Heads up for those of you aren’t in the know: we’ve morphed into BRIGHT Magazine! Catch us at brightthemag.com for more of your favorite stories about global health, development, education, and more.

Our hope? To become the “go-to” publication for a range of social issues.

We want to give a bright new face to journalism about these issues by publishing work that is approachable, creative, and when possible, solutions-oriented.

We’re slowly transitioning all of The Development Set’s archives over to BRIGHT Magazine, so you should be able to find most of them there. We also have a brand new weekly newsletter that we think is pretty special; please subscribe here for some of the freshest observations and stories from this space. You can also follow us on our new Facebook and Twitter handles.

We appreciate all of your support over the last year, and we can’t wait to bring you along this next phase of our journey!

— Sarika Bansal, Editor-in-Chief, BRIGHT Magazine

The Development Set Is Now BRIGHT Magazine was originally published in The Development Set on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Have you subscribed to our new newsletter yet? This one will be dormant by next week.

What a week of conflicting emotions. Last Friday, I arrived in India to celebrate Diwali — which, for those of you who are unaware, is the Hindu “Festival of Lights,” symbolizing the ultimate triumph of good over evil. I was driven straight to a party where my family was playing cards, sharing old stories, stuffing their faces with delicious Rajasthani food, and admiring each others’ stylish outfits. The mood was joyous and optimistic for the upcoming year.

Before leaving, I read a flurry of #metoo posts (and accompanying think pieces), powerful words about last week’s horrific attack in Mogadishu, and Lupita Nyong’o’s stunning op-ed about her experience with Harvey Weinstein early in her career. Upon landing in Delhi, my throat immediately seized up and my eyes began watering — a direct result of the city’s extreme, seemingly unchecked air pollution.

I didn’t exactly feel joyous or optimistic. I arrived with heavy questions on my mind: Why do so many people suffer silently at the harassing hands of bullies? What allows abusers to objectify their prey, play mind games with them, and ultimately discredit their stories? Why does empathy for 358 victims of terrorism not extend to dark-skinned Somalis? Why are the citizens of Delhi so unwilling to change their personal habits to favor the public good?

The mythology around Diwali reminds me of the power of love and community. The reason it’s called the Festival of Lights is because villagers collectively lit diyas, or clay lamps, to help King Rama return home after being exiled for 14 years.

What if each of us committed to holding a candle for someone who needs a little light? Even better, what if we all committed to holding space for others’ realities, and treating them with care, regardless of how different they may be from us?

One thread that ties all of the above examples together is a stunning lack of empathy. Harvey Weinstein’s victims kept silent for so long, along with millions of others who suffer from sexual abuse, in part because they didn’t think anyone would believe their stories. The politics of a terrorist attack on African soil — that too in a majority-Muslim country — meant it wasn’t surprising to see it greeted with a loud silence across social media. Instead, it demonstrated the sad truth that it is harder for many of us to have empathy for people whose skin color is different or who don’t share a gender identity. But also, maybe we’re not trying that hard.

In all of the above examples, there are a few glimmers of hope. I expected the #metoo campaign to last at most a day; the fact that I’m still seeing dozens of new stories shows that it’s really struck a chord. And alongside #metoo is a meager but meaningful #BecauseofMe hashtag, in which men admitted to being complicit in sexual harassment, including Quentin Tarantino not speaking up despite knowing what Harvey Weinstein was doing. Somalis, meanwhile, are fervently telling their own stories of victims and creating crowdfunding campaigns for survivors. And in Delhi, as toxic as the air is, this year’s ban on personal firecrackers during Diwali meant that pollution levels “improved” to “very poor.” That’s… a start.

On another note, BRIGHT Magazine relaunches next week! We can’t wait to begin publishing new stories again. In the meantime, here’s some of what we’re reading this week. Please tell us what you’re reading, too, on our Facebook or Twitter threads. And while you’re at it, subscribe to our new newsletter. This one will be dormant by next week.

SUBSCRIBE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

— Sarika Bansal, Editor-in-Chief, BRIGHT Magazine

P.S. Congratulations to Nikole Hannah-Jones, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, on getting the MacArthur Genius grant for her reporting on school segregation! Check out her work here.

Our reads…

Dear 14-Year-Old Boy, You Are Not Entitled to Sex

By Hanif Abdurraqib for Bright

Sharing our experiences with sexual harassment and assault with #metoo is as strong a call as any for us to get men and boys on the same page. If you could write a letter to a young man in your life, or a younger version of yourself, what would it say?

