Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Transparency: Where Does Your Water Come From?

The state of California recently declared an emergency due to drought, and the water supplies in many American cities are at dangerously low levels. This is partially because our largest metropolises have far out-stripped their fresh water sources, forcing them to import water from lakes, reservoirs,..

Fogelson-Lubliner
By Fogelson-LublinerMar 12, 2009
Fogelson-Lubliner
See Full Bio

The state of California recently declared an emergency due to drought, and the water supplies in many American cities are at dangerously low levels. This is partially because our largest metropolises have far out-stripped their fresh water sources, forcing them to import water from lakes, reservoirs, and rivers, sometimes hundreds of miles away. In our latest Transparency, we look at which cities have sustainable, self-contained water supplies, and which cities are forced to turn to outside help. Click here to view the full Transparency.A collaboration between GOOD and Fogelson-LublinerSOURCES: Cities' Water Departments CORRECTION: We've uploaded a new file with some minor corrections to this piece. Also, please note that Lake Havasu is technically a reservoir and not a lake. It is mislabeled in the piece. We regret the error. You can view the uncorrected piece here.

environmentsustainabilitycaliforniacitieswater sources

The Latest

Soon-to-be ex-teacher goes off on parents who 'coddle and enable' their kids
Culture

Soon-to-be ex-teacher goes off on parents who 'coddle and enable' their kids

Ben Stiller smiling in a photo
Heroes

Ben Stiller responds to woman with Stage 4 cancer who asked to meet him and the 'Severance' cast

Collage of Michael Sheen, credit cards, and woman in debt
Money

Michael Sheen writes off over $1 million of debt for 900 Welsh people to combat greedy banks

More For You

older woman in hoodie smiling with group of women behind her at a lake

Susan Baur of Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage

AARP Video

85-year-old woman forms kickass squad "Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage" to clean up Cape Cod ponds

Susan Baur, an 85-year-old retired psychologist, was fed up with all the trash in a Cape Cod pond where she loved to swim. She shares in an interview with AARP Online, "I started the 'Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage' (OLAUG) because I was sick and tired of swimming through trash."

How did it begin?

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Keep ReadingShow less
Chefs Norma Listman and Saqib Keval

Masala y Maíz Chefs Saqib Keval and Norma Listman

Courtesy Masala y Maíz

Mexico City chef Norma Listman honors International Women’s Day march by creating a safe haven for protestors

When Chefs Norma Listman and Saqib Keval opened their restaurant Masala y Maíz in Mexico City, the plan was not just to honor their cultural, culinary backgrounds but to create a new kind of hospitality. They’d have good food and a good restaurant, of course, but they also wanted to show having a life, valuing their staff, giving credit where it’s due, and creating community were not mutually exclusive. Listman and Keval have been able to realize their vision, creating dishes that draw from Mexico, East Africa, and South Asian cultural traditions. It’s a mestizaje, “an organic blending of cultures over generations often in response to colonization & displacement,” they write. Their restaurant has since become lauded the world over, named one of the world’s 100 greatest places, the subject of Netflix’s most recent Chef’s Table season, and so much more.

Listman and Keval always wanted to decolonize what a restaurant could be from traditional Eurocentric ideals. It also became clear they wanted Masala y Maíz to be a feminist restaurant. “Decolonization and feminism go hand-in-hand. I don't think you can have one without the other,” Listman says. “You cannot have a feminist fight without fighting racism and systemic oppression.” Listman, who was born in Mexico but moved to the U.S. to work for many years, returned home in 2016 and came face to face with Mexico’s powerful feminist movement partly in the form of their large-scale International Women’s Day march. Last year, for example, 180,000 women took part to stand up for their rights, protesting violence against women. Masala y Maíz had been open on March 8th, the day of the march, to celebrate the day with special meals, but Listman realized she wanted to be at the march herself. So instead, for the last three years, Masala y Maíz has shut down on March 8th to become a safe haven for protestors. This year, they will also be celebrating the day before by hosting a dinner run by lauded female chefs Isabel Coss, Ana Castro, and Catalina Londoño Ciro.

Keep ReadingShow less
Views of the pyramids from space

Astronaut Terry Virts captures incredible images of the pyramids

Representative images via Wikicommons/NASA

Astronaut made the most of his last day on ISS by capturing a stunning shot of the pyramids

Astronauts have the privilege of exploring space - an experience available to limited humans. While most of us may have seen images of celestial objects captured by NASA, the visuals of how man-made wonders look from space are rare. Astronaut Terry Virts got the opportunity to fly around in space, and during his time at the International Space Station (ISS), he captured a crystal-clear view of the pyramids of Giza. Making the most of his time at the ISS, he was able to take a picture of this wonder of the world, as reported by IFL Science.

The American astronaut took to X and posted a picture of the pyramids from space with a caption that read, "It took me until my last day in space to get a good picture of these!" The story behind this photo was special for Virts as he had been trying to capture one particular view for the last six months, living and working on the ISS. However, his wish was fulfilled on his last day in space.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman leans over a plug-in, electric stove

A woman leans over the new plug-in electric stove

Image via CopperHome

The new plug in stove is being called a breakthrough for people's health and the planet

A California start-up named Copper is reviving the discourse between those who cook with an electric stove and folks who swear by gas stoves. The company has created a viable electric stove that runs on 120 volts rather than the standard 240 volts, meaning that it can be used with a standard electric outlet rather than needing an electrician to adjust a kitchen’s wiring.

