Episode Description:

This week: a German research team built a water contamination test that runs on a smartphone and gives you an answer in under a minute. A Cornell professor has a gardening trick that involves water, a paper towel, and one night. A Bristol startup figured out what to do with festival urine!

Arielle and Karissa also talk about the psychology of why you keep falling for the same type, Earth Day turning 56, and the free home reset that’s apparently all about the “invisible layer.”

And for the first time, an Optimist Daily’s Emissary shout-out goes out! Therese highlights Emily Oakley and Michael Appel of Three Springs Farm in Oklahoma, two farmers who’ve spent over two decades working on food, land, and community.

If you have questions, comments, feedback, suggestions, or just want to say hi, send a message to podcast@optimistdaily.com.

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Transcript:

Arielle 

Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Optimist Daily’s weekly roundup. I’m Arielle. 

Karissa 

And I’m Karissa. And we’re so excited to be back with some solutions from the Optimist Daily this week. 

Arielle 

If you missed it, last week we had a really, really cool interview with Erica Psaltis, who is the founder of Silver Linings Rescue Ranch in Bend, Oregon. If you’re a dog lover or an animal lover in general… 

Karissa 

Yeah, that was definitely a cute one. I really enjoyed listening to it, Arielle. So, highly encourage everyone to go get some heartwarming information on this senior dog rescue group. 

Arielle 

But yeah, how are you, Karissa? How have you been? It’s been a while. 

Karissa 

I have been okay. And a trip to Portland is on the books for this weekend! And it’ll be fun to explore the city. What about you? 

Arielle 

Yeah, good. I had some exams this week, actually. Some Dutch exams because I’m in the middle of a naturalization process. So, I’ve just been studying, and now I don’t have to, hopefully. I will figure out if I pass in May. So, fingers crossed. 

Karissa 

That’s such a long time, I feel like, but, got to grade the exam. 

Arielle 

Yeah, exactly. It was the written one. So yeah, I guess it also takes a long time to make sure that they mark everyone correctly. Other than that, nothing really new… Oh! There is something new, actually. We have an Emissary shout-out, which is a perk that you get if you are an Emissary with us. They are our financial supporters, and they get to highlight people or organizations or, you know, send a thank you to whoever they want. But we’re going to read that at the end. 

Karissa 

Yeah, stay tuned for a shout-out from our Emissary, Therese. And again, if you are an Emissary, you have a link in your inbox to fill out a form on a shout-out. You can either have us read your shout-out or you can submit a sound bite to us, and we’ll clip it into the podcast. We have a little voicemail box set up. So, there’s more details on that. Once again, thank you so much to all of our Emissaries for supporting us here at the Optimist Daily and all of our Optimists, of course. 

Arielle 

It means a lot to us that you are just here listening to the podcast, reading our solutions, sharing with your friends and family, because not all support has to be financial. 

Karissa 

Exactly. 

Arielle 

You can also check us out on socials @OptimistDaily on pretty much everything except for X. There we are @OdeToOptimism. 

Karissa 

Yeah, and if you’re not already signed up for the free daily newsletter, you can do that and get all these solutions and more straight to your inbox. The link for that is also in the show notes. 

Arielle 

Well, I guess with all that said, we should just jump into the solutions of the week. What do you think, Karissa? 

Karissa 

Yeah, I’m ready. We had some fun ones this week. 

Arielle 

Okay, well, the first headline is “Smartphone test detects water contamination in under a minute.” So, this article is about German researchers who have just built a water contamination test that runs on a smartphone, which almost everybody has, and delivers results in under a minute using a single drop of water. So, you don’t need a lab, you don’t need to wait that long either, you don’t need technical training, and you can still figure out whether your water is good to drink. For relief teams and places without lab infrastructure, this changes the math on what’s possible. 

Karissa 

And I mean, what can’t smartphones do? They can even test for water contamination. So that’s an interesting development. 

Arielle 

I mean, I think for a lot of people who just have access to clean water, it’s definitely something that we take for granted. But you never know. With all of these extreme weather events, there could be a flood or maybe a pipe will burst. And then you just don’t know if your water is safe to drink.  