In Kosovo, legal recognition of war-time sexual violence survivors after 18 years

From UN Women

More than two decades after the armed conflict and the sexual violence that occurred in Kosovo, soon women sexual assault survivors may finally get legal recognition and reparations.

Dear Men: It’s You, Too

By Roxane Gay for The New York Times

As Hunger and Bad Feminist author Roxane Gay puts it, “…we’re tired of carrying it. We’ve done enough. It’s time for men to step up.”

Where Is the Empathy for Somalia?

By Alexis Okeowo for The New Yorker

(might link above with any mention of the attack in Mogadishu)

An Aid Worker Was Raped In South Sudan And The U.N. Did Almost Nothing About It

By Jina Moore for Buzzfeed News

This investigative story looks into the story of a Canadian aid worker who went to South Sudan to help women and girls cope with the violence but experiences sexual violence herself. Global women’s rights correspondent Jina Moore chronicles her fight for justice.

The Secret Lives of Male Sex Abuse Survivors

By Joanna Schroeder for The Development Set

One in six boys in the United States has experienced sexual abuse before turning 18. With few IRL recovery options, more of them are going online for support.

‘Said to Lady Journos’ Tumblr is ‘depressingly relatable,’ female journalists say

By Mallary Jean Tenore for Poynter

Female journalists hear it all, and some of it is unconscionable.

If #MeToo Makes You Angry, You Can Fight Back Like This

By Joseph D. Lyons for Bustle

Does #metoo have you wondering what to do next? Here are some ways to take action.

We could all use a bright new year. was originally published in The Development Set on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our new newsletter! (This one will be dormant soon.)

This week, instead of celebrating a genocidal leader, we’re shining the light on some other folks. On Wednesday, International Day of the Girl (#DayOfTheGirl) was celebrated around the world — even Beyonce made a video to commemorate the event — and coincided with #AdaLovelaceDay, the woman who wrote instructions for the first computer program in the mid-1800s. And Columbus Day again reminded us of the plight of indigenous people around the world.

To honor indigenous people, we’ve curated stories from Nepal, Canada, Japan, Ecuador, and the U.S., highlighting the successes ethnic minorities, indigenous tribes, and linguistic groups are having in righting past wrongs and shaping their futures. (While of course not ignoring the ethic cleansing of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims, and other disappearing indigenous groups.)

In the U.S., indigenous groups are fighting to change the name and focus of Columbus Day, a national holiday that celebrates the explorer — and cruel rapist and murderer — Christopher Columbus, instead choosing to focus on the original inhabitants of the continent with Indigenous Peoples Day. So far, 52 cities have dropped Columbus Day from their observed holiday list including Minneapolis, Austin, and (most recently) Los Angeles. Activists continue to have their sights set on this change in New York City.

Below you’ll see a few of our favorite stories about indigenous populations. Before that, a quick reminder that we’re relaunching The Development Set as BRIGHT Magazine on October 31. If there’s anything you’d like to see in the relaunched publication — or see us leave behind — please drop us a line at hello@honeyguidemedia.org! We exist for you, and want to make sure you love our new magazine as much as we do.

SUBSCRIBE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

— Sarika Bansal, Editor-in-Chief, BRIGHT Magazine

Our reads…

“It’s Like a Set Up to Get Rid of Indians”

By Laura Rena Murray for The Development Set

Columbus Day was observed and protested around the world this week, and our feature story and beautiful images offers a glimpse into the life of Heart Warrior Chosa, an ardent champion of the rights of natives, and her fight to keep her granddaughters.

Native Students Do Better When Tribes Run Schools

By Ahniwake Rose for Bright

Charter schools with culture-based education for Native students believe they’re not only lowering dropout rates, but turning education — a longtime weapon against Native people — into a tool.

Photos: After years of forced assimilation, Canada’s indigenous people begin to heal

By Daniella Zalcman for Quartz

Renowned documentary photographer Daniella Zalcman’s Pulitzer Center-funded series Signs of your Identity captures the revitalization of First Nations culture in Western Canada

Ecuador’s Push to Let Women Stand During Childbirth

By Anna-Catherine Brigida for The Development Set

Doctors are turning to indigenous midwives to learn culturally accepted forms of healthcare, like “vertical birthing.” And it’s helping to reduce maternal deaths.

