NewsMatch Kicks off This Saturday!
Dear Reader,
Whether you’ve been with us from the start or only found us last week via Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American newsletter, thank you for turning to The Xylom as a trusted source for news that makes a real difference at the intersection of environmental health and democracy.
I’m starting this week’s newsletter with a quick note to let you know that, beginning Saturday (and through the end of the year), we'll be emailing a bit more often than usual — and to briefly tell you why.
Starting November 1st, we’ll be participating in NewsMatch, a powerful collaborative fundraising movement to support independent journalism. We’re asking you to be a part of it.
In a nutshell, this means that any contribution you make, up to $1,000, from November 1st until December 31st will be quadrupled(!). With the support of readers like you, we hope to gain 50 new donors and earn over $30,000 throughout our NewsMatch campaign, enabling us to keep delivering in-depth, insightful journalism.
Stay tuned to learn more about this important time of year in the life of our organization and how to take advantage of this great opportunity to make a donation go further!
Thanks in advance for your support and understanding of our increased communication — we can’t do this work, and keep information accessible to all, without folks like you supporting us.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Ip
Publisher and Editor
✨ NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS
🗞️ Here’s something cool: I spoke at the Mercer University Center for Collaborative Journalism this past weekend, and I noticed that we were on The Macon Melody’s front page!
https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3m3x4ol5zts25In the past week, our nationwide, unofficial, crowdsourced attendance estimate has been cited by news outlets from Macon, Ga., to Amherst, Mass., from Saeed Jones’ VIBE CHECK podcast to Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American newsletter. Thank you to all of you who volunteered your time and effort!
🧑⚕️ We invite you to our next news webinar on November 5th at 1 pm, moderated by our Publisher and Editor, Alex Ip. Two experts from the George Mason Center for Climate Change Communication, Drs. Julia Fine and Joshua Ettinger, will join us to discuss the findings of their new study, “Advancing and integrating climate and health policy in the United States: Insights from national policy stakeholders.”. Sign up here.
📱 ICYMI: Join our WhatsApp channel and help reach users who stay off social media (share this with your aunties and uncles!)
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THINGS YOU SHOULD READ
🍑 A SOUTHERN FLAIR
SOUTHERN FLORIDA — The Ghost Orchid (Pragathi Ravi, Southlands)
Also unusual is the fact that the ghost orchid is leafless; photosynthesis happens in the roots that help the flower cling to its host tree. To germinate, the flower needs help from both a fungus and an insect pollinator. “No sphinx moth, no orchid,” Herdman warns.
LAVONIA, Ga. — Trump’s Budget Law ‘Solidified’ a Georgia Hospital’s Decision to Shutter Its Delivery Unit (Torrence Banks, NOTUS)
That St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital’s labor and delivery unit in Lavonia, Georgia, is about to close is clear to anyone who walks its halls. A message on the unit’s break-room whiteboard tells employees they can take home the holiday decorations that were long used in the office. Other items, like a coffee maker and air fryer, are up for grabs too.
🗺️ WHAT ELSE WE'RE READING
NEW YORK — ‘Nothing to Go Back to’: How Climate Change Is Driving Migrants From Their Homes to NYC (Carla Mandiola and Jazzmin Jiwa, Columbia Journalism Investigations and Documented)
There is rarely a single, simple cause behind an individual’s decision to migrate, but understanding how natural disasters exacerbated by climate change can push people to leave their home countries is “absolutely important,” said Felipe Navarro, associate director of policy and advocacy for the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at the University of California’s College of the Law.
“It’s not simply that a hurricane happened,” Navarro said. “It’s that the hurricane caused devastation, and how the state responded.”ARMENIA — Unconventional Grief: Armenia’s Landscapes Lost to Mining (Anahit Ghazakhetsyan, EVN Report)
These physical losses stir mixed feelings among the villagers. Some say they are glad the frogs are gone—the croaking once disturbed their sleep. Children used to dive into the river at night to chase the sound and would often catch a cold. Now there is no proper river and no croaking, and, as one villager reflects with irony, the children are healthier.
Johnson & Johnson’s dark history in India and the United States (Disha Shetty, Himal Southasian)
Both authors arrive at the same conclusion: over the years, J & J leveraged its financial clout – particularly its vast advertising budget – to evade accountability and cultivate an image entirely divorced from reality. The company misled regulators, journalists and patients, distorted evidence and repeatedly placed profits above patient safety.
TACOMA, Wash. — Licensed to Contaminate (Rico Moore, The Margin)
Meanwhile, migrants—many of whom have no criminal record—drink from the water faucets, take showers, and breathe the air. When they do, they have complained of seeing dark water flowing from the taps that sickens their digestive systems, been afflicted with rashes on their skin after showering, and sickened by gasoline exposure, even as air conditioning systems are shut down during extreme temperatures, according to records obtained by open records law.
SOME OF OUR RECENT STORIES
😷 Nepal's Air Got More Toxic During Gen-Z Protests
Severe air pollution during Nepal's Gen-Z protests has sent vulnerable groups to hospitals with serious respiratory complications. It echoes research that evaluated the effects of excessive chemical munitions use in urban areas during the George Floyd protests.
🌡️ Texas Researchers Make A Heatstroke Calculator for Burn Victims
A new Heat Risk Calculator developed by Texas researchers is helping burn survivors, such as America's Got Talent finalist Kechi Okwuchi, assess their heat risk during physical activity. The tool is expected to become more important as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events.