And then also for people who are underprivileged and they don’t know if their water is safe to drink on a daily basis, then this could be a solution for them.  

The next article is titled “The low-effort way to build real connection: finding your third place.” So, Karissa, I feel like we’ve been talking a lot about third places on the podcast lately. 

Karissa 

Absolutely. 

Arielle 

Where it actually came from was a sociologist named Ray Oldenburg. He gave the third place its name. And just as a refresher, a third place is a spot outside the home and work where you just exist around other people. You don’t need an agenda. There’s no, like, schedule to follow. And most Americans have lost access to that kind of space. 

Karissa 

Yeah, this one dives more into where to find it. 

Arielle 

There are a lot of places that are listed in the article that… they’re actually not so hard to find if you know where to look. Do you have a current third place that you go to right now, Karissa? 

Karissa 

I guess my major third place right now is just the yoga studio I go to… but I mean, working remotely, it’s kind of hard to have a third place when I’m stuck in the house all day. But yeah, my yoga studio is like the biggest third space for me. There’s so many other places, even just like your local farmer’s market. Just get out there and check it out! 

Arielle 

All right, so the next article is, “the gardening trick that gives vegetables a head start on weeds.” Okay, so this one comes from a Cornell horticulture professor who says one overnight step before planting can speed up germination and give your vegetables a fighting chance against weeds. All you need is water, a paper towel, and just one night where you’re going to be sleeping anyway. If you’ve ever had a row just… die after planting it, then skipping this step is probably why. I am not going to give it away though! So you’re going to have to read it. Do you garden a lot, Karissa? 

Karissa 

I don’t, and I wish I did. I have a lot of houseplants, but I don’t garden, like vegetables or flowers outside, but I want to. So maybe I’ll take this as my sign. I would love to grow my own vegetables. I think my sister is actually planning on starting a vegetable garden at her new house that she’s at. So maybe I’ll just help her out and I’ll send her this tip for sure, because she’s going to need this one. 

Arielle 

Yeah, all I have is a balcony, and I don’t —well, maybe I can grow herbs… 

Karissa 

Yeah. 

Arielle 

This next article is also kind of in season because it’s festival time. The festivals are happening. I think Coachella just happened, right? 

Karissa 

Yeah, it’s happening right now. I was actually watching some stuff over the weekend because I am a frequent Coachella goer. I didn’t go this year, but I was catching up on the magic with Couchchella (laughs). This was very timely to see this one this week. 

Arielle 

Yeah, it’s titled “UK startup turns festival urine into forest grade fertilizer.” A Bristol startup has been collecting urine at festivals like the London Marathon or Boomtown or, like, basically big events, and they’re processing it into fertilizer. Now they have a forestry commission grant to grow 4,500 native trees in Wales with this wee fertilizer.  

And it surprisingly doesn’t smell! It’s in the article, they’re like, emphasizing that it doesn’t smell like urine. And this is part of the circular economy. It’s part of the solution, like something that can really help in terms of a more sustainable way to fertilize our plants. 

Karissa 

Yeah, exactly. And pee has nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which are the core nutrients plants need. So why not be circular and use a large amount of waste that will happen at festivals and large events for something good? So, I like this one and I would feel so great about peeing at a festival knowing that it’s going to be reused somewhere else. So, this is a really cool one, and I hope to see it expand out of the UK. 

Arielle 

The last article that I’m going to be sharing with you guys before I hand it over to Karissa is titled, “Artemis II shows the moon can still unite a divided world.” So, for 10 days, as four astronauts flew around the far side of the moon and came back safely, a country that really can’t agree on much found itself watching the same thing. Around 80% of Americans across party lines hold a favorable view of NASA. And that number is worth sitting with considering that there’s just so much division right now, not just in… in the US, but all over the world, it feels. 

Karissa 

I mean, there were a lot of firsts on this flight. It’s like, for instance, the first Canadian to go to the moon.  

Arielle 

Woo! 

