Quartz, 2019, 8:04… Online fitness advice is notoriously bad. So why is it so popular? Exercise gurus and fitness influencers are all over social media with supplements and research claims. Broscience is in your feed telling you about fad diets and free weights — but how much is actually supported by science? Quartz News speaks with scientists, researchers, and fitness experts about the sources and research behind the proliferating stream of advice online.
Vox, 2019, 6:35… Child labor was widely practiced until a photographer showed the public what it looked like. The 1900 US Federal Census revealed that 1.75 million children under the age of 16, more than one in five, were gainfully employed. They worked all over the country in cotton mills, glass blowing factories, sardine canneries, farms, and even coal mines. In an effort to expose this exploitation of children, the National Child Labor Committee hired a photographer to travel around the country and investigate and report on the labor conditions of children.
The Atlantic, 2019, 13:28… Paul and Hava met at a performing-arts social event for people with intellectual disabilities. With the assistance of their parents, they went on a few successful dates. The connection was immediate. After some time, they decided to make their strong, loving bond official. The couple made each other so happy that their parents saw no good reason to deny the proposal. The group homes where Paul and Hava lived, however, stood in the way of the couple’s union. “They want us not to get married—not to live together,” says Paul in a new short documentary.
Vice News, 2019, 7:02… Mzu Lembeni runs one of the many tour companies that takes tourists into Cape Town’s townships, impoverished areas that were first created when the Apartheid government forced nonwhites to live in segregated areas. On his tour, tourists can walk right into people’s homes, drink homemade liquor, play with children at a local school, and take as many pictures as they like. For some people, this sounds like exploitation. But Lembeni, who grew up in a township himself, disagrees. “If there was no poverty ... I'll do the township tour, because [of] the culture,” Lembeni says. “I don't sell the poverty, I sell the culture.”
60 Minutes Australia, 2019, 25:03… For the so-called “sugar daddies”, the equation is simple: the wealthier they are, the more attractive they are. But as Sarah Abo finds out, it’s not hard to read between the lines here. The term sugar baby is often code for sex worker, and the male moneybags are often crinkled-up creeps. And that leads to a very important question: is this sugar baby phenomenon about empowering women or exploiting them?
Vice News, 2019, 5:46… A Miami-based startup called Papa provides what they call a “grandkid on demand” service, where they send a vetted college-age person or young adult for companionship and transportation to seniors in need. Clients can use the app, but Papa’s average customer is 75 years old, so most people just call in for the service.
Quartz, 2019, 7:40… Japan is tackling gender inequality with a "hunky dads" campaign. Japan’s workforce is shrinking and aging. To keep its economy growing, it needs more of its citizens to work, which means getting more women into the workplace. Nearly half of Japanese women quit their jobs after the birth of their first child. To get mothers back to work, Japan’s government has focused on encouraging men to more fully share household responsibilities. The government started a campaign called the “ikumen” project.
The New York Times, 2019, 5:29… Being a mother and a champion was a crazy dream. But it didn’t have to be. Olympic runner Alysia Montano had accomplished all her dreams but one: being a mom. When she finally went for it, she faced her biggest challenge yet — her sponsors. When Montano approached her sponsor to announce her pregnancy, they told her that they would just pause her contract. She famously ran a national championship and eight months pregnant to prove that pregnant women could compete. Now, she’s speaking out so that no one has to suffer like she did.
CBS Sunday Morning, 2003, 6:15… It's not an Olympic sport (yet), but as correspondent Bill Geist discovered, adherents of extreme ironing go to herculean extremes as they wield their irons in ever-more challenging situations, pressing on in their quest to remove wrinkles. Originally broadcast on "Sunday Morning" November 7, 2003.
Quartz, 2019, 7:53… Thai restaurants are abundant and popular in many parts of the world. This has a lot to do with the Thai government actively promoting Thai food overseas for more than a decade. The strategy has been so successful that it inspired a new trend in foreign policy: gastrodiplomacy. And food isn’t just a diplomatic tool for governments. There’s a new kind of gastrodiplomacy on the rise, one that’s led by people who have left their governments behind. Quartz News went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the refugee capital of America, to visit a 25-year-old gastrodiplomat who fled war in Somalia, rebuilt his life, and connects neighbors through his mouthwatering Somali samosas.
Inside Edition, 2019, 5:17… Are they evil or just misunderstood? The documentary "Hail Satan?" explores those questions while following the rise of the Satanic Temple. Director Penny Lane says the creation of the film took her on a spiritual and educational journey. A goal of her film was to debunk myths and misconceptions about this religion. "Modern Satanism is an atheistic religion," Lane says. "There's no sort of belief in supernatural deities at the core." InsideEdition.com's Mara Montalbano has more.
Vox, 2019, 7:24… At-home DNA ancestry tests have become hugely popular in recent years. More than 26 million have taken one of these tests. If their marketing is to be believed, they can help you learn where your DNA comes from, and even where your ancestors lived. But the information that can be inferred from your DNA is actually much more limited than testing companies are letting on. And that has lead consumers to misinterpret their results — which is having negative consequences.
Vice News, 2019, 6:49… Lauren Miranda, a former math teacher at Bellport Middle School, was fired after a topless selfie sent to her boyfriend in 2016 — got into the hands of students. It’s a private matter that has thrust her onto a public platform where she refuses to be shamed. Lauren’s situation isn’t unique. According to a 2016 study, roughly 10.4 million Americans have had their nude photos posted without their permission. Now, she’s speaking out about the double standard of sexualizing the female body.
