What porn taught a generation of women.
Plus, a beloved Wisconsin camp retreat is opening up shop in Chicago.
This morning’s tea was accompanied by the inaugural broadcast of Reconnected Radio, a community radio show airing out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and hosted by one of the most thoughtful people I know: Kate. For two hours every Wednesday morning (8–10 am EST), Kate blends music and conversation into something far greater than the sum of its parts—an audio space for reflection, connection, and meaningful exchange.
We met during our Master’s in Global Development and have spent the years in long, winding conversations about food systems, sustainability, community building, and the occasional existential spiral. It’s only fitting that her new show features the same generosity of spirit, curiosity, and intellectual depth that makes a call with her feel like a masterclass wrapped in a hug.
Today’s guest was Jeanne, another alum of our programme, who specializes in regenerative agriculture. Their discussion was timely, especially given the sudden death of the Biden-era Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program—an ambitious $3.1 billion investment intended to incentivize climate-resilient farming practices across the United States. Designed to encourage everything from cover cropping to agroforestry, the initiative reached more than 14,000 farms and 3.2 million acres.
Yet after months of frozen payments, the USDA quietly announced (two days ago) that the program was being shuttered and restructured under the less poetic—and perhaps more politically palatable—moniker: Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP). The current administration's line? The original plan was bureaucratically bloated and misaligned with farmers' needs. But critics argue the move is more about ideology than efficiency, with hundreds of nonprofits, universities, and farmers left mid-project and scrambling to reapply under opaque new criteria.
Among the organizations affected is Working Landscapes in North Carolina, which had been coordinating a $5 million project involving diverse farms across the state. They received a termination letter citing an unclear funding allocation formula—one that excluded support services like soil sampling and technical assistance from its producer-benefit calculations. Pasa Sustainable Agriculture, another grantee, faced similar confusion; their direct support to farmers was pegged at 45 percent by the USDA, but internal estimates placed it closer to 85 percent due to their payment model.
Over 100 organizations and 260 farmers signed a letter urging the USDA to reconsider, warning of fractured trust and disrupted progress in climate mitigation. In the meantime, some will reapply, some will restructure, and many will hold their breath—because in agriculture, few things are more fragile than a half-promised future.
All of which made Reconnected Radio feel like a small but mighty act of resistance—an insistence on telling these stories, on giving airtime to the nuance behind federal shifts and frontline efforts. Kate has a way of holding space for complexity while keeping it grounded in community, and I’ll be tuning in every week. You should too.
In today’s edition: a new US national securities exchange focused on sustainability, two years of the Sudan civil war, China’s command of renewable energy, the UK supreme court rules on gender, an amazing piece on what porn taught a generation of women, and more.
The Green Impact Exchange (GIX) has secured approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to operate as a national securities exchange—the first in the country focused exclusively on sustainability. Founded in 2022 by a team of former NYSE executives, including CEO Daniel Labovitz and COO Charles Dolan, GIX aims to serve the emerging global green economy by listing companies that make binding commitments to measurable environmental goals. With trading expected to begin in early 2026, the exchange will launch as a dual-listing venue, with plans to evolve into a primary listing destination. GIX’s listing standards include adopting widely accepted sustainability frameworks, regular public reporting, and clear board-level accountability, offering investors greater transparency and a platform aligned with long-term impact. This seems great?? I need to do more research.
Tuesday marked two years since civil war erupted in Sudan, now described by the UN as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands, displaced more than 12 million, and triggered famine and mass atrocities, particularly in the Darfur region, where rights groups report targeted ethnic killings and widespread sexual violence. At a summit in London, hosted by the UK, EU, AU, France, and Germany, donors pledged over $750m in aid, though Sudan’s rival factions were not invited to attend. With El Fasher—the last major city in Darfur not under RSF control—under threat, and aid access dwindling, international pressure is growing to move beyond declarations toward a credible, coordinated peace process.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will arrive in Washington on Thursday as the first European leader to meet with President Donald Trump since the White House reimposed sweeping reciprocal tariffs. With a 90-day pause in duties offering a narrow diplomatic window, Brussels is leaning on Meloni’s unusually warm ties with Trump to revive stalled trade negotiations, particularly on steel, aluminum, and autos. Italy, which posted a $43bn trade surplus with the U.S. in 2024, has much at stake. A prolonged trade row could dent its GDP and threaten tens of thousands of jobs. While Meloni insists she represents both national and European interests, pressure is mounting to secure a deal that shields Italy from the economic fallout. A second round of talks will follow swiftly, with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance expected in Rome on Friday.
