Politics
Having a difficult time finding positive news about national and global politics? Search no further! From public policy to positive leadership to democracy efforts, find the latest good news stories in the world of politics at The Optimist Daily.
Oakland mandates hazard pay for grocery store workers
Essential workers have kept our medical facilities, grocery stores, sanitation services, and emergency response systems functioning throughout the pandemic at great risk to their personal health. While other countries have passed hazard pay mandates for these workers, the US has been slow to boost Read More...
New bike lane construction bill in D.C. aims to boost cycling and safety
Last September, Washington D.C. passed the Vision Zero Enhancement Omnibus Amendment Act of 2019. The law, modeled after one in Cambridge, Massachusetts, takes a novel approach to designated bike lane development and is expected to boost bicycle use and safety in the city. How does it work? Let’s Read More...
One Bicycle Foundation empowers students with just two wheels
Sebouh Bazikian started Bikes 4 Orphans when he was just 16 years old. Despite still being in high school, he partnered successfully with Serving Orphans Worldwide to provide bicycles to youth in Zimbabwe for transportation and improved quality of life. Now, nearly 10 years later, Bazikian is Read More...
France introduces “repairability index” to bring circularity to electronics
These days it’s all too common to have a drawer of discarded cell phones and other broken electronics in our homes, but if we want our economy to become truly circular, we will have to come up with innovative ways for these electronics to be repaired and reused when they get damaged. To achieve Read More...
Denver’s unarmed 911 response team arrested no one in its first 6 months
The waves of protests in 2020 against systematic racism and police brutality led to calls for cities to change their policing systems. Beyond just discriminatory policing, a big part of the problem was that police officers were being called on to respond to non-criminal 911 calls, something they Read More...
Thought Leader Series: Agnes Kalibata on science and the future of farming
Agnes Kalibata is a Rwandan-born agricultural scientist and policymaker. She was recently appointed as UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ special envoy for the 2021 Food Systems Summit, which calls for tangible action on how we produce food to address the limitations of our food system in Read More...
Major win for NYC street vendors as new bill expands number of permits
New York City street vendors have just scored a major victory: The City Council finally passed long-overdue legislation, lifting the restrictive and outdated permit cap that has forced thousands of vendors to operate without a proper license. Called Intro 1116-B, the legislation is the first major Read More...
This startup has a simple plan to de-risk small-scale African farming
African agriculture, especially small farms, have not had it easy over the past few years. Droughts, pests, floods, and local conflict have exacerbated challenges for many food producers. This is why insurtech startup Pula is working to provide small farmers with insurance to help manage the Read More...
Planting more trees linked to lower rates of depression in urban areas
We frequently discuss the link between nature and mental health on The Optimist Daily. Another study has emerged solidifying this positive relationship. A study from a team of European researchers has found that more trees planted in a city correlates with fewer antidepressant Read More...
Illinois directs marijuana sales revenue to areas harmed by war on drugs
One argument for the legalization of marijuana is the opportunity to fund critical community projects and organizations with the tax revenue from legal sales. The state of Illinois is doing just this and they are being very precise with where this money goes. The state is distributing $31.5 million Read More...