What went right in November? [176]
The world's oldest park ranger, getting more offshore wind power, and 10 of the best stories from November...
Born to Creole and Cajun parents, Betty Reid Soskin grew up in New Orleans and was immediately a force to be reckoned with.
She moved to Oakland following the “Great Flood” and opened one of the first black-owned record shops in California, recorded protest songs in her 30s, became an activist raising funds for the Black Panthers, and worked in local government.
And if all that wasn’t enough, her real claim to fame came when she started uncovering untold stories of African American citizens during World War 2, moving into a temporary position at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front Park at 84 years old, then becoming a permanent National Park Service employee and leading public programs until she retired at 100.
Now thriving at 104, Betty is an incredible example that it’s never too late to get involved, find your calling, and make a positive difference.
Is there something in your life you’ve wanted to do but feel it’s too late to start? Let Betty inspire you to ignore that excuse, and do it anyways!
NYC has a wind turbine?!
*This piece was a paid opportunity created with my partner Climate Power. I only collaborate on authentic ideas I truly believe in that I want more people to know about, and I’m including it here to provide another great story that you may like :)
I was walking around Brooklyn one day when I saw a single, lonely wind turbine. I thought was the only one in New York City… But it turns out I was very wrong!
Watch this video I made to learn more about wind power in NYC, and discover the #YestoWind campaign getting more offshore wind across the northeast.
10 of the best stories from November 2025
🎟️ The UK is helping fans not get ripped off by making it illegal to resell live event tickets for more than the original cost.
🦑 30 new deep sea species were discovered like the carnivorous death ball sponge, zombie worms with no mouth or gut, and a massive sea star.
🧸 All children in New Mexico started getting free childcare.
🏞️ 2.2 million acres of land was returned in one of Australia’s biggest Indigenous land back deals.
🌞 A new South Korean law started requiring all parking lots with 80 or more spaces to install solar panel canopies.
🦀 100 million crabs crawled over the Christmas Island in their annual mating migration while rangers suppressed invasive ants and blocked off roads.
💨 A double-headed wind turbine which will be the world’s largest moved forward off the coast of China.
🛒 A completely free grocery store inside a Baltimore library soared past 15,000 families served.
🕷️ The world’s biggest spiderweb with 100,000 spiders was discovered in a cave, made by two different species working together despite typically not getting along.
🤝 And our community accidentally started a food bank, raised money in their school club to build water wells in Africa, and held a successful grassroots fundraising dinner.
What about you? Let us know your favorite story from November, and see you in December :)
This newsletter was written by Jacob Simon. Over 1 million people are in our community across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. You can say hi on LinkedIn, or by hitting reply. Brand illustration by Andrea Miralles. Thanks for helping spread some positivity, and see you next week for more!
The best thing I've read in a while. Uplifting, encouraging and answers instead of just problems.💝