The stove also has a built-in smart battery that can charge up when electricity rates are lower to avoid incurring charges during peak rates. This means that folks like building co-op treasurer Ed Yaker and fellow renters in the building, as reported by the Associated Press, can cook their food affordably while also not worrying about when his building’s aging gas line is shut off for for repairs.

But there are still advocates that strongly prefer gas stoves. Many of them cite that gas stoves offer better temperature control since you can see the flames when cooking. They also argue that it costs less to heat up a gas stove versus an electric one. The fandom is such that some politicians even balked against a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommendation for stricter safety regulation of gas stoves in 2023.

While it’s become a topic in “culture war” discourse, gas stove usage probably isn’t as huge as you’d imagine. According to a 2020 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, only 38% of American homes use a gas stove, with the vast majority of gas stoves being used in California and New Jersey rather than any traditionally red state. This makes sense as more and more new kitchens are built with electricity in mind to power up refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves, and other appliances along with kitchen gadgets such as blenders and coffee makers. Also, per Consumer Reports, electric stoves are generally less expensive to purchase than gas stoves by hundreds of dollars.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Jacqueline Kennedy stands at a 1962 State Dinner at the White House

Jacqueline Kennedy after State Dinner, 22 May 1962 White House, Cross Hall

Image via Wikicommons

Once an 'unwilling housewife,' Jackie Kennedy launched her own career long before the White House

“What is your candid opinion of marriage?” Jacqueline Bouvier asked. The year was 1953. At that point, Bouvier–before she became Jackie Kennedy–was the journalist and photographer behind her own newspaper column, “Inquiring Camera Girl,” for Washington Times Herald. Every week between fall 1951 and early summer 1953, she produced several columns, asking people on the street their opinions about a particular topic and taking their photographs. By the time “Inquiring Camera Girl” was done, Bouvier had produced some 4000 interviews, 2600 images, and nearly 600 columns.

From the time she was young, Bouvier was creative, a talented writer, and whip smart–maybe even more than some people wanted her to be. Her first grade teacher cited her as "a darling child, the prettiest little girl, very clever, very artistic, and full of the devil." This continued well into high school, where her boarding school yearbook referred to her “wit, her accomplishment as a horsewoman, and her unwillingness to become a housewife,” according to The New Yorker.

Keep ReadingShow less
Blind student holding a model of a hawk's head

3D models can help blind students better understand how the world around them looks.

Photo credit: Australian Broadcasting Company/Justin Hewitson

3D printing is helping blind students “feel” art, history, and other school subjects

Being a student who’s blind makes learning a bit different compared to their sighted peers. Most artwork is experienced through audio descriptions, an animal’s appearance is often imagined than known, and the phrase “bird’s-eye view” means very little when reading a map. However, 3D printing is literally putting more knowledge at the fingertips of blind and low-vision students at the South Australia School for Vision Impaired.

Through the work of models 3D printed by researchers at University of Sydney and Modash University, the visually-impaired students are able to receive a more enhanced learning experience to better understand certain subjects on par with sighted students.

Keep ReadingShow less
Christina Cavanaugh next to video store wall

Christina Cavanaugh can still rent videos even though her local shop is closed.

Photo credit: East Idaho News/Wikimedia Commons

A loyal customer lost her video rental store, but gained her own movie section

As a person with Down syndrome, routines are very important for Christina Cavanaugh. Nearly every day for the past 15 years, the Pocatello, Idaho resident and her mother would go to the Video Stop to rent a movie for her to watch. She became such a valued customer that new employees would be trained on how to interact with her and check out her movie choices, as Christina is nonverbal. With the advent of streaming taking over the home video rental market, it appeared inevitable that Video Stop would close. However, thanks to the store’s owner David Kraning, she can still rent movies out of a section built in the convenience shop next door.

While Video Stop has ceased all rentals, Kraning took a small selection of film titles and built a small video rental section for Christina into the adjacent K&B Kwik Stop. While the section is affectionately known as “Christina’s Corner,” a small group of other loyal customers can also rent from the collection held there. For Toni Cavanaugh, Christina’s mother, it was a relief.

Keep ReadingShow less
Iowans rally against a bill that would make it a crime for children to attend drag shows

Iowa State Capitol Building

Photo by Austin Goode on Unsplash

Iowans rally against a bill that would make it a crime for children to attend drag shows

On February 18 2025, an Iowa House subcommittee recommended passage of House Study Bill 158, a bill that would make bringing a person under the age of 18 to a drag show a felony, punishable with “up to five years in prison and a fine between $1,025 and $10,245,” the Des Moines Register reports. The bill would also fine owners of a venue where said child saw drag $10,000 for every child in attendance, and charge them with a felony as well.

According to the bill, parents whose children saw drag could also “institute a civil action for damages in the amount of not less than ten thousand dollars and up to fifty thousand dollars for each violation.” The bill would additionally bar “a state agency or public entity that receives state funds” from displaying drag performances, also at risk of a $10,000 fine per child.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025