Episode Description:

Sir David Attenborough just turned 100!

Arielle and Karissa cover his 10-minute secret to a long life along with seven other solutions this week — belugas who prove that their species is capable of recognizing themselves, hemp plastic that survives boiling water, and an ocean sanctuary that might make fishermen richer by protecting the fish they can’t catch.

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Theme and all original music by Marvin Lanes

Transcript:

Karissa: 

Hello everyone I’m Karissa.

Arielle: 

And I’m Arielle.

Karissa: 

And welcome back to the Optimist Daily’s Weekly Roundup.

Arielle: 

Yeah. How are you doing, Karissa? It’s been a couple weeks since we’ve been together to do the roundup.

Karissa: 

Yeah I’m doing fine over here. Summer is in full swing; It was just Memorial Day week for the United States so we had a shorter amount of solutions this week.

Arielle: 

Hmm, just eight solutions, but they’re really good ones. Everyone’s just in a summery holiday mood.

Karissa: 

Yeah and you were kinda on a holiday yourself.

Arielle: 

Yeah, a cheeky workcation. 

It was my first time in Greece and, um, it, the sea was a little bit too cold for me to go swimming consistently, but it was really nice just to look up from my laptop and see beautiful scenery around me, the wild dramatic ocean.

Speaking of swimming, we did have a guest interview last week with Carol Burrell of Swim Sista Swim, along with an instructor from the program and also a participant talking about what access to waterways means for their community because they’re all Black women, and historically swimming hasn’t been as accessible to the Black community. It was fascinating to do and such a joy to talk to these women about their experiences. And Swim Sista Swim has expanded to include men, uh, except it’s called Mandem Swim. Um, and they, they launched that initiative this month as well.

Karissa: 

Yeah that was a fantastic interview. But we’re really happy to be back with Solutions today I’ve missed doing this roundup with you Arielle. You can always get these solutions straight to your inbox in our free daily newsletter And we also have a weekly option now too that just sends a digest of the 10 new solutions we publish every week.

Arielle: 

On Fridays.

Karissa: 

Yes.

You can always follow us on socials where we’re posting all of our new solutions as well So Instagram or Facebook or even Threads we’re there.

Arielle: 

You can find us @optimistdaily on everything except for X. There we are @odetooptimism. So yeah, slide into our DMs if you have any comments, questions, or feedback, or you can just say hi to us there. You can also email us at podcast@optimistdaily.com.

Karissa: 

Yeah And we’re also very open to shout-outs from our Emissaries. If you recall our Emissaries have the perk of being able to shout out someone or something that makes them optimistic whether that’s a person organization that’s doing great things…

Arielle: 

Their pet!

Karissa: 

Yeah!

Arielle: 

It could be anyone!

Karissa: 

Anyone, anything we wanna give you a shout-out. Thank you to our Emissaries for financially supporting The Optimist Daily and if you’d like to learn how to become one the link to that is in our show notes.

Arielle: 

Mm-hmm. But if you’re just here listening to the podcast, rating us, subscribing, sharing the podcast or the publication itself to your friends and family, then we definitely appreciate you as well. We are a community of like-minded people who believe that solutions and positive thinking and optimism can really make a difference in this world.

So thank you so much for being here.

Karissa: 

Yeah, Well, speaking of positive thinking and solutions…

Arielle: 

Mm-hmm. Yes, let’s get into the eight solutions that we had this week.

Karissa: 

The first solution of the week was “The case for making prison phone calls free: new data, real results.” So, for decades a phone call home from prison could cost a family several dollars a minute. But a new report just tracked what happened when states and jails made those calls free.

Arielle: 

What really struck me is that incarcerated people and their families, because of this change, are saving more than $622 million. And most of those savings went to Black and Brown families who are disproportionately represented in the incarcerated population, and that is a lot of money. I, I really did not… I just didn’t realize that, the correctional facilities themselves actually earn money from these calls. So that just rubs me a little bit the wrong way.

