5SR - November 2, 2023

Hitha on automotive labor, Laphonza Butler, and cozy cardio

Author

Hitha Palepu
November 02, 2023

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.\

This is a big - and overdue - win for automotive labor.

“Autoworkers had been making concessions to U.S. automakers since 1979 when the UAW agreed to pay cuts to help keep Chrysler out of bankruptcy.

This was the beginning of almost two generations of so-called concession bargaining," said Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Those concessions only intensified in 2009 in the wake of the financial crisis and continued into the 2019 contract, he said.”

So what exactly did the UAW win?

  • an immediate 11% pay raise

  • restoration of cost of living adjustments

  • elimination of the two-tier worker structure

  • a longer contract (this new one, if voted into place by UAW members, will expire in 2028)

Did you ever watch the Lifetime show unREAL?

The scripted series was a behind-the-scenes look at a Bachelor-esque reality show. It was dark and salacious and completely addictive (and fairly accurate, based on what former contestants said about their own experiences).

This article feels like that show - except it’s very much real, and both Eboni K. Williams and Leah McSweeney’s on-the-record commentary is powerful and chilling.

I’ve been trying to reconcile my enjoyment of shows like Housewives and professional sports with the harm and danger they pose to those who make it happen. I can see how Bravo made very real changes to the new RHONY based on Williams and McSweeney’s commentary, but I also wonder if it’s enough - and if I can continue to enjoy shows like these knowing what I know now.

Senator Laphonza Butler is the newest senator - and the only Black woman to serve in that chamber at present. She’s also announced that she will not be running for election to retain the seat.

It makes for a fascinating time - both in Butler’s abbreviated term, and for the race for that seat (which has a number of high profile, well-funded Members of Congress in the race already).

Errin Haines does an excellent job of weaving these issues into a smart tapestry that I wish was the norm in political reporting. Highly recommend giving this a read (and subscribing to her newsletter from The 19th*)

This has been my movement routine for the past few weeks, and it’s one I plan to stick with for the foreseeable future.

I’ve been strolling on my treadmill every day while watching a show or listening to my audiobook - 30 minutes, 3 mph, at 10% incline.

It may not seem cozy, but it’s a lovely departure from my usual runs or HIIT rides, and it’s helped me enjoy movement again after feeling really disconnected from it.

It seems like I have a lot in common with Cozy Cardio’s creator, Hope Zuckerbrow:

“For Zuckerbrow, the routine offers more than just a way to pass the time and start her morning on the right foot. As she explained in an early cozy cardio video, she has found it hard at times to find balance and joy in exercise. She tells Glamour that she definitely has a “grind mentality,” which is why taking the pressure off working out has been so revelatory.

“That’s why cozy cardio is so amazing. It helps me balance out the hustle,” she says. “I call cozy cardio sessions my meditational self-love moments.””

Well, this is one way of vaccinating a specific population. An ingenious one at that.

“Every year, the USDA drops millions of oral rabies vaccines across fourteen states, mostly along the eastern seaboard. (Texas also has a program.) In urban and suburban areas, this usually means officials drive around, depositing bait where raccoons are likely to find it and eat it, like around dumpsters.

In rural areas, though, there's a more efficient way to distribute the bait.

"They're scattered by these low flying planes. And the planes have a tube and a conveyor belt that just drops these vaccines to make sure they're sort of evenly dispersed," says Emily Mullin, a staff writer for WIRED who covered the USDA raccoon vaccination program.”

Genius. Simply genius. If only we had such an effective way to distribute vaccines for people…

Join the conversation

or to participate.