#5SmartReads- June 15, 2022

When she isn't playing Let's Go Eevee or Animal Crossing on her Switch, Madison works as a freelance writer for startups in the healthcare and fintech spaces. She lives in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri: a place she never thought she'd return to, and one she's embracing as an opportunity to slow down.

When Debts Become Unpayable, They Should Be Forgiven (Jacobin)

The first time I learned of a “jubilee year,” I was sitting in Applied Biblical Ethics during my sophomore year of undergrad; it was my first-ever religion course, and the one that would prompt me to add Religious Studies as a double major. This particular interview covers a breadth of historical Christian and Jewish connections to debt forgiveness, prompting us to face numerous considerations about the current state of domestic and international debts, as well as what we’re going to do about them.

Gynecology Has A Pain Problem (The Cut)

I’ve only ever been seen by one OBGYN. She’s not the most progressive when it comes to reproductive health, but she is kind and gentle and she continues to fill my birth control patch prescriptions just how I need them to be. Still, as someone who has experienced sexual violence and violation, her kindness and gentleness still feel incredibly invasive and, at times, painful. The world of gynecological care is broken in countless ways, but it does fill me with hope to hear and see these conversations happening more and more often in public spaces. Care for birthing bodies doesn’t have to include additional trauma, additional pain, or additional humiliation. It’s far past time that that changed.

Groping, Derision, Bias, Threats: Women In Science Face It All (The Bloomberg)

Research like this is both endlessly disheartening and wholly unsurprising. Even so, it’s important to be aware of the realities that marginalized people are facing in fields both distantly and closely connected to our own professional fields. If you don’t currently have the capacity to take in detailed descriptions of the harassment women face in scientific fields, though, come back to this article another day.

You’re Supposed To Outgrow Vacation With Your Mom. I’m So Glad I Haven’t (Glamour)

From childhood road trips to compete in national softball tournaments to a weeks long international trip to South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia (plus a pit stop in Dubai), many of my fondest memories are of traveling with my mother. I know this is a privilege - both financially and relationally - and it also seems to be a relatively rare occurrence, even for people with the means to travel. Truthfully, I’m tearing up as I re-read this article and recall our shared travel memories - like the absolute joy in my mom’s voice when she recounts gambling in Monte Carlo, or the way she laughed as she laid on an Alaskan glacier in order to drink freshly melting water - so I’ll end here: I hope for a world where everyone has access to both the interpersonal and economic means to experience communities outside of their own.

After 329 Years, A Woman Accused Of Being A Witch In Salem Has Been Exonerated (NPR)

Middle school students are the best. (As a former middle school teacher, I may be biased, but let’s move along.) This project is such a fantastic modeling of civic engagement and long-term dedication to a collective goal. All students deserve this type of support and in-depth educational activity, especially while navigating the emotional landscape of middle school transitions.