5 Young Native Americans On What Indigenous Peoples Day Means To Them

By Sarah Ruiz-Grossman for Huffington Post

After years of advocacy, over 50 cities in the US have changed the name and focus of the controversial Columbus Day holiday to Indigenous Peoples Day. Last August, Los Angeles changed and joined the club and many Native Americans couldn’t be happier but still hope for a national change.

Indigenous Nepali Language With Only Two Fluent Speakers Sees Pages of Hope in Newly Launched Dictionary

By Sanjib Chaudhary for Global Voices

The Kusunda language is ‘critically endangered.’ It has no script or written records and very few speakers. But with help from a handful of researchers, the Kusunda people might have a way to save this unique Nepali language.

From Prejudice to Pride

By Jude Isabella for Hakai Magazine

For over a century, the Japanese government, along with anthropologists and academics, tried to shroud the existence of the Ainu, an indigenous tribe, from Japan’s history. And now, pens writer and editor-in-chief of Hakai Magazine Jude Isabella, the Japanese seem to be all in.

It Takes A Village to Not Marry A Girl

By Didem Tali for The Development Set

Of course, we had to recognize #DayOfTheGirl with a look at how some communities in Malawi are fighting child marriage their own terms — with music, dance, and a few tears.

Not Your Grandma’s Columbus Day was originally published in The Development Set on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

(We’re excited to announce that The Development Set, along with our sister publication Bright, will relaunch at the end of October as BRIGHT Magazine, a digital publication that will explore education, health, and social change in the style that brought you to us in the first place. This newsletter will soon go dormant; please subscribe to our fresh new one!)

We devote this week’s letter to Mental Illness Awareness Week. We at BRIGHT believe stories can do more than inform — they can eliminate taboos, shift perspectives, and start conversations. Nowhere is this more true than with mental health.

We hope our curated stories below will provide some comfort to you and/or a loved one, and perhaps teach you something you didn’t know about mental illness. One thing I’ve learned since editing this magazine is this: no matter how well you may know someone, you never know their internal struggles. Starting the conversation — or even signaling that you would be opening to talking about such difficult topics — can do more good than you could imagine. Since I’ve begun sharing our stories about postpartum depression, PTSD, and child abuse, dozens of people have privately opened up to me, telling me how glad they are to see their personal stories reflected somewhere.

Be part of the conversation. If any of these stories moves you, chances are someone in your network could use it, too. Add the hashtag #MIAW to raise awareness of mental illness.

(And if there’s anything you’d like to see in the relaunched publication — or see us leave behind — please drop us a line at hello@honeyguidemedia.org! We exist for you, and want to make sure you love our new magazine as much as we do.)

SUBSCRIBE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

— Sarika Bansal, Editor-in-Chief, BRIGHT Magazine

Our top mental health reads this week:

What If Schools Hired Dogs As Therapists?

By Antonia Malchik for Bright

What happens when you put a dog in an elementary school? Far from chaos, some of these places are finding that facility dogs provide emotional or behavioral relief to their students experiencing trauma.

New Moms Can Get Depressed. Why Don’t Doctors Take Them Seriously?

By Sushmita Pathak for The Development Set

1 in 7 mothers experiences a serious mood disorder in the postpartum period, according to the American Psychological Association. This ranges from ‘baby blues’ to severe postpartum psychosis. While more physicians and facilities are incorporating mental health into their practice and beginning the conversation with mothers, moms are for many reasons still slipping through the cracks.

How Power Outages Can Affect Mental Health

By Alexandra Sifferlin and Karl Vick for TIME

In the two weeks since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, 95% of the island’s electrical grid remains down. This comes with serious safety and physical health implications, particularly for hospitals and nursing homes. What’s the mental toll of this extended blackout?

The Secret Lives of Male Sex Abuse Survivors

By joanna schroeder for The Development Set

One in six boys in the United States has experienced sexual abuse before turning 18. With few IRL recovery options, more of them are going online for support.

Why We Can’t Diagnose Trump

By The Brian Lehrer Show for WNYC

“‘It’s a terrible mistake to confuse mental illness with bad behavior. It’s unfair to the mentally ill to be lumped with Trump.” That comes from Dr. Allen Frances, former chairman of the DSM-IV Task Force and author of Twilight of American Sanity: A Psychiatrist Analyzes the Age of Trump, who says that we should refrain from diagnosing him as mentally ill.

