Reasons to be Cheerful
Reasons to Be Cheerful is an online magazine founded by musician and activist David Byrne. It shares inspiring, solutions-oriented stories highlighting positive developments and innovative approaches to global challenges. The platform covers a wide range of topics, including environmental sustainability, social justice, urban design, health, and culture, emphasizing practical, replicable solutions that are making a difference. Reasons to Be Cheerful aims to counterbalance the often negative news cycle by showcasing stories of progress, resilience, and creativity. The website encourages readers to engage with and support these initiatives, fostering a sense of hope and empowerment. It also offers a newsletter to deliver uplifting content directly to its audience.
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The German City That Defied McDonald’s and Dumped ‘To-Go’ Waste
On a sunny afternoon, the McDonald’s at the edge of Tübingen buzzes with customers. Teenagers loiter over fries, a family shares burgers, cardboard cups and boxes pile up on plastic trays. Nothing here suggests rebellion. And yet, this fast-food outpost sits at the center of one of Germany’s most consequential...
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What We’re Reading: Why MAGA Suddenly Loves Solar
Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here. From shade to sunshine A number of high-profile allies of President Donald Trump are taking a somewhat surprising public pivot towards solar...
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The Spark: How to Make Parenting Fun Again
Welcome back to The Spark, our monthly celebration of how people just like you are creating positive change, one meaningful step at a time. The Spark is generously supported by Laura Rice. Sign up to Reasons to be Cheerful’s weekly newsletter here and you’ll get The Spark in your inbox...
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The Jewish Cemeteries Giving Life to Morocco’s Muslim Communities
Something special is taking place in Akrich, a typical rural village in Morocco backed by a breathtaking view of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains. Here is a compelling showcase of interfaith harmony, reinvigorated in recent years but dating back centuries. Today, the village’s sacred 700-year-old Jewish cemetery is home to a...
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Electric Buses Have Passed a Brutal Cold-Weather Test
This story was originally published by Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. Jonathan Mertzig was wary when Madison rolled out a fleet of 62 electric buses in the fall of 2024. The...
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What We’re Reading: Data Centers Meet Their Match in Maine
Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here. Rural resistance As concerns grow over the global expansion of data centers driven by an unprecedented surge in demand for computing power,...
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The Teens Teaching Grandma to Google
It’s three o’clock on a cold Budapest afternoon, and the sun is already dropping low on the horizon as 64-year-old Györgyi Petik Kis briskly makes her way to the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library. A beautiful neo-baroque palace, the building is home to the Hungarian capital’s largest public collection of books....
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From Clicks to Cleanups: Juba’s Youth-Led Waste Revolution
The first time Makur Majeng posted photos on social media of trash-clogged drainage ditches along the White Nile in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, his phone would not stop buzzing. “How can I help?” one message read. Within hours, 20 young people — many of whom had never met...
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A Recipe For Women’s Empowerment in Morocco
All over the city of Marrakesh, football fever had taken hold. Africa’s continent-wide soccer competition, AFCON, was being hosted in Morocco. And here, at the Amal Targa Center, a fan zone had been set up for the big clash between Egypt and Benin. Yet the most impressive team performing that...
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This City Turned Its Rooftops into a Climate Shield
From the top of Zürichberg hill, the panorama reveals a city wrapped by lake and forest but insulated in a basin where heat collects. On hot summer days, the center of Zürich, Switzerland’s largest city, warms like a bowl, with street surfaces radiating heat well into the night, amplifying the...
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