Karissa 

I know, yeah, yay for you, Arielle! And fellow Canadians. So that’s huge. And there was the first woman to fly and the first Black astronaut to travel to the moon. So, lots of firsts this year. So, it really, you know, united a lot of people who could see themselves in these astronauts. Lots of cool stuff and gave a lot of much-needed hope and and… 

Arielle 

And just unity in general; it just seems like it’s so hard to agree on anything, but space travel apparently is one of the last things we can agree on. All right, Karissa, what have you got on the roster for us? 

Karissa 

One solution that stood out to me this week was, “Light, scent, and sound: the free home refresh you haven’t tried yet.” I’m actually in the middle… in the middle of refreshing my home right now, my office space. I’ve moved furniture, I’ve hung up art in different places, and the room still does feel off. A designer and a somatic therapist say the problem might be the invisible layer, which is light, scent, and sound, and fixing it can cost nothing or very little. These 3 sensory points could really transform a room… like lights! I mean, putting a mirror in a different place or just putting some sheer curtains over the window could really reset an entire room. So, check this out if you’re in the middle of a spring refresh like I am. 

Arielle 

I’m sure a lot of us are. 

Karissa 

And another solution we had this week is, “Why Western scientists are turning to Indigenous knowledge.” For generations, Indigenous communities managed ecosystems that Western science spent decades dismissing as folklore or myth. But a reckoning is underway, and it’s changing how research gets funded, designed, and credited. 

Arielle 

Yeah, I really liked how they used the, like, the metaphor of braiding. So, you’re like taking the thread of Indigenous knowledge and braiding it with Western science so that they’re still kind of separate, but they’re really intertwined. And I just really like the imagery of that. 

Karissa 

Yeah, that one was a great metaphor. So, I really like that as well. So, check that out if you want to learn some more about some different Western technology and Indigenous knowledge being integrated together.  

Okay, and another solution we had to share this week is “The science of why you keep falling for the same type of person.” 

Arielle 

Spicy!  

Karissa 

Yeah, pretty spicy. Psychologists call it sexual imprinting. The way early experiences with caregivers and first relationships get encoded as templates, and the nervous system later recognizes as desirable. Your type is probably not random. And this piece lays out where it actually comes from.  

Arielle, do you feel like you have a type? Have you dated the same kind of person over your lifetime? 

Arielle 

Ummm… If I develop a crush on someone, they do tend to fall under the same category, if that makes sense. 

Karissa 

Totally. It’s probably not by coincidence, according to the research presented in this article. You know, this develops over our entire life. And it’s really interesting because just the way we grow up can also affect who we’re attracted to. It’s not just, you know, biological; it’s our environment, because adopted women’s husbands tended to resemble their adoptive fathers. So, it’s how we grow up. And it’s a very interesting concept. 

Arielle 

So, if you have a somewhat toxic pattern that you really want to break, then this article can help you realize where that’s coming from. And I think just understanding the why behind it will help you… overcome it. 

Karissa 

We also have “Earth Day at 56—Happy 56th birthday, Earth Day —why the 2026 theme carries more weight than usual.”  

So, Earth Day was born out of a moment when rivers in the US were literally catching fire. And 56 years later, the 2026 theme is “Our Power, Our Planet.” And it’s doing double duty with this theme. It’s about energy, and it’s about something harder to measure. The first Earth Day in 1970 brought 20 million Americans into the streets, and within a few years, the EPA, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act were all passed. But right now, it seems like all of those in the United States are very under attack, and rivers may be burning once again, so it feels a little discouraging, but Earth Day is such a great day to recenter and take a look at what we can do and re-energize ourselves to push for power.  

And that’s the theme here, because power in this theme refers to power quite literally, like energy, solar, wind, and the shift from fossil fuels, which is a huge topic right now, of course, and the power of civic agency as well. Those two things are just really hard to separate. We need to be working on this collectively. 

Earth Day is so important. It actually started in Santa Barbara, where I lived for many years and where the Optimist Daily is based out of. So, we have a very deep connection to Earth Day. There’s a huge, really fun festival that happens every year where people present things, and lots of different non-profits are around that are doing really hard work on trying to improve our environment. So, if there’s an Earth Day celebration around you, maybe try to check it out and just, you know, re-energize yourself on working on these pressing issues.  

