5SR - February 19, 2024

Hitha on libraries, natural assets, and space wars

Author

Hitha Palepu
February 19, 2024

Today’s curator is the founder of #5SmartReads, Hitha Palepu. She’s a consummate multihyphenate - CEO of Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals, author of WE’RE SPEAKING: The Life Lessons of Kamala Harris and How to Pack: Travel Smart for Any Trip, and professional speaker. Hitha is an unabashed fan of Taco Bell, Philadelphia sports teams & F1, romance novels, and is a mediocre crafter. She lives in NYC with her husband and two sons.

Libraries have never been more necessary. They also have never been more politicized than they are right now.

Books are being banned and funding is stretched, all while libraries are the busiest in recent history. Beyond loaning books and offering access to computers and a warm, safe space, they are also distributing Narcan and COVID tests, helping migrants apply for asylum and job seekers to write their resume, and offering a space for onsite social workers to help the community.

For a majority of communities, the local library is not just the first place you can go to receive help. It’s often the only place, and these beacons deserve the funding and the staffing they need to do their jobs - all of their jobs.

Friend or Faux? (Therapy Takeaway)

With One Day being on every Netflix viewer’s mind right now, I have to think that Dexter and Emma needed Pooja’s sage advice - repeatedly.

If we’re being honest with ourselves, we all could use Pooja’s wise advice when it comes to opening up - and being opened up to - when we ask each other “how are you?” and care to hear or share a real answer, rather than the default “I’m fine, fine.”

“The first step to being more truthful in your relationships is to trust that your friends, family and loved ones will tell you the truth, to the best of their ability. And, to do the same yourself.”

The formation and announcement of Space Force got a lot of mocking attention when it launched. But when you pause and consider the future of warfare, space battles don’t seem all that far-fetched.

Frankly, they’re a lot closer than any of us care to admit.

“He’s [Capt. Evan Rogers] talking about a worst-case scenario where destroyed spacecraft create a storm of junk that makes leaving Earth’s atmosphere impossible.

Those concerns were magnified this week when intelligence reports began to drip out of Washington describing Russian advances in space-based nuclear weapons, according to reporting from ABC News and others. Such a weapon wouldn’t be used to strike targets on the ground, but it could threaten America’s extensive military and civilian satellite network. Nuclear weapons are banned in space according to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, to which both the US and Russia are a party. Although there are no signs a weapon has been deployed, it does raise questions about whether Russia might be preparing to abandon the treaty. The bottom line is that, at the moment, the US would have no real way to counter such a threat.”

This is a long read, but an important one that provides the necessary historical context and the best and worst case scenarios to what a space war could look like.

The only New York teams I pledge allegiance to are Gotham FC and the New York Liberty. And it’s never been a better time to be a fan of these teams.

And a Gotham fan, in particular.

I was very lucky to attend Gotham FC’s press day, where general manager Yael Averbuch West, coach Juan Carlos Amorós, and the four newly signed players shared their plans and why they signed with Gotham, respectively.

There’s a lot that goes into building a championship winning club, both on and off the field. And while this press day focused on the team’s on-field strategy, I can’t help but think how Gotham is well positioned to build a juggernaut brand like Angel City FC - but with that New York edge.

Crystal Dunn said it best when she challenged every self-proclaimed New York sports fan to put their money where their mouth is, and to show up and support. It’s a message I heard Sue Bird repeat the following week, and it’s one that bears repeating - by men and women.

We’ll see you at Challenge Cup.

The best climate policy is the one that allows nature to stay natural - to preserve forests and plant more trees for carbon capture, to plant more coral to help reverse coral bleaching, and so on.

Capitalism has often been the reason why these natural solution have yet to hit critical mass. Naturally, capitalists are now looking at doing just that.

Eye rolls aside, the rise of natural asset companies are underway. And while they have not hit the public markets, the rise of this asset class could be what we need (if we can overcome the conservative opposition to it and create some practical regulations on this asset class).

There’s a lot of complexity to this opportunity, but that’s not a reason to give it serious consideration. I’m curious to see how this will evolve.

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