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Happy Sunday!
It’s been an extra difficult week to find good news, but I haven’t let that stop me. This edition is truly a labor of love, perseverance and grit - and I promise I’m not being dramatic. (Okay, I’m being a little dramatic. It’s the Cancerian in me.)
If you’d like to recognise my efforts, please fill out our quarterly survey here! Think of it as a 30-second, more purple and fun version of the census that supports your favourite journalist (me) and your favourite newsroom (TDA). We’d love to hear from you.
🏃 City2Surf raised $3.5 million for charity
City2Surf, Sydney’s most iconic fun run, took place last Sunday.
The event raised more than $3.5 million for charity, with runners supporting organisations including the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation, R U OK, and Lifeline.
Among the 90,000 participants was a group of legends who had been running every City2Surf since its inception 56 years ago (and literally had t-shirts titled ‘Legends’).
If you were involved in the event, you may have seen the TDA team as well, who reported they had an excellent time.
The legends!! Credit: City2Surf on Facebook
The TDA team
📸 Photo of the week
Silver medalist Emily Newnham of Team Great Britain (L) and Bronze medalist Fatoumata Binta Diallo of Team Portugal embrace after the Women's 400 Metres Hurdles Final during day three of the 27th European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images for European Athletics)
🎵 Feel good album of the week
Credit: Spotify
Confessions II - Madonna
Here's what TDA copyeditor Lucy had to say:
“Ok, it's not a song of the week, it's an album, but it flows so beautifully that it was impossible to pick out just one song. Madonna is 67 years old and making some of the best music of her career. That's so cool.”
Listen to this album and even more feel-good recommendations on our playlist here.
📚 A “nature library” has opened in Colorado
The U.S. state of Colorado opened a new public library last week, with a unique offering: it’s “the nation’s first nature library”. The Anythink Nature Library is designed so visitors can learn about the outdoors - and then get amongst it.
It has your classic library features, including study rooms, kid and teen spaces and public computers. It also has a community garden, a nature lab, a sunroom, gardens, and connects to walking trails.
In addition to a nature-focussed book collection, the library will also let users loan paddleboards and camping gear.
A message from Brixton
Two heritage brands just dropped a collab we didn't see coming - Ford x Brixton.
The limited-edition collection brings Ford's Built Tough legacy into Brixton's signature streetwear - think tees, caps and jackets in that unmistakable Ford Blue, plus bold racing stripes straight from decades of American automotive heritage. Workshop-grade quality with weekend-ready style.
💉 UK has a 50% reduction in Newborn ICU admissions 1 year on from implementing a maternal vaccine
Newborn ICU admissions have dropped in the UK, following the first year of a maternal vaccine program.
Research shows 50% fewer infants aged under six months are being admitted into intensive care with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in England.
In the winter of 2024/25, 20 healthcare units surveyed reported 131 infants were admitted to the ICU with RSV.
Last winter, the same 20 units reported only 63 infants in the same age bracket who were admitted with RSV.
The UK Government says the result “demonstrates the strong impact”… of the a vaccination program offered to pregnant women to protect high-risk newborns.
National Health Service director of vaccinations Caroline Temmik said: “Dozens of newborns have potentially avoided being admitted to intensive care”.
👟 Dad sets unofficial world record in the stroller mile
If you’re a regular park-runner, you may have seen dozens of parents jogging while pushing along a stroller.
There’s actually a record for the ‘stroller mile’, and it was unofficially beaten earlier this month.
It took Stephen Biebelhausen 4 minutes and 17 seconds to run one mile (1,609 metres) while pushing his daughter, Blake, in a pram.
Stephen and Blake’s time at the Guardian Mile event in Cleveland set a new world record. For those of us using the metric system, that’s a pace of 2 minutes and 40 seconds per kilometre.
Credit: Laura Rybka Photography via Runner’s World
🎤 Taylor Swift to be the youngest person in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
In a win for the Swifties, their queen will become the youngest writer inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The organisation announced the 36-year-old will be admitted in the contemporary songwriter/artist category at a ceremony later this year.
Swift said in a statement: “From the time I started writing songs as a child, I fixated on Nashville as the perfect place to be… to be honoured by this city I love so much is a beautiful thing, and I'm very grateful.”
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1970 and currently has 254 members, including Shania Twain, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, and Bob Dylan.
💖 Sparks joy: Preschool graduations
This recommendation comes to you from TDA copyeditor Lucy’s Instagram feed.
“I just love this video of a woman reading the list of all the themes of the graduations she’s held for her preschool over the years.
There are no repeats going all the way back to 1991. I don’t want to spoil my faves, but I will tell you I loved “Spanish Fiesta” and “Circus: Under the Big Top”. Just imagine a classroom of tiny kids dressed up as Spanish dancers and clowns to graduate from preschool.
Maybe the best part of the video is her daughters cracking up on and off camera. The definition of sparking joy.”
You can take a look here.
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