After a 30-year hiatus, a train now hums again through Argentina’s Quebrada de Humahuaca—this time solar-powered, sleek, and Chinese-made. Heralded as a symbol of green progress in one of the country’s most scenic regions, the electric train tells a larger story: China’s quiet command of the global energy transition. From the lithium phosphate batteries powering the train to the solar farm that fuels them, nearly every component bears a Chinese fingerprint. This isn’t charity—it’s strategy. China now accounts for nearly 60% of new renewable capacity worldwide, and its solar, battery, and EV industries are growing at twice the pace of its economy. Across Africa and Latin America, Chinese firms are not only funding massive infrastructure but tailoring solar tech to meet local demands, all while locking in access to critical minerals like lithium and copper. While the West debates, China builds—exporting clean energy hardware, soft power, and a new kind of economic influence, one that is reshaping how the Global South lights up its future.
Meanwhile, as Robinson Meyer (the founding executive editor of climate news site Heatmap) warns in this opinion column, the long-term problems the Trump administration is creating with its anti-green rhetoric are vast. By cutting back science and innovation and politicizing energy policy, Washington is ensuring that the United States will lose ground to Europe and China in the accelerating race for climate solutions.
More than 70% of new four-wheeled passenger vehicles imported into Nepal last year were electric, powered by the country’s abundant hydropower and supported by lower taxes, affordable loans, and shifting social status. Covering EVs around the world is a long-standing part of this newsletter because it is so interesting to see where and how EVs are reshaping the streets and skies. It’s sustainability, business, design, climate, health, and urbanism all wrapped up into one. On that note, GM just made an EV Corvette concept car. It’s pretty sexy.
The legal definition of woman is based on biological sex, the UK Supreme Court rules. The case was brought to the Supreme Court by the gender-critical campaign group For Women Scotland, which is backed financially by JK Rowling, after two Scottish courts rejected its arguments that the Equality Act’s definition of a woman was limited to people born biologically female. The court’s decision is just the latest in a slew of recent anti-LGBTQ measures to sweep across Europe. Last August, Bulgaria issued changes to the country’s national education act to ban so-called LGBTQ “propaganda” in schools. On Monday, Hungary passed a constitutional amendment that defined all Hungarians as either male or female while reinforcing a ban on public LGBTQ Pride events.
Across the pond, how families are fighting to survive Trump’s war on transgender kids. "We’re going to do whatever it takes to keep her safe.” I will never understand why people feel so passionately about stripping trans individuals of their humanity.
The UK government is putting its weight behind grassroots development with a £20m injection into Resonance Community Developers, an impact investment fund backing community-led housing and civic projects. The initiative aims to empower local groups to acquire land and secure planning permission, often where traditional developers fall short. The move not only accelerates the delivery of affordable homes but also strengthens the civic fabric of neighbourhoods.
As new tariffs threaten to inflate retail prices, resale platforms are positioning themselves as the savvy shopper’s alternative. Offering quality goods without the markup, secondhand sites are well placed to weather the shift in consumer sentiment. For brands, the model offers a clever workaround—generating margin from in-country stock while sidestepping the pricing challenges of imported goods. Could this be a win for circular fashion??
Camp Wandawega, the beloved Wisconsin retreat known for its nostalgic, rustic-chic aesthetic, is setting up shop in Chicago this summer with the opening of a retail boutique and event space. Called The Bureau of Tourism—a wink to vintage state tourism offices—the new outpost will stock the camp’s signature line of heritage-inspired goods, already available online and on-site. The expansion brings a dose of Wandawega’s well-crafted Americana to the city, with its impeccable branding and back-to-nature charm intact. The camp may not be a budget stay, but its cult following suggests that the experience, much like the wares, is worth it. I would happily spend a weekend at their camp.
“Young women are starting to recession-proof their lives,” states The Wall Street Journal. “America’s biggest consumer spenders are skipping manicures and Ubers, as worries about the economy increase.” I think we all spend too much money anyway, but I’m very curious how (and if) this develops.
Sarah Guo was one of the youngest general partners in Silicon Valley; now she’s charting a global course in AI investing. Her firm, Conviction, launched in 2022, has backed some of the most closely watched AI startups from San Francisco to Paris—including Harvey, Mistral, Baseten, and Sierra. With a compact team of eight, including former Sequoia partner Mike Vernal, Conviction is placing early, calculated bets on the technologies poised to transform industries worldwide. As governments and businesses alike grapple with the pace of AI, Guo is helping shape how—and where—the future unfolds. I think she is pretty brilliant. Watch this interview with her and tell me what you think.
“I attended an all-girls school run by stern second-wave feminists, who told us that we could succeed in any field or industry we chose. But that messaging was obliterated by the entertainment we absorbed all day long, which had been thoroughly shaped by the one defining art form of the late 20th century: porn.” So writes Sophie Gilbert in a striking piece for The Atlantic, adapted from her forthcoming book Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves. It’s a sharp, sobering read that articulates something many of us sensed but maybe never quite named. When I hear music from the late 2000s or recall the hyper-sexualized mall marketing of that era, I’m floored by how much it shaped the atmosphere we came of age in—glossy, provocative, and always under the male gaze.
Thank you for reading! Please share with an interesting and interested person in your life. Talk soon.