Karissa: 

Yeah.

Arielle: 

You know, it’s, this is… It shouldn’t, shouldn’t be a business.

The, the point, I think, of the punishment is for people to, uh, want to change their ways. And yeah, not having access to being able to connect with your family outside of prison would cause people to be more irritated, maybe anxious…

Karissa: 

Mm-hmm

Arielle: 

…annoyed with each other.

So actually, what they found because of this change, was reduced tension, and there was improved safety, both for staff and the incarcerated people. So obviously, everyone’s happier.

It’s very simple. People just wanna talk to their loved ones.

Karissa: 

Having that support is very important. Only 15 of incarcerated people in the United States now have access to free calls so there’s a lot more work here to be done.

Arielle: 

Mm-hmm. Hopefully other correctional facilities can, uh, find some inspiration here.

Karissa: 

So the next solution is a little bit… well very different from this one.

It says “It’s cruise season! Here’s how to enjoy it without getting sick.”

A 2026 study found that only one in 20 cruise ship passengers maintain proper hand hygiene throughout a cruise trip. So this article goes into some tips of what to do before you board and while you’re on the water to prevent getting sick.

Arielle: 

One of the tips that I really liked was to build in a recovery day.

Karissa: 

Mm-hmm

Arielle: 

So, when you get back from your cruise, just have a couple days to rest and don’t jump straight back into work. And I think that’s a, it’s a good tip for any trip. It doesn’t have to be a cruise. It could be a flight somewhere or a road trip. Giving yourself time to recover um, I think it’s, it’ll be really helpful. I’m gonna add that to my holiday checklist.

Karissa: 

I think in this world we’re so focused on productivity and you know jumping right back into work when we return or whatever we have to do So that’s a great point Arielle.

You may have heard that Sir David Attenborough just turned 100 and when people ask what his secret is his answer is surprisingly specific on how he made it to this age and his secret takes exactly 10 minutes. His practice is to sit somewhere in nature which makes sense. He’s a big nature guy of course. Stay still and quiet and wait for 10 minutes without impatience and he says something fascinating almost always reveals itself. I thought this was a very cool and just yeah simple tip. And he described this on the podcast Call of the Wild with host Cel Spellman as his go-to practice for mental wellbeing.

Arielle: 

I really love this advice from Sir David Attenborough. I’m a huge fan of his. But it, it’s also very much in line with so many studies and so many other articles that we’ve written about in the past showing that higher wellbeing is linked to a longer life, and higher wellbeing is also brought on by more awe in your life and exposure to nature.

Karissa: 

Yeah great tip from Sir David Attenborough and happy late 100th birthday to you.

Arielle: 

What an accomplishment. Oh, and also his, um, his guided meditation I think is available on BBC Sounds if anybody wanted to check it out and listen to David Attenborough’s lovely, calming, soothing voice.

Karissa: 

Yes exactly.

The final solution I have to lead today is “Two drug molecules achieve myelin repair in MS disease models.” Every drug candidate ever tested for myelin repair in multiple sclerosis has failed. Every single one. But researchers at the University of Helsinki just reported two that didn’t which is a major breakthrough. The strangest part is that they work through completely different mechanisms and produce strikingly similar results. MS affects around three million people worldwide and the highest rates are in Northern Europe and Canada My aunt actually suffers from this disease so I was you know very excited to see that there was a breakthrough on this.

If you don’t know much about the MS disease it’s where the immune system attacks myelin which is the protective sheath around nerve fibers. And it disrupts signaling in the brain and spinal cord. The current treatments for this suppress the immune response to this. They slow the progression but none of them actually repair the damage that’s already occurred from the protective sheath being disturbed. And remyelination is the brain’s natural repair mechanism for damaged myelin and it becomes increasingly impaired in MS especially in progressive forms where immune suppression does little. So I’m not gonna go too deeply into the science behind it So if you want the actual scientific details on this then check it out on The Optimist Daily. But it is important to note that in the current stage it’s only been tested on animal and cell models only It hasn’t been used yet in human trials so that’s still something to await. But as Tapani Koppinen at the University of Helsinki says, “The goal is to enable the molecules we developed to reach clinical trials which could one day produce the first drugs that enhance remyelination in MS.” So I think that is optimistic news that there is potentially a way forward in this disease.