How are you feeling? No, really. Let’s talk mental health. was originally published in The Development Set on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We’re excited to announce that The Development Set, along with our sister publication Bright, will relaunch in just a few weeks as BRIGHT Magazine, a digital publication that will explore education, global health, international development, and social impact in the style that brought you to us in the first place.

Since we dipped out in July, we at Honeyguide Media (the nonprofit that publishes BRIGHT) have been hard at work sharpening our reason for being. We’re still out here reinventing storytelling about social issues — we’re just mutating the “how” a bit. We’re combining our publications into a fresh new BRIGHT Magazine; we’ve added a new global headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya; we’ve hired two wonderful new people, Abigail Higgins as our BRIGHT editor and Helina Selemon as our engagement editor; we’ve been going to festivals, meeting new artists and writers, and connecting with curious socially-minded humans who want to see a step change in how “marginalized populations” are covered in the media; and we’ve been using reams of Post-it notes to conceptualize just how bright BRIGHT can be.

The result? You’ll see at the end of October. Our first theme is “calamity,” and we hope to cover it in the same intimate, creative, solutions-oriented style that you’ve come to know and love. Please subscribe to our new newsletter to continue to be an integral part of our BRIGHT family. [We will be discontinuing this newsletter soon.]

(And if there’s anything you’d like to see in the relaunched publication — or see us leave behind — please drop us a line at hello@honeyguidemedia.org! We exist for you, and want to make sure you love our new magazine as much as we do.)

In the meantime, here are a few great pieces from our archives to check out if you haven’t already:

In Deep Red America, The Rise of the Abortion Doula

By Debbie Weingarten in The Development Set

“Just as a laboring patient needs emotional and physical support in the delivery process, women accessing abortion care also need the same support.”

The Classrooms Hidden in Mumbai’s Seams

By Ankita Rao in Bright

“Community members, activists, and educators have carved out classrooms between the hidden folds and seams of the city. They offer safe and regular learning spaces to students who can easily fall throughout the gaps. Some you have to literally climb into to access, while others are built on wheels. For thousands of students across Mumbai, these classrooms have become tiny oases, a place to call their own for a few hours every day.”

Monopolies Are Killing America

By Ross Baird and Ben Wrobel in The Development Set

“While, at first glance, America has become more free for women, people of color, and others who weren’t landed gentry in 1776, I’d argue that thanks to monopolies, American freedom is quickly in decline — and because of the unchecked power of big enterprise, we’re on the road to serfdom. It’s never been better to be a big company in America, but it has rarely been a worse time to be an entrepreneur.”

How Seattle Got Its (Arts) Groove Back

By Robyn Jordan in Bright

A Group Therapy Session for Refugees: A Screenplay

By Stav Dimitropoulos in The Development Set

Syrians in Greece fight the lonely trauma of war by talking in a group with Roula Michati, a psychiatrist who herself is a refugee.

Kids With a 3.1 GPA: It’s an Honor to Write a College Recommendation Letter For You

By Anonymous in Bright

“You might want to see some of the ways I describe students like you to college admissions officers: fiercely creative, independent, the opposite of “doing school,” original, citizen of his community, would hire her in a minute, passionate learner.”

We’ll be live in a few short weeks. Join us as it all comes together!

Signing off with love, purpose, and light.

— Sarika Bansal, Founder, Honeyguide Media; Editor-in-Chief, BRIGHT

Subscribe | Twitter | Facebook

Look Out, World! We’re Reemerging! was originally published in The Development Set on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dear readers,

I have some news for all of you: I’m relocating to Nairobi, Kenya next month! I’m really excited about this new step in my life, both personally and professionally. I’m particularly looking forward to meeting journalists and artists in Africa who I don’t have access to in NYC, and discovering how being based in the “global south” can amplify our mission to reinvent storytelling about social issues.

For all of you, there are three immediate implications. First, we will be going on a short hiatus as I move, until at least mid-September. Second, when we re-launch, we will be combining The Development Set with our sister publication Bright — and hopefully building something even more creative and provocative. Third, I’m looking to hire a small team in Nairobi! If you’re based there and are interested in discussing opportunities with Honeyguide Media, please email me at sarika@honeyguidemedia.org (with the subject line “Honeyguide recruitment”).

