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 Beloved Oregon Restaurant Rewriting the Rules of Seafood
When foodies head to Newport, Oregon, one place is always at the top of their list: Local Ocean. Repeat diners rave about the roasted garlic and crab soup, studded with fat lumps of local Dungeness; the lightly battered fried rockfish tacos served with citrus slaw, Huichol mayo and pickled veggies;...
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Can Psychedelics Help Athletes Recover From Brain Injuries?
Robert Gallery looks like a picture of perfect strength. Broad-shouldered at 6-foot-7, heavily muscled arms inked, the former NFL offensive lineman’s frame fills the chair at his home in Lake Tahoe, California. For eight seasons with the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks, and before that at the University of Iowa,...
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What We’re Reading: Sperm Whales — They’re Just Like Us
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. When things click How much do you have in common with a sperm whale? More than it would seem: New research has...
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The Musician Racing to Preserve a Disappearing Soundscape
It was the winter of 2011. The stage was set, the audience in place on a cold Delhi evening. The audience gasped audibly when Rewben Mashangva walked into the spotlight with his son Saka. Oblivious to the chill, he was dressed in the sleeveless woven red and black jacket worn...
The post The Musician
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When ICE Shows Up, These Businesses Will Be Ready
Last April, at the James Beard Foundation’s Chef Action Summit, food industry leaders gathered to discuss the political and economic landscape with one concern hanging grimly in the air: undocumented and immigrant workers were increasingly afraid to come into work after ICE raids ramped up at the outset of Trump’s...
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The U.S. Is Manufacturing a Ton of Grid Batteries
This story was originally published by Canary Media. Big batteries have begun reshaping the U.S. grid. Now, the country has made surprising strides in making those energy storage systems itself, rather than depending on imports from China. Batteries were always crucial for the effort to scale up renewable energy production, but they...
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Meet Mr. Trash Wheel and His Trash-Catching Friends
Cigarette butt. Gatorade bottle cap. Part of a Clif Bar wrapper. Cigarette butt. Fake nail. Styrofoam piece. Drinking straw. Styrofoam piece. Cigarette butt. With gloved hands, Mallory Willem sorts quickly and efficiently through trash pulled from a storm drain in Cedar Key, an island town off Florida’s Gulf Coast. She...
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What We’re Reading: What Good Deed Would You Do With $500?
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. Giveaway What happens if you trust people to be generous? That’s the question behind Drop Dead Generous, a social experiment that is...
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The Verdant Refuge of India’s Sacred Groves
A herd of goats makes its way through a stubbly, dry grassland to a hilly grove. As they get closer, the air becomes noticeably cooler, the vegetation denser, the grass greener. A couple of buffalo wallow in a shallow pool of water, and beyond, a forest path leads to a...
The post The Verdant Refuge of
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Formerly Incarcerated Mentors Are Changing Lives in California
When he walked out of prison after 28 years, the first thing Allen Burnett did was drive to the ocean. “I just stood there for a minute,” he recalls. “I wanted to feel the air.” For most of his life, Burnett never expected that moment to come. He entered California’s...
The post Formerly Incarcerated
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