Arielle: 

Yeah, definitely optimistic. I also like that there’s two different mechanisms that have really positive outcomes, uh, or potentially positive outcomes once they go into human trials, because it suggests that the problem has more than one point of intervention.

There’s more than one solution. Even though there are many problems, there are many Many angles that we can tackle each problem with.

Speaking of a very, prolific problem in our day and age, the next solution has to do with plastic. The title is “Researchers built a hemp plastic that rivals PET.”

So that’s the type of plastic that’s in your water bottle, in your food packaging, and in your electronics. It’s made from fossil fuels, breaks into microplastics, and carries chemicals linked to hormone disruption. Researchers have been trying to replace it for years, but most bio-based alternatives just can’t handle heat. But this one in particular, the one made of hemp, can withstand boiling temperatures, which is… That’s pretty impressive. Researchers from the University of Connecticut and Purdue University built a polycarbonate from CBD, which is the main compound in hemp flowers. The material stretches to 1,600% of its original size, which I can’t even really conceptualize in my head. Um, it stays hard and dry when submerged in boiling water. And yeah, there’s just very few, if any, plastics made from natural resources that have this quality.

Of course, the applications for such a plastic would be transparent films, food packaging, flexible electronics, and anything that you just use regular plastic for, uh, but it’s made out of hemp, which is obviously a lot better for our environment. It grows across climates, it uses minimal water and pesticides, it rotates well with corn and soybeans.

And as cultivation expands for other uses, CBD supply will rise and costs for it will fall. So this is a win-win-win solution.

The next solution also has to do with the environment, but at a slightly different angle. This article is titled “Belugas join the short list of animals who know they’re looking at themselves.”

Karissa: 

It’s so cute!

Arielle: 

I know, I love, well, I love all animal, like wildlife stories, but this one really gets you thinking because there’s a short list of animals who, when placed in front of a mirror, eventually figure out that they’re looking at themselves. Great apes, bottlenose dolphins, Asian elephants, a magpie, and a small reef fish that upended assumptions about brain size.

Now we can add belugas to that list. The footage is from 2001, which was over two decades ago, and it took until now to be published. So the article goes into why that is, but I just wanted to point out this one really funny thing that I found in the article, which is that one of the, uh, belugas that, was involved in the observation and in the study, would perform what researchers named a pec shimmy, which is like rearing up and flapping her pectoral fins at the mirror. Both whales also blew bubbles and then bit them, which is something that they didn’t do unless they were in front of this, mirror that was reflecting their own bodies back at them. Um, playing around with their reflections, which I think is really, endearing, but also a huge scientific, breakthrough. 

Karissa: 

Yeah, exactly, and I mean, understanding animals more and the intelligence behind them is always so important. And, you know, behind animal cognition research, it’s been dismantling the idea that human intelligence is categorically different for decades. So just another entry into this ongoing revision.

Arielle: 

All right, the seventh article is called “The protein stacking strategy that works on any meal or snack.”

Getting enough protein every day is harder than it sounds, especially if you’re relying on dinner to do all that work. Dietitians say the smarter move is to layer protein throughout your day, 10 grams at a time, and this article list- lists 10 foods that make that very doable. Um, the ones that stood out to me in this list of foods was pepitas, which are pumpkin seeds. 

Karissa: 

Yummy!

Arielle: 

I didn’t know that they had so much protein in them. and then also shelled frozen edamame. I just love that as a snack anyway, so it’s nice to know that I’m, I’m building up my protein intake naturally just through my cravings.