I’m so proud of what we’ve created together over the last year, and what the next phase will bring.

With respect and admiration,

Sarika Bansal

Until then, here are the stories we’ve put out this past week. Enjoy!

Surviving Life Under the Khmer Rouge

By Steve Teare

Stunning comic detailing one man’s recollection of his time in a forced labor camp in 1970s Cambodia —including running into a tiger in the jungle — and how he’s gotten over his trauma since escaping.

Should Doctors Go On Strike?

By Tim Matsui

Healthcare providers in Alaska, Haiti, and Kenya have more in common than you think: they’re all exhausted from watching people die from easily treated conditions, and taking matters into their own hands.

When A Big Fat Indian Wedding Costs Too Much, “Wedding Kits” Help

By Nupur Roopa

Could India’s wealthy help offset the financial burden of weddings in poorer parts of the country?

Don’t Cut Women’s Programs. Embed Them!

By Jemimah Njuki

“There is a structural reason why it’s so easy to cut funding to women-focused programs. It would be a more difficult task if it were embedded in the government budgeting process and not treated as separate or “special” programming.”

Fellow Kenyans: Our Obsession with Tribalism Is Destroying Us

By Frankline Omondi

“While politicians continue to beat the tribalism drums, Kenyans dance to the tunes. Political campaigns are turned into grounds for politicians to divide and conquer.

“Tribalism has eaten up the fabric of Kenyan social life. It controls everything, from careers, to choosing a spouse, to picking a leader. Even the most educated and powerful participate strongly in promoting ethnicity and divisions. Kenyans are misled into viewing each other as “rival” tribes and “enemies” and to view each other with suspicion and distrust.”

Thank you all for your support in making The Development Set is what it is today! Can’t wait to continue what we’ve started — on the other side of the planet.

A new adventure for The Development Set was originally published in The Development Set on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This week, The Development Set hears from a female warlord turned female activist in Afghanistan, profiles a couple in Nigeria fighting against female genital mutilation, and asks an uncomfortable question. That and more development weekend reading below!

Also, an important announcement: we will be going on a short hiatus starting August 1, as I will be picking up and moving to Nairobi, Kenya! We will be relaunching this fall, and there will be some exciting new announcements then. Thank you all for the wonderful pitches you’ve been sending me over the last few weeks — I’m trying to work my way through them (with apologies if I haven’t gotten back to you yet), and will let you all know when there’s a fresh call out.

Here are some of our favorite reads from the week:

The Nigerian Couple Committed to Ending Female Genital Mutilation

By Linus Unah in The Development Set

“The Nigerian husband-and-wife team have met people in marketplaces, schools, and on the streets to speak out against the practice — and in the process, have discovered that the dangers of working in remote villages are very real. In some villages, people have attacked them, claiming that their ideas were threatening their culture.

“But the couple say they never felt frustrated because ‘such isolated incidents are nothing short of triggers to work harder.’”

Will Africa’s Great Green Wall discourage migration to Europe?

By Jill Filipovic in The Guardian

“By 2020, 60 million people from sub-Saharan Africa are expected to migrate because of desertification. The Great Green Wall is a $8bn project restoring degraded land. But will it encourage people to stay or earn the money to go?”

Do Refugees Really Need Our Old Crap?

By Olivia Campbell in The Development Set

“The urge to help is especially acute when disasters strike, but this is actually the worst time to send household items. Some notable ill-conceived donation campaigns include weight-loss drinks and chandeliers sent to Rwanda, prom gowns sent to Honduras, and pork labeled as beef sent to Afghanistan.”

In Afghanistan, a Female Warlord Fights for Education and Women’s Rights

By Stav Dimitropoulos in The Development Set

“In the house of my father where his sword and old English carbine lie, I invite girls to enter into the precious world of knowledge. My only demand is that they follow Islam the right way, and use the knowledge I give them to bring peace to this country later.”

Behind closed doors: Noida society row shows the ugly truth of how India’s elite view their ‘help’

By Kalpana Sharma in Scroll.in

Fiery opinion piece on domestic help in India. “The very concept that these women and men who sweep, swab, clean, cook, serve and sustain us are our “help” is vulgar. It is we, the employers of these invisible people, who occasionally help them, not the other way around.”

Do refugees really need our old crap? was originally published in The Development Set on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Need Food Stamps? Ask A Librarian.

