@vox.com correspondent @benjij.bsky.social looks for a new species of insect in Central Park (and listeners try to help him name it). Listen: wnyc.org/browse/shows...

Are There Undiscovered Insects in New York City? | WNYC

Benji Jones talks about his summer project hunting for a new insect species in New York City.

wnyc.org

Benji Jones (@benjij.bsky.social) is determined to discover a new species in NYC. @vox.com's senior environmental correspondent gave our Science Friday producers a house tour of his Malaise trap in Prospect Park. This tent will hopefully catch an unknown insect hiding right in our own backyard.

Some exciting news: @vox.com is setting out to discover a new animal species in NYC! 🧵

A billionaire philanthropist recently donated an ~$18m drawing to support wildlife conservation. His fortune comes from the mining industry. I asked him if he sees his source of wealth and the causes he cares about as at odds. That's where our conversation took a turn. www.vox.com/climate/4894...

I asked a billionaire about his environmental philanthropy. It didn’t go well.

The contradiction at the core of big-money environmental giving.

vox.com

What a treat to be able to guest edit today's @thesundaylongread.bsky.social. . Checks it out! @charlesbethea.bsky.social, @nathanielpopper.bsky.social, @mariepastora.bsky.social, @benjij.bsky.social, @davidjroth.bsky.social, and many others. mailchi.mp/sundaylongre...

☀️ The Sunday Long Read: Danny Funt, Stanford, YouTube in Schools

The week's best journalism. Every Sunday.

mailchi.mp

the only moments of my adult life that i am not on the cusp of falling asleep / fighting an everpresent pull towards the unconscious is when i’m trying to sleep on a f*ing plane man behind me is talking loudly and my mind has decided to filter out the white noise and latch itself to every word. why

Here’s a weird fact: Every time someone buys an assault weapon (or any gun) in the US, such as an AR-15, they’re inadvertently funding wildlife conservation. I wrote about an obscure law that makes state wildlife agencies deeply dependent on gun sales. www.vox.com/climate/4871...

The surprising reason why buying guns helps endangered species

And why wildlife agencies are building so many shooting ranges.

vox.com

I wrote about how logging is not the environmental boogeyman many people make it out to be with one big caveat: Logging in a way that doesn't destroy ecosystems requires expertise, research, and resources — things Trump officials have axed from the Forest Service. www.vox.com/climate/4849...

FYI: The $1.5 trillion in defense spending is enough to give every American living in poverty (~36 million) roughly $42,000 each — more than twice their annual income.

I was told today my Washington Post job is being eliminated It's just a job, but it's one that I was proud to do for 8+ yrs alongside the best in the business I'm here for opportunities to tell stories about the natural world and how we impact it dino.grandoni@gmail.com

BREAKING Greg Bovino has been removed as Border Patrol "commander at large" and will return to El Centro Calif, where he is expected to retire soon. A stunning turnaround after Pretti killing. Bovino's traveling blue city crackdown is over www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Gregory Bovino Gets Demoted

The Border Patrol chief was the public face of a traveling immigration crackdown on cities governed by Democrats.

theatlantic.com

"Spawning on the Great Barrier Reef has been called the largest reproductive event on Earth, and, in more colorful terms, 'the world’s largest orgasm.'" @benjij.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4754...

Australia is doing absolutely everything to the Great Barrier Reef — except the one thing that matters

An exclusive look inside the largest effort ever mounted to keep an iconic ecosystem alive.

vox.com

once again reminded that i can temporarily vanquish my thoughts of despair by caffeinating myself into oblivion. it’s wonderful

I know this is probably obvious but one of the most frustrating realizations for me as an adult/writer is that you simply can’t produce good work without putting in the time, no matter how skilled your are or how many shortcuts/AI tools are thrown in your face. Success requires work! It’s annoying!

A fact that blew my mind (but maybe shouldn't): Private creditors like hedge funds hold about *60 percent* of the debt of poor countries. Basically firms on Wall Street effectively control certain nations. The debt crisis is so OOC. A must-read from Sara Herschander. www.vox.com/future-perfe...

