5SR - November 9, 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.

Major win for Democrats as they maintain control of Philadelphia’s collar counties (Inquirer)

While many political nerds and analysts were focused on Virginia, my focus was on my home commonwealth of Pennsylvania (and specifically, the lesser known races for county commissioner and school boards).

And they delivered in a big way.

Elections in Pennsylvania are overseen by each county’s commissioners - and election integrity was a winning issue for the Democrats in Bucks County, where Democrats also outperformed and won majorities in school board races on standing against book bans.

Local elections matter so much, despite the lack of enthusiasm and coverage they garner. To know that elections will be managed by principled leaders and school boards will be governed by leaders who care about inclusive education helps me breathe a little easier before we get bombarded by 2024 news. 

‘The Marvels’ First Reactions Praise ‘Short and Sweet,’ ‘Astonishingly Wacky’ Film: ‘Exactly What a Comic Book Movie Should Be’ (Variety)

If you haven’t gotten your tickets for The Marvels’ opening weekend, I sincerely hope you do if only to get us more representative superhero films.

And, you know, to enjoy a night at the movies.

I loved the films and shows that led up to The Marvels (Captain Marvel, WandaVision, Ms. Marvel in particular). These begrudgingly positive reviews are an about face from the unsubstantiated criticisms by weak dudebros who can’t handle seeing women kick ass.

Yes, I feel very strongly and protective about women in action/superhero/science fiction films. And I’m even more excited to see this film tomorrow after reading these reviews.

Chronic drug shortages stress hospitals and patients (NPR)

Drug shortages are one of those issues that keep me up at night, and it’s one we constantly play defense on rather than offense.

This article does a great job of highlighting the procurement and contractual challenges in our current system, and it has me thinking about what can be done proactively to anticipate and prevent shortages from being dire. Some of my ideas are:

• climate-resilient warehouses for drug supplies

• a public-private partnership that operates live reporting of drug inventory across the supply chain, where FDA and manufacturers can work together to transfer NDA/ANDA approvals to manufacturers that have capacity to start production before a shortage occurs

• lowering PDUFA (filing) fees or granting waivers for new ANDA filings for drugs prone to shortage (the current fee is $4M)

• investing in the FDA more for more proactive and regular inspections of API and fill/finish manufacturing facilities to ensure facilities are running within cGMP (certified good manufacturing practice) standards and in accordance with FDA’s requirements.

The Buccaneers Book Ending Took Over 50 Years To Complete (Bustle)

“Aggressively feminist” is my favorite genre in all of my media preferences - books, films, shows. When you throw in period pieces with beautiful costumes and stunning scenery and a wise grand dame character into the mix, I will drop everything to watch it.

That’s exactly how I feel about the Buccaneers, which is based on Edith Wharton’s unfinished novel (though Marion Mainwaring finished the novel with Wharton’s notes, the show is based on Wharton’s writing only).

“In 2023, you want to retain all of the things that make period drama delicious; the costumes, the locations, and the romances. But also to infuse it with characters that feel a bit more rounded, a bit more truthful, and a bit more, as Katherine says, like our lives and our friendships reflected back at us.” 

I do my best to go into a show with no expectations and respect for the work that so many people contributed to, but I am irrationally excited (like Bridgerton-level) for this show.

GM, Stellantis among group investing $33M in company that makes magnets without rare earth metals (Associated Press)

In an effort to find small snippets of hope in trying times, this is an extremely niche - but important - one.

How much have you thought about magnets? Specifically, the ones in electric vehicle motors?

Likely never. These magnets traditionally required the use of rare earth minerals, but Niron Magnetics have successfully delivered pilots showing iron nitride can produce permanent magnets - without rare earth minerals.

I’m here for it. And so is GM and Stellantis’ venture arms, who have both invested to help scale Niron’s production of these magnets.