#5SmartReads - April 18, 2022

This week’s #5SmartReads is sponsored by Felix Gray.

Israeli forces raid Al-Aqsa Mosque, over 150 Palestinians injured (Al-Jazeera)

While many of us were peacefully observing a holy day over the weekend, those observing Ramadan and Passover at Al-Aqsa did not have the peace they deserved.

This is not a single instance (last year, forces raided Al-Aqsa during Ramadan and bombings escalated between Israel and Palestine which led to an 11-day assault on Gaza). And while I admit that there is still so much I do not know about both countries’ claim to this site and the constant violence, I do know that disrupting worship (especially during holy days) is wrong.

Ramadan, Passover, and Good Friday & Easter Sunday are all observed this past weekend, which happens every 33 years or so. I wish the world could embrace the spirit of these holidays and allow everyone to worship and live in peace.

I updated the first paragraph afterwards to include Passover, which I had omitted by mistake earlier.

The Mom-To-Life-Coach Pipeline Exists For A Reason (Romper)

I think a lot about what women, and mothers especially, have sought out because neither the public nor the private sector has any sustained desire to help support them.

For all its misinformation, Goop gave women a place to go when their pain or health concerns weren’t taken seriously. I would argue that the influencer economy was catalyzed of a lack of flexible jobs that paid a dignified wage to many women.

And yes - in both of these cases, the women who benefitted are financially secure and often White, mirroring the reality that drove these women to Goop or to become an influencer in the first place.

Kathryn Jezer-Morton brilliantly unpacks many of these parallels in life coaching in this essay, which I highly recommend you read. I am someone who has deeply benefitted from the work I’ve done with my coaches, but that the troubling patterns I observe when women aim to rewrite the rules in their favor tend to exclude the women who need this support the most.

Kathryn’s Substack, Mothers Under The Influence, is a must-read. I highly recommend subscribing!

Have We Already Ruined Our Next COVID Summer? (The Atlantic)

According to Katherine J. Wu…yes. That said, it’s not all doom and gloom.

But it does require our paying attention to the lulls (not just the waves of infection), and implementing our own public health measures.

And also understanding one very simple truth:

I’ll leave it to you to decide what’s best for you and your family. For us, that means continuing to mask indoors and regular testing (and testing before gathering), gathering outdoors if possible, and getting the boys vaccinated and boosted once they are able (and keeping up with our own authorized vaccinations).

Coffee? Check.A glass of water? Check.Felix Grays on? Check.

Before you grab your phone to read the day’s #5SmartReads, protect your eyes with a pair of Felix Gray’s blue light-blocking glasses. Mark your calendars for their spring sale, which starts tomorrow!

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Kindness strengthens the brain: Study shows it helps boost the entire family’s cognitive health (Brain Tomorrow)

Yes, Mom, you were right. You always are.

My mom always emphasized being kind as a child (and continues to do so with me, and the boys) because it was simply the right thing to do. Turns out it’s also backed by data.

What’s important to note about this study is that it observed that children’s empathy levels are currently below average, even after the training delivered by the study sponsors. While COVID restrictions contributed to this, I do think that the always online, living in our echo chambers culture we live in are another contributor to this.

If you’d like to learn more about the training and introduce it in your home, here’s the website. I’m planning on giving it a try with my kids.

Billionaires eye parallel media universe (Axios)

Solving global poverty? Nah.How about scaling carbon sequestration or lithium mining? Eh.

Build out your own media company to control your narrative? Hell yeah, say the billionaires.

Elon Musk’s attempted takeover of Twitter is but one example of how members of the “3 comma club” are taking significant positions in social media companies or building their own.

And while Musk’s takeover of Twitter is unlikely to be successful (due to Twitter’s new “poison pill” adopted by its board and the fact that he has no idea what to do with Twitter or run a social network), the very fact that they care more about this than actually helping society (with the exception of MacKenzie Scott) is deeply troubling and I want to live in the multiverse that isn’t on fire, please and thank you.