Karissa: 

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, there are a lot on here that I eat a lot of just ’cause I love them. Like, I love a hard-boiled egg or some Greek yogurt or even some cheddar cheese as a little snack. So, um, yeah, lots of good suggestions on here. Arielle, do you have a specific protein goal you try to hit each day, or do you just eat what you do?

Arielle: 

I don’t, I just don’t– I’m not very good at, like, tracking what I eat. Um, and I don’t really… Yeah, I’ve never been very restrictive or paid too much attention, but I think that’s gonna change because I really want to get into weight training a little bit more,

Karissa: 

Mm-hmm.

Arielle: 

Because, well, first of all, it’s, um, it’s good for my longevity,

Karissa: 

Yeah!

Arielle: 

…and my overall health, but also I have to get knee surgery.

Um, I don’t…

Karissa: 

Ooh.

Arielle: 

…think I’ve told you that, Karissa

Karissa: 

Yeah, that’s news to me!

Arielle: 

I, uh, have to get knee surgery and I really want to build up some strength in my legs…

Karissa: 

Yeah

Arielle: 

…before I get into that because the recovery period is a few months long and once I’m, I’m done recovering, I wanna bounce back faster and better and easier than if I didn’t do any weight training.

You know what I mean, so… 

Karissa: 

Yeah

Arielle: 

…I’ll be paying more attention to protein as I train, and I’ll definitely be referencing this article.

Karissa: 

Yeah exactly.

Arielle: 

All right, and the last solution that we have this week is titled “How shark tracking data shaped Papua New Guinea’s ocean sanctuary.” Papau- New Guinea just announced the largest no fishing zone in Melanesia, nearly the size of the United Kingdom.

It’s a very strict no-take zone, no fishing, no extraction of any kind, and it sits within the Coral Triangle.

That’s the global epicenter of marine biodiversity. Papua New Guinea has over 700 reef fish species and 300 hard coral species in its waters.

What I really liked about this article is that it has counterintuitive economics. So the zone covers 6.7% of Papua New Guinea’s industrial fishing and 10% of its tuna fishing, yet scientists predict that it will actually boost the surrounding fishery Through spillover, that’s when a protected area fills with so much life that fish overflow into adjacent fishing grounds. Research across Pacific and Indian Ocean MPAs shows tuna catch rates increase 12 to 18% near MPA boundaries. 

Karissa: 

Yeah I just think this is very fascinating research and it it sounds like very counterintuitive of course.

Arielle: 

Um, yeah, when I said MPAs earlier, by the way, I meant marine protected areas.

Karissa: 

Yeah

Arielle: 

And, I think to your point, Karissa, there, there’s this idea that conservation is always going to go against economic interests.

Karissa: 

Right. 

Arielle: 

You can’t…- you can’t farm here. You can’t deforest here for your, whatever products you’re making.

You can’t mine,” and that means people are going to be losing money. But this is an example of acting in nature’s interests and that actually ending up giving us more economic opportunities because then there will be more fish, more abundance for all the fishermen around. I just think that this is the type of story that we need to be talking about more often so that we can stop pitting human interests against nature’s interests.

It’s actually all in our best interest to take care of the Earth’s biodiversity.

Karissa: 

Exactly.

Arielle: 

All right, well, that brings us to the end of our solutions this week. A little bit of a shorter episode just ’cause there’s only eight instead of 10, but don’t worry, next week we’re going to be back with the full 10 solutions in the roundup.

Karissa: 

And in the meantime we’ll leave you with a positive quote that we featured this week on The Optimist Daily’s newsletter and it says, “We are like islands in the sea separate on the surface but connected on the deep.” And that is from William James. 

Arielle: 

Well, with that, we wish you a wonderful, restful weekend, and Karissa and I will be back next week with more solutions.

Karissa: 

Yeah. Bye everyone!

Arielle: 

Bye!