By Kristi Eaton in The Development Set

“In the U.S., public libraries are unique because they are one of the few spaces where no one is charged and there are resources to help.”

Why I Love (And Question) Independence Day

By George Mwinnyaa in NPR

A Ghanaian reflects on the differences between Independence Day in the U.S. and his home country.

Why Women With a History of Abuse Are Getting Their Ovaries Removed

By Jordan Rosenfeld in The Development Set

A new study shows that women with a history of abuse are 62 percent more likely to undergo this unnecessary surgery. Why?

After Trump’s immigration crackdown, a desert clinic tries to save lives without breaking the law

By Eric Boodman in Stat News

“The number of people apprehended or turned away at the southwestern border has indeed dropped dramatically in the past few months, according to Customs and Border Protection. But even in places where there is already a border wall, some migrants are still crossing — and the measures that were supposed to keep them out of the U.S. are, at least for some, creating medical emergencies within the U.S. instead.”

Four ways Trump budget cuts put America — and the world — at risk

By International Rescue Committee

In short, it may double the famine crisis, halve educational and gender programs, increase the risk of pandemics, and abandon the needs of refugees around the world.

Development reads this week was originally published in The Development Set on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Monopolies Are Killing America

By Ross Baird and Ben Wrobel in The Development Set

Strong words.

“While, at first glance, America has become more free for women, people of color, and others who weren’t landed gentry in 1776, I’d argue that thanks to monopolies, American freedom is quickly in decline — and because of the unchecked power of big enterprise, we’re on the road to serfdom.

“It’s never been better to be a big company in America, but it has rarely been a worse time to be an entrepreneur.”

India and the Visible Hand of the Market

By Kaushik Basu in The New York Times

Like many Indians abroad, I had an instinctive feeling that demonetization was a bad move. I didn’t know until reading this, however, that 86% of the value of all currency was taken out of circulation — or the limited effect it had on reducing corruption.

New Moms Can Get Depressed. Why Don’t Doctors Take Them Seriously?

By Sushmita Pathak in The Development Set

Hundreds of thousands of American women have experienced post-partum depression. There’s no reason why they should fall through the cracks.

(Side note: Thank you to all of the brave people who responded to Pathak’s feature story with your own tales. You are not alone.)

The Race to Solar-Power Africa

By Bill McKibben in The New Yorker

“A decade ago, most experts would have predicted that foreign aid, rather than venture capital, would play a central role in bringing power to sub-Saharan Africa.”

Stopping Pandemics Before They Start

By Tina Rosenberg in The New York Times

This is one of the few global health stories I read that could be turned into an action movie. Who’s on board?

Development reads this week was originally published in The Development Set on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Is ecotourism worth the hype — especially in a country that recently experienced civil war? Is giving birth at home all it’s cracked up to be? How about the latest malaria vaccine?

These are a few of the questions we explored this week in The Development Set. Happy reading!

Nicaragua’s Ecotourism Industry Hopes to Do Good. Is It?

By Elizabeth Yuko in The Development Set

After an 11-year-long civil war, this economically disadvantaged Central American country is rebuilding its tourism industry by combining accommodation and social impact work. But ecotourism can mean many things, some good — and others, not so much.

Are Children of Single Parents Less Satisfied with Life?

By Tom Jacobs in Pacific Standard

Fascinating, depressing research. “Among their findings: Individuals brought up by a single mother for their entire childhood earned an average of 30 percent less than those raised in two-parent families. They were more likely to be unemployed, less likely to be in a romantic relationship, and had fewer friends.”

Dutch Moms Are Choosing Hospitals Over Home Births — And Maybe That’s A Good Thing

By Olga Mecking in The Development Set

“In natural birth circles in the U.S. and around the world, the Netherlands is often seen as a mythical place where all women give birth at home under the care of midwives.” But, as Mecking found during her own birth experience, that’s not exactly true.

Stop Celebrating the Malaria Vaccine That Hasn’t Proven Itself

By Jennifer Foth in The Development Set

“Is spending US$49.2 million to “learn” and lay the groundwork for a vaccine with only ~40% efficacy really the best use of donor dollars?”

World Refugee Week: Best Reads

By Charlotte Alfred in Refugees Deeply

In a bit of a meta-moment for our newsletter, here’s a fantastic roundup of refugee coverage from this week!

Development reads this week was originally published in The Development Set on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.