News Above the Noise—Week of May 12, 2024
1. The Commencement Address That Wowed Us All
College graduation season is upon us, and with it comes a host of noteworthy commencement addresses. One that stood out to us is the University of Michigan’s speaker, Brad Meltzer, who urged graduates to draw upon the magic in their lives as they leave college and continue to transform into the best versions of themselves. “As you leave Michigan, write in pencil and be unafraid to use the eraser,” Meltzer told the Michigan Stadium crowd. “The most sophisticated and intelligent people I know are the ones willing to challenge their thinking and admit there’s more to learn.” To watch Meltzer’s inspiring speech, click here.
2. Can Olive Oil Lower Your Risk of Dying from Dementia?
An observational study of nearly 100,000 participants over nearly 30 years found eating at least a half tablespoon of olive oil daily was associated with a nearly 30 percent lower risk of dying from dementia compared with those who never or rarely consumed olive oil. “Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats and contains compounds with antioxidant activity that may play a protective role for the brain,” one of the co-authors of the study told The Washington Post. For more on this research, click here.
3. The Constant Work to Keep a Family Connected Has a Name
For years, moms have put in hours of work dedicated to family bonding and magic-making—a form of invisible labor that actually has a name: kinkeeping. “‘A kinkeeper is someone who cultivates a sense of ‘family solidarity or connectedness,’” Carolyn Rosenthal, a professor emeritus of sociology at McMaster University in Canada who researched kinkeeping in the 1980s told The New York Times. For an insightful look at kinkeeping, and why women are typically the ones to foster this sense of family connectedness and well-being, click here.
4. In a Decade of Drug Overdoses, More than 320,000 American Children Lost a Parent
When we talk about drug overdoses, the statistics are startling. Yet all too often the numbers that get neglected are the family members—in particular, the children—left behind when someone dies. What’s more, these children who experience the death of a parent or primary caregiver are at risk of a range of poor health and educational outcomes. According to new research, the rate of children who lost a parent from an overdose rose by 134 percent from 2011 to 2021. For more on this troubling trend, don’t miss this story.
5. Was Body Positivity a Lie?
Today’s body positivity is a result of the fat-activism movement of the 1960s, which aimed to decenter thinness and make a case that those living in larger bodies deserve the same rights and treatment as their thin counterparts. More recently, “body positivity” spread in popularity, spreading online through hashtags like #loveyourbody and #bopo. Yet with the growing use of obesity medications like Ozempic, what does this mean for the progress of the fat-activism and body positivity movements? For a thoughtful look at the topic, read this piece.
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