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.
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Scottish Couple Makes History Driving From North Pole to South Pole in EV (Maria)
The author writes, “A Scottish couple has made history after driving over 18,600 miles from the North Pole to the South Pole in an electric vehicle, running mostly on renewable energy. Chris and Julie Ramsey began their 10-month-long journey in March 2023, beginning on the frozen Arctic Sea at the Magnetic North Pole. … The couple drove on solar or wind energy throughout most of their journey. According to a press release from Nissan, the official vehicle partner of Pole to Pole EV, this is the first time any vehicle is believed to have [been] driven from the North Pole to the South Pole, not just an electric vehicle.”
Former Wisconsin GOP Chair Says False Electors Were ‘Tricked’ (Al)
The author writes, “Weeks after a civil lawsuit was settled against Wisconsin’s 2020 ‘false electors,’ one is maintaining that the group was ‘tricked.’ Andrew Hitt — the former state GOP chair who, along with nine others, signed documents stating former President Donald Trump had won Wisconsin when he had not — says the group was acting under the advice of lawyers to preserve all possible legal avenues for Trump’s court challenges and recounts. ‘We were tricked. We weren’t made aware of any ulterior motive or scheme. And we wouldn’t have gone along with it had we been,’ Hitt said.”
Meet the Woman Working to Stop the Far-Right Creator Money Machine (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “When Elon Musk reinstated far-right influencer and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s account on X … digital marketer and activist Nandini Jammi sprang into action. She posted on X to alert her followers to his return and began monitoring his posts. ‘We’ve been working on alerting advertisers to the two platforms where Alex Jones primarily lives, Rumble and Twitter,’ Jammi said, using X’s former name. ‘Alex Jones has proven to be a dangerous conspiracy theorist, and Twitter is reopening a channel for him to earn ad revenue.’”
How $750 a Month Changed the Lives of a Group of Homeless People in California (Dana)
From USA Today: “Can putting money directly in the hands of people experiencing homelessness make a difference? A new California study on basic income suggests it can. Ben Henwood, a professor at the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, partnered with the nonprofit Miracle Messages to give 103 people in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles County $750 per month for a year. The six-month report is preliminary, but Henwood said the findings provide insight into ways to help address the problem.”
How Cars Turned Into Giant Killers (Russ and Laura)
From Slate: “In 1977, SUVs and trucks together represented 23 percent of American new car sales; today they comprise more than 80 percent. Meanwhile, the models themselves keep getting larger. These four-wheeled behemoths started as niche vehicles, meant to allow certain groups of people to accomplish specific tasks. Today they have become a fixture of everyday American life. They are also linked to myriad societal ills, from crash deaths to climate change to social inequality. Bigger cars make each of those problems harder to solve.”
This Weird Boat Lets You Walk Underwater Without Getting Wet (Sean)
From Jalopnik: “Every once in a while a weird little ship will catch my eye, and I have to tell you good people about it. A couple of years ago it was the RP FLIP, and today it’s the Diving Bell Ship Carl Straat and the newer Archimedes. There is a giant boom off the back of these ships that can lower an entire pressurized room to the bottom of a river. The room uses high air pressure to push all of the water out so a three-or-four person crew can hang out down there for a few hours. It’s mostly used to retrieve precious cargo from the bottom of the river without messy divers and cranes.”
