Dangerous Roads, Shifts in Taste and Seinfeld Superfans: What I’m Reading This Week

The excitement is palpable.

I’m planning a vacation, my vegetable garden and some home improvement projects. (Side note: If anyone has any experience with smart roofing vents, solar exhaust fans or heating cables, please reach out.)

My social calendar is starting to fill up with dinners with friends and visits with family.

Spring is most definitely here.

For the past several days, I’ve also been buoyed by updates from the Artemis II crew. They are nothing short of an inspiration.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope the tide is rising and that you’re able to catch a wave. Until next time, stay safe, be well and be kind!

Dangerous Roads

It’s vital to ask difficult questions, even if there is no answer. Or one answer. Or any obvious answers.

In fact, I’m highly skeptical whenever there is a simple answer to a complicated question. Which is perhaps what first prompted me to read the edition of The New York Times’ “Headway” newsletter that asks the question: Why are U.S. traffic deaths increasing?

First things first.As author Alexander Nazaryan notes, driving is much safer than it was 50 years ago. That said, roads in the United States are much more dangerous than they are elsewhere. A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found between 2013 and 2022, traffic deaths increased by about 22% in the United States, while fatalities decreased by about 19%.

While there is no single reason that can explain the deadliness of roads in the U.S., there are many possible factors: bigger cars, higher speed limits, heavier cars, unrestrained drivers or passengers, smartphones, opioids, marijuana, population migration, infotainment screens, and the popularity of automatic transmission.

Nazaryan explains how related, unrelated and other changes in lifestyle in the 21st century have led to today’s state of affairs. He profiles some efforts to change the tide as well as link to many other fascinating resources.

I thoroughly appreciated the exploration of the rise in pedestrian fatalities, Emily Badger, Ben Blatt and Josh Katz took in December 2023. They found that pedestrian deaths steadily declined between 1980 and 2010, but it has been on the rise since. Regardless of geography and time of year (e.g., Daylight Saving Time or Standard Time) the majority of fatal collisions occur at night.

I also appreciated the approach Matthew Shaer took to his NYT Magazine piece in January 2024 that sought to understand just why American drivers are so deadly. Matthew deftly weaves in data, psychology and expert insights into a piece that captivated my attention.

One such example: “If I was to set out to create a situation that would make the most people act badly and angrily, I couldn’t come up with anything better than driving,” says Ryan Martin, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin and a specialist in the science of anger. “Every element that provokes an anger response is there. There’s your mood when you entered the car in a rush. There’s provocation — something that happens to you, like being cut off. And relatedly, there’s how you interpret the provocation based on your mood.”

I highly encourage these reads—and then reflecting on your own recent driving experiences.

Shifts in Taste

Mexico is producing a lot more mezcal, in part because Americans are drinking it up. Mexico went from producing 1 million liters of mezcal in 2010 to 11 million liters in 2024, according to the country’s mezcal regulatory body. About 70% of mezcal is exported, with 75% of exports going to the U.S.

Mezcal is a spirit produced from agave, with more varieties and flexibility than there is with tequila, which is made from blue Weber agave and produced in certain regions of Mexico. 

In order to meet demand, farmers have cleared forests, farmland and switched from growing multiple crops—using a traditional milpa system—to a monoculture. Growing mezcal requires a lot of water and labor; it also produces a lot of waste.

Reporting for the Associated Press, Claudia Rosel explores how a traditional drink has disrupted residents’ way of life—for better and for worse.

Rosel writes: “For generations, the environmental impacts of the spirit remained limited by its small scale and the ability of surrounding forests and soils to recover. That balance is now fragile.”

Mezcal is deeply ingrained in the culture and way of life. It is drunk at weddings and funerals. It is steeped in tradition, with its clay oven distillation passed down through generations. Now, global demand has brought income and opportunity to some of the poorest communities while also creating uncertainty about the future.

We’ve seen this same pattern as tastes and interests pique for other products, such as avocadoes and almonds. The question becomes how to chart a sustainable way forward. I encourage you to read this thoughtful article here.

Seinfeld Superfans

I’m not a superfan, but Mark Mauer’s recent piece in The Wall Street Journal caught my attention because I know a handful of people who are. My one friend works with episodes of “Seinfeld” playing in the background; another watched it with his mom, who watched reruns to fall asleep each night. I had a hoot and a half playing a “Seinfeld” trivia board game with them once.

Mauer profiled five millennials in the New York City metro area who bonded over the sitcom, and they’re dominating the area’s “Seinfeld” trivia circuit.

From recalling obscure details in the show to partaking in Festivus celebrations that have endured long after the finale, I find it utterly delightful that so many people have found comfort and camaraderie, especially in a show about the mundane.

I’ve joined Facebook groups for some of my hobbies, pastimes and collections. I’ve found so much help and support from fellow members. But there’s something so special about meeting with others in your area who share the same interests. Earlier this year, I attended a craft workshop at my local library. I had so much fun and can’t wait for the next event!

I hope you enjoy Mauer’s article here. Let this be the encouragement you need to go do something fun and bond with others who share a similar passion. If a burden shared is a burden halved, then maybe a joy shared is a joy doubled.