, surfing and sailing in the near shore waves. He dreamed of someday becoming a marine biologist. But Levi’s world is changing. … This year, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced a plan to put the state on a path toward cleaner energy, cutting the emissions Florida contributes to the climate disruptions that are already battering it. Behind the plan was a focused campaign by some 200 young Floridians all under the age of 25. Levi was the youngest.”
Looking for Clarence Thomas (Dana)
From Esquire: “He grew up speaking a language of the enslaved on the shores of Pin Point, Georgia. He would become the most powerful Black man in America, using the astonishing power vested in a Supreme Court justice to hold back his own people. Now he sits atop an activist right-wing court poised to undo the progressivism of the past century. What happened?”
Background of Rushdie Attacker Sheds Light on Khomeini Sympathizers in US (Mili)
From Arab News: “Hadi Matar, the 24-year-old New Jersey attacker charged with attempted murder over a vicious knife attack on author Salman Rushdie on Friday, is believed to have been motivated by pro-Iranian regime sympathies and the death fatwa placed on the novelist in 1989 by the late Ayatollah Khomeini. Rushdie was speaking at a literary festival in upstate New York when Matar rushed onto the stage and stabbed the prize-winning author multiple times, including in the face, arm and abdomen, police allege.”
A Democratic-Aligned Super Pac Is Ordered to Pay Roy Moore $8.2M in a Defamation Suit (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “A federal jury awarded Republican Roy Moore $8.2 million in damages Friday after finding a Democratic-aligned super PAC defamed him in a TV ad recounting sexual misconduct accusations during his failed 2017 U.S. Senate bid in Alabama. Jurors found the Senate Majority PAC made false and defamatory statements against Moore in one ad that attempted to highlight the accusations against Moore. The verdict, returned by a jury after a brief trial in Anniston, Alabama, was a victory for Moore, who has lost other defamation lawsuits, including one against comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.”
Digital Literacy Doesn’t Stop the Spread of Misinformation (Sean)
From Scientific American: “One popular theory about why some people fall for misinformation they encounter online is that they lack digital literacy skills, a nebulous term that describes how a person navigates digital spaces. Someone lacking digital literacy skills, the thinking goes, may be more susceptible to believing — and sharing — false information. As a result, less digitally literate people may play a significant role in the spread of misinformation. This argument makes intuitive sense. Yet very little research has actually investigated the link between digital literacy and susceptibility to believe false information. There’s even less understanding of the potential link between digital literacy and what people share on social media. As researchers who study the psychology of online misinformation, we wanted to explore these potential associations.”
Johnson & Johnson to Stop Making Talc-Based Baby Powder Globally (Siobhan)
The author writes, “Johnson & Johnson is to stop selling and making talc-based baby powder globally, two years after it ended sales in the US and Canada. The healthcare firm has faced tens of thousands of lawsuits from consumers who allege its talc products, including the instantly recognisable brand of Johnson’s baby powder, caused them to develop cancer.”
‘El Jefe’ the Jaguar, Famed in US, Photographed in Mexico (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “They call him ‘El Jefe,’ he is at least 12 years old, and his crossing of the heavily guarded U.S.-Mexico border have sparked celebrations on both sides. ‘El Jefe’ — or ‘The Boss’ — is one of the oldest jaguars on record along the frontier, one of few known to have crossed a border partly lined by a wall and other infrastructure to stop drug traffickers and migrants, and the one believed to have traveled the farthest, say ecologists of the Borderlands Linkages Initiative, a binational collaboration of eight conservation groups.”