And the final solution we had to share this week is “What to actually eat after a workout according to sports dietitians.” The soreness after a hard workout is renovation noise. Your body is repairing muscle fibers and building them back a little stronger each time. But what you eat in the next 30 to 60 minutes determines how fast that process happens. And so, in this article, sports dietitians break down what actually works.  

I found out a new term from this article called DOMS, and it means “delayed onset muscle soreness,” which means the workout did its job. An intense exercise creates microtears, and the soreness is your body repairing them. So yeah, that first half hour to an hour could really shift your body into recovery mode faster if you eat the right stuff. And the longer and harder that workout was, the more that timing gap could cost you. And I know when it comes to working out and building muscle, that protein gets all the credit, but carbs are often the most skipped piece because they can trigger an insulin response that moves protein into muscle cells where repair happens. So, there’s a lot of good suggestions in this article of what you could snack on after you finish a good workout to really maximize all the hard work you put in. 

Arielle 

I was really happy to see that banana was on that list. Banana with a big, big, generous spoonful of peanut butter is like my go-to. For a post-workout snack. 

Karissa 

Yeah, I love eggs and toast if I work out after the morning, which is one of the suggestions. That’s like usually my go-to breakfast anyways, but after a nice workout in the morning and being able to have that just feels so rewarding. But there are a lot of yummy options on here. Some are obvious, some maybe not so obvious, but take a look if you want some ideas.  

All right, those were all the new solutions on the Optimist Daily this week. But before we go, we have to readdress the shout-out we have. 

Arielle 

So, Therese wanted to shout out two people who are making a difference on a daily basis. And she wrote a really lovely message, but we’re just going to slightly paraphrase it. So, the two people that she wanted to shout out are Emily Oakley and Michael Apple… or Appel, it’s A-P-P-E-L, so I hope I’m saying it right. And they own and operate Three Springs Farm in Oklahoma. This isn’t just a farm. It’s a place built by two people who are deeply active in their local community and who are setting a standard for what it means to bring people together locally, nationally, and internationally through respect for the land, the people around them, and the power of food. So, this is a really good one for Earth Day, actually. 

Karissa 

And a little background on Emily and Michael. Emily received a Master’s in International Agricultural Development from UC Davis, and Mike was the CSA manager at Eat Well Farm. In 2003, they moved to Oklahoma to start a small-scale, diverse vegetable farm. And Emily’s work centers on agrobiodiversity and the role of women in farming, which is totally awesome. And Mike is passionate about the social issues surrounding food systems. Each winter they step away from the farm to participate in farmer-to-farmer exchanges with growers around the world and to engage with agricultural and environmental issues at a broader level. 

Arielle 

They have served on the boards of several local and national nonprofits, and Emily served as a farmer representative on the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board from 2016 to 2021. As Theresa says, the world needs more people like Emily and Michael, people committed to sustaining the land and to finding new ways to address food insecurity, both here and around the globe. We are going to link Three Springs Farm’s website in the show notes as well. And yeah, then you can check out all of the good work they’re doing. And thank you so much, Therese, for being our very first Emissary to send in a shout-out! 

Karissa 

Yeah, thank you so much for supporting the work here at the Optimist Daily. And thank you to Emily and Michael for making a difference in this world. Your efforts do not go unnoticed. That’s why we’re shouting you out here because people see the good that you’re doing. 

Arielle 

All right. Well, that’s it for the emissary shout-outs for now. Hopefully more to come. 

Karissa 

Yeah, we have a positive thought to end the podcast with, and that is to ask for the moon. You’ll be surprised how often you get it. And that is by Paulo Coelho. And I thought this one was, yeah, very on theme for the Artemis II return and discussion. So, ask for the moon, guys! 

Arielle 

With that, we will leave you to enjoy your weekend. Happy Friday, everybody. If you have any comments, questions, or feedback, you can e-mail us at podcast@optimistdaily.com. I guess that’s it from us! 

Karissa 

Yeah, we’ll be back next week with more solutions. Bye! 

Arielle 

Bye!