#5SmartReads - March 29, 2022

This week’s #5SmartReads is sponsored by Blue Apron.

Virginia Thomas urged White House chief to pursue unrelenting efforts to overturn the 2020 election, texts show (Washington Post)

While most of the press has moved on from this story, I’m still in total shock. 

The wife of a sitting Supreme Court Justice was in regular content with the President’s chief of staff to overturn a fair election. And said Supreme Court Justice was the lone dissent regarding the Pennsylvania absentee ballots and on the January 6th Committee’s access to information is noteworthy.

I know the former president’s term was a lot…but this is absolutely THE MOST. 

THIS is news (not the other stuff that’s trending). If there’s one thing you read today, make it this article.

‘Where the bats hung out’: How a basement hideaway at UC Berkeley nurtured a generation of blind innovators (STAT)

“Many of them point to The Cave as the place where they found a certain power, learned how to cut through discriminatory bureaucracy, and felt deeply understood for the first time. They saw new possibilities for themselves in the other Cave dwellers, living examples that contradicted the narrative they were fed by a world that’s hostile to difference. At Berkeley, students who were ostracized in their hometowns, often for being the only blind kid around, became part of a rich lineage, and a vast disability community.”

Imagine if places like The Cave - more formally known as the blind students study center at University of California, Berkeley - existed in every school, every community.

What a world that would be.

While this story is incredibly inspiring, I also challenge you to think of a world that is built as much for those with disabilities or chronic illness as it’s built for those without them. If we dare to center others in our decision making and let them lead us, how would it change the world?

I think that’s a world I would very much like to live in.

How a few geothermal plants could solve America’s lithium supply crunch and boost the EV battery industry (The Conversation)

What’s overlooked and under-resourced and could be finally gets its day in the sun?

Geothermal energy, that’s what.

In addition to spending too much time obsessing over the state of the United States’ electrical grid, I also think a lot about battery storage for renewable energy and carbon sequestration.

And with our current supplies of lithium being impacted by trade and inflation - and the lithium being increasingly essential for the batteries used for electric vehicles and energy storage - we may have a solution right in our own brines.

The geopolitical and trade implications of mining our brines for lithium would be in the United States’ best interest, and allow us to be a bigger player in the global sustainable energy markets. 

And could be a bipartisan issue. My nerdy self will be keeping an eye on this issue, and I hope to see action on it.

Unpack? Check (for once!). Organize my desk for the week ahead? Check. Get groceries? Check. Meal plan? Check - with the help of Blue Apron.

There’s something very comforting about coming home after a week away, and ordering our Blue Apron meals for the next few weeks is one of my favorite rituals to help me get settled into our home rhythm. I’m very much looking forward to my smoked gouda flautas and Greek farro salad this week for delicious and fast dinners - and to be eating at home after so many weeks of travel!

Want to give Blue Apron a try? Get $110 across your first 5 boxes and free shipping on your first box with this link.

Shonda Rhimes on Her Most Important Rules of Negotiating (WSJ)

She starts her day with Athletic Greens, listens to Encanto on a loop, and often only has 15 minutes for a workout.

Unlike me, Shonda Rhimes actually claims that 15 minutes for herself and does a lot of things impressively well.

I love this series on the WSJ and Rhimes’ interview, in particular, which is filled with so much common sense wisdom that each of us could adapt in our own lives. 

Me? I’m starting with those 15 minute workouts. Because if the woman behind my favorite shows can make time to move every day…I certainly can.

Pure maple syrup — from New Mexico? (Axios)

Maple syrup is going national - nationally grown, that is.

Climate change is driving the early expansion of maple syrup production, with local pilots in Western states and their local maple species to draw sap from them and produce syrup.

What I love about this story is how local landowners are the ones helping drive this pilot, and with some delicious results.