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🎉 Here's to 50 reasons to come together
Welcome to At The End Of the Day. I’m Hannah Sung and I write this newsletter for a news perspective that puts people first -- relationships, caring, social fairness and the greater good.
I’ve got a children’s book giveaway from ATEOD x Simon & Schuster Canada! Scroll to bottom for details.
It’s April Break this week and the kids are off school.
The weather is cooperating.
😱😱😱 My thoughts exactly 😱😱😱
Seeing that forecast made me want to pluck my eyes out, roll them like dice and take my chances blasting off to a different planet, any planet (“Mars makes sense, I guess.”)
The thought of being stuck inside all week was too much, especially when news lately has been scary, frustrating and infuriating, take your pick.123
So I’m suiting up with more layers and getting outside anyway, taking this entire weekend to just check out of the news cycle. It isn’t ignorant to turn off the news for a few days. We need to rebalance.
News should help me make decisions, care for my family and be an informed person in general. It shouldn’t make me a walking ball of misery.
I read this quick essay on news addiction to bolster my resolve to take a break.4
Going to get my nose out of my phone and live some life this weekend.
50 newsletters!
I’ve also been pausing to reflect because today represents *ta-da!* my 50th newsletter!
Awkwafina for all the moods
When I first conceived of this newsletter, I was in an accelerator for journalists creating independent business models. But as I kept writing, it quickly became clear to me that I needed to build new metrics of success. My own.
So I stopped thinking about business models. And I settled on one priority — to enjoy myself and find meaning in the act of connecting with you via this newsletter. They’re no small feats in this era of fear and confusion.
My priorities were to get a people-first perspective on the news and root my strong opinions in footnotes and facts.
I needed to connect with people who are on a similar mission of figuring out how to live in this world by:
giving more than we take
staying informed while keeping some joy alive
growing the feeling of being connected to each other in positive ways
That’s you!
And at the end of the day, I want us all to consider what matters most.
Now that we’re here, over a year and fifty newsletters later, I can see we’ve kept those priorities intact.
Thank you! Now it’s time to grow.
Forward this letter, share and shout it from the rooftops. Tell people why a people-first perspective on the news matters to you, too.
I want to honour our vibe by growing At The End Of the Day and continue to find ways to be useful to you, a collection of people who want to be informed, not overwhelmed.
Forwarding this newsletter to a friend, or sharing it on your social, is a great way to bring more people into the fold.
Maybe they’ll be interested in some of these greatest hits:
⭐ How I plan to get through winter
This was the plan. Did it happen? I mean...yes?
⭐ This Korean TikTok is a game changer
Because I’m inspired by people who weave every aspect of their lives together
⭐ Light at the end of the tunnel
For the historical, really long view of our social attitudes and pandemics
⭐ What’s this meal really worth
From the trenches of indoor dining in a pandemic
⭐ This letter is for the birds
The time I had a kid who became obsessed with birds, forever and ever amen (yes, we still go birding almost every day).
I’ll leave you this week with this:
This was one person’s reaction to a tsunami of anger toward the Ontario government last week over flip-flopping Covid announcements. I was stuck in anger myself. But those three words, “Be the helpers,” really stood out to me and the spirit of this sentiment has stuck.
It’s all too easy to get lost in our despair and anger and frustration right now. It isn’t sticking our heads in the sand if we try to let go of those feelings. It’s self-preservation and that matters because connecting with our own strength is how we can be there for others.
I’m going to try and highlight helpers in upcoming newsletters. I have a few people I want to write about but if you know someone, in the public eye or in your private life, who goes above and beyond to “be the helper,” let me know. Just hit reply. I want to hear write about these actions.
Consider it a life raft of the mind. We all need this. I don’t really want to blast off to Mars.
This week, the sun actually did come out for a few minutes. And this weekend, I’m looking forward to Bananagrams with the kids and a library book.
Thanks to everyone who chipped in their thoughts last week on the small pleasures getting you through. All your ideas really inspired me to unplug.
Take of yourselves this weekend,
Hannah
✨✨✨ With thanks to At The End Of the Day editor Ishani Nath ✨✨✨
What to watch
Chinatown Rising. This is a documentary screening available to everyone in Canada until April 25. Click for free tickets or pay a suggested donation of $10, with half going to filmmakers and the other half going to the Chinese Canadian National Council For Social Justice.
I love Hot Docs and this screening is part of their For Viola series which centers BIPOC-led stories and filmmakers, named in honour of Canadian civil rights icon Viola Desmond.
Vicious Anti-Asian racism has flared over this past year. Watch this documentary on the history of pioneering Chinatown activists in the 1960s in San Francisco for inspiration on how to move forward.
What to listen to
Tame Impala playlists. This is music that’s a perfect match for my vibe right now — pop melodies with lots of reverb, the aural version of nostalgia. Danceable but wistful. I have everything Tame Impala on repeat right now.
Have conversations
Last week, I moderated a conversation with three brilliant panelists for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. Have real conversations with the people in your own life. Follow these intellectual rock stars for inspo.
And for those who are looking to have conversations about race with children, here’s a free download that was sent to me by Liêm, an ATEOD reader (thank you!). A Kids Book About Anti-Asian Hate.
Daunte Wright family demands more severe charges for Minn. ex-cop, CTV
'Extraordinary measures,' national approach needed to fight COVID-19 crisis: CMA, CTV
Brazil poses global health threat as its hospitals buckle under COVID-19, experts warn, CBC