5SR - November 29, 2023

Hitha on drug shortages, Spy Kids' legacy, and a fascinating history lesson

Author

Hitha Palepu
November 29, 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.

I feel like screaming about this issue from my soapbox (and on this podcast, and this one) is finally paying off.

Drug shortages (especially of urgent medications that treat cancer) are at the highest point in a decade, with no signs of being resolved shortly. It’s a global effort to produce these drugs (from the active ingredient and the inactive ingredients, to the vials and stoppers and crimps, to manufacturing the actual medication), and the majority of drugs on this list are generic and manufactured overseas for cost and scale (and most - not all - have lean margins, compared to their branded counterparts with high prices).

I think this is a fantastic first step and is likely the most any President could do through the executive branch. I really hope Congress can find a way to take more substantial action to build upon this bipartisan issue, as we’ll need more than $35M to invest in end-to-end R&D and manufacturing (and to incentivize manufacturers to produce these at cost or with slim margins to keep the price down).

Even though I was a teenager when the first Spy Kids film made its debut, I couldn’t help but thoroughly enjoy the film (and its sequels).

This article has me adding it to our queue to watch with the boys, and this article gives me a deeper appreciation of how it also was written for the parents as much as the kids, and how magical and rare that is in most children’s shows and films.

And that a series launched over 20 years ago is still beloved and commercially successful enough to keep going is a testament to Robert Rodriguez’s vision and execution of that vision:

“When he envisioned Spy Kids, making the main characters look and sound like his own family was, for him, a no-brainer, even if it wasn’t for the studio executives. Rodriguez finally persuaded them with a simple comparison: James Bond might be British, but you don’t need to be in order to enjoy the movies.

Rodriguez found a winning idea in that approach. “By being so specific,” he said, “you’re being more universal.” Those who don’t relate will come along for the ride, and those who do will pick up on every wink thrown their way.”

Insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome - appropriately describes our climate change policy during the Spy Kids era.

Changing the financial system could be the change we need to actually make change.

“Officials from the World Bank and IMF say they are meeting regularly to coordinate their climate programs. The World Bank has also started working with corporate leaders to figure out ways to increase private investment in emerging markets. And it is collaborating with multilateral development banks, like the African Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank, to try to lend more money to developing countries.

When it announced the bank collaboration in October, the World Bank said measures that had already been implemented or were under consideration could boost the banks' lending ability by up to $400 billion over the next decade.”

The dangers of underinvestment is clear - but I’m somewhat heartened to see two of the biggest institutions taking more decisive action than the largest contributors of climate change.

I love the traditions our family has created over the past decade or so.

I loved these digital traditions that Kate shared (and if I’m being honest, didn’t even think to consider aside from a YouTube fireplace).

I’m taking a page from her book and ordering the Jacquie Lawson digital advent calendar, which she writes about so lovingly and sold me on it immediately.

“Curling up with a Jacquie Lawson calendar, soundtracked by the choir of Salisbury Cathedral and, more recently, the choir of Bath Abbey, has been a steadfast digital tradition for me in a decade of change. Throughout my year abroad in England, my first winter in New York City, and the isolated Christmases of the deep pandemic, this was sometimes the one thing I could count on to give me warm, reliable comfort.”

If we needed yet another reason to have an AP Women’s History course available, this story is a clear example why.

Let’s talk about Mary Anthony, Mary Joseph, Mary Gertrude, and Mary Bridget (and I so wish we know their actual names). They were the first Native American women to serve in the United States military, caring for injured soldiers during the Spanish-American War.

And they did while facing extreme discrimination, racism, and scrutiny.

This is an incredible read, and one I hope you take the time to read in full.

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