How Wall Street helped turn poor countries into permanent debtors

The global debt crisis works like your credit card — but much, much worse.

vox.com

Thank you, @benjij.bsky.social, for making me newly obsessed with this fierce little falcon 💙 Fascinating piece about the link between tenacious predators and how they not only benefit the landscape — but our food, too. Well worth a read: www.vox.com/climate/4711... @vox.com

The fascinating link between cherry pie and this bird

Meet the unpaid animal laborers who help safeguard our food.

vox.com

Colorado brought wolves back for the first time in 80 years, but now a few years into the historic reintroduction, many of them are dead. Restoring predators is never simple and the real test is just beginning. @benjij.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4700...

Colorado has wolves again for the first time in 80 years. Why are they dying?

A controversial reintroduction program is off to a messy start.

vox.com

Every time I ride a stationary bike I think of how dumb it is that I am literally using my body to turn a wheel and yet the bike USES energy and generates nothing. Meanwhile, using stuff (wind, coal, etc) to rotate wheels is literally how electricity is made. Dumb! Anyone??

Insect people! Does anyone know what this is? (Seen in Madagascar.)

"It’s a complicated situation: The health and well-being of people along the coast depends on fishing, yet too much fishing is a key reason why the reef, and the fishery it supports, is in decline." @benjij.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4650...

Scientists are testing a surprising approach to fighting hunger in one of the poorest places on Earth

Madagascar is reeling from political unrest. But there’s another problem that no one’s talking about.

vox.com

🚨Just launched: @vox.com's most ambitious biodviersity reporting project of the year. @benjij.bsky.social went to Madagascar to find out what it takes to save one of the world’s most unique ecosystems — and learned that the answer begins with putting people first. www.vox.com/climate/4649...

Most animals on this island nation are found nowhere else on Earth. And now they’re vanishing.

The only way to save them is to put people first.

vox.com

Coming out of silence to share a story that's very meaningful to me — a look at what's going on in southwest Madagascar. Coral reefs that sustain entire communities are failing, despite decades of conservation. It highlights the need to rethink how conservation works. www.vox.com/climate/4650...

Scientists are testing a surprising approach to fighting hunger in one of the poorest places on Earth

Madagascar is reeling from political unrest. But there’s another problem that no one’s talking about.

vox.com

We’ve climbed Everest, mapped the oceans, and trekked to the poles. Yet 90% of Earth’s species remain unknown. The golden age of discovery is happening now — as scientists race to catalogue our planet's "dark taxa" @benjij.bsky.social w/ this fascinating story @vox.com: www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

The search for Earth’s most mysterious creatures is turning up extraordinary results

We still haven’t documented 90 percent of animals on Earth

vox.com

I wrote about the search for "dark taxa" — groups of animals, like certain flies and wasps, in which the bulk of species remains unknown to science. Among the facts that blew my mind while reporting this: Around 90 percent of all life is still undescribed. Like, what!? www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

The search for Earth’s most mysterious creatures is turning up extraordinary results

We still haven’t documented 90 percent of animals on Earth

vox.com

This is not the year of positive wildlife stories, but I've got one. And it's about jaguars. I spent a week in Sonora, Mexico last month looking for cats and learning about a creative project to save them — involving the very people that once hunted these animals down. www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

We kick off with @benjij.bsky.social who joins us to talk about the Department of the Interior's move to strip endangered species status from the lesser prairie chicken, and other science news of the week. www.sciencefriday.com/segments/les...

Lesser Prairie Chicken May Lose Endangered Species Status

The Department of the Interior seeks to remove the lesser prairie chicken’s endangered species designation. What would that mean?

sciencefriday.com

The Trump administration is trying to remove protections for a very odd bird on a technicality and maybe that doesn't sound like a big deal but it's actually a very big deal and signals something scary for all other species near the brink www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

Trump officials are trying to yank this animal’s last shot at survival

The administration’s attack on nature, explained by a dancing chicken.

vox.com

having my annual “oh yeah i guess i like new york” moment cherishing it before it vanishes in 30

Hi. I wrote about America’s most beloved insect: the monarch butterfly. They’re not doing well. USFWS finally proposed federal protections for them late last year. Trump is already moving to dismantle regs to protect wildlife. What will happen to monarchs? www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

The fate of this beloved American creature is in Trump’s hands

Trump says he’s pro-America. Will his administration protect its most iconic butterfly?

vox.com

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