Hello!
Greetings from my home-away-from-home, the Indianapolis International Airport. I love this airport. I love its chapel; I love its restaurants; I even love its bookstore, even though they don't stock any of my books. Most of all, though, I like the people-watching at airports, seeing how people part and reunite and lug their belongings around and all that stuff.
Airports for me are like grocery stores and movie theaters, sites of Shared Being, of being in silent community with strangers. I think we need more time with each other in general, and I have less and less time in public spaces of late, so I'm trying to be grateful for the airport even as I am not particularly excited about taking my forty-first flight of the year so far. I hope you're getting outside in your neck of the woods and enjoying the strange communality of being in the same place as kind strangers.
John
You can always email us at [email protected]
This Week in Stuff
The app Roost Social lets you send digital messages by pigeon. (Instagram)
An audience member saved a La La Land concert by volunteering to play the piano after the pianist became sick. (TikTok)
A record-breaking Ryan gathering is set to take place at the Mall of America. No Bryans allowed! (mallofamerica.com)
The Dear Aliens writing contest, a competition to find the best document to send to aliens, has announced the winners! (dearaliens.net)
The first episode of Hank’s new podcast, Humans, is live! His first guest is one of the first humans he ever met. (humanswithhank.com)
Please send us stuff you think we should feature to [email protected]
Lung cancer deaths trace the rise and fall of smoking
Hannah Ritchie
Lung cancer kills more than two million people every year, making it the most fatal cancer globally.
While a number of factors increase the risk, the 20th century brought one like no other: smoking.
There is now plenty of epidemiological evidence linking smoking to lung cancer, but we can also see it in the patterns of death over decades. The chart shows death rates from lung, trachea, and bronchus cancers among men in a selection of high-income countries. Each shows a very clear rise and fall over the late 20th century.
This pattern mirrors smoking rates, with a lag. The timing and height of each peak depend on when and how strongly smoking took hold: early in the United Kingdom, later in Japan.
You also see this rise and fall among women, shifted later, since they took up smoking after men did.
Today, most smokers live in low- and middle-income countries, who are at different stages of this curve. Helping people quit or preventing them from starting in the first place would save many lives for decades to come.
Our World in Data is a UK-based non-profit organization that publishes research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems. You can find more of their data insights here. Want to receive even more Data Insights like this from Our World in Data directly in your inbox every few days? Sign up for their newsletter!
This Week at Complexly
QTCinderella joined Hank on Ask Hank Anything to ask him why billionaires don't give away their money, why I need antioxidants if I also need oxygen, and what the purpose of marriage is.
The Brahminy blind snake, Indotyphlops braminus, is a tiny, non-venomous snake that both looks and acts like a worm. And every single one of these snakes is female and a clone - and maybe also a hybrid.
Some Games to Play!
Spellcheck (by Answer in Progress)
This Gubbins postcard was made by Abby. Send yours to [email protected]
If you post your results on social media, we’d love it if you post a link for folks to subscribe to “We’re Here” (https://werehere.beehiiv.com/subscribe)
Vlogbrothers Creator Sponsorships
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Applications will be open through June 30, 2026. Learn more and apply here!
Public Interest Media
Last week, Hank talked about public interest media, meaning media that serves the public good. Thank you to everyone who shared an example of public interest media that’s important to you!
One of my local news stations is definitely public interest media. Every Wednesday they do a micro giving campaign for one of the local non-profits where people donate $5 and it really adds up quickly. They've been doing it for 6 years now and have raised over $15 million for local charities. They also have a segment every Friday called Good News Friday where they go to an event around town and ask people what their good news is. In a world of 24-hour news and clickbait headlines having a local news station that cares so deeply about it's viewership and community is incredible.
My favorite public interest media is the NPR Up First podcast. I live in a car-centric area, so I start my drive every day listening to this podcast. I find focusing on the news too much to be daunting, so a 15-minute update on the top stories keeps me informed on my world, something I believe is very important!
Maine Public has a wonderful program of videos called Borealis. It's an
eclectic mix of programming highlighting the people, places, events, and
science of this beautiful state I'm so lucky to call my home.
My favorite public interest media is Smarter Every Day! Destin is so upbeat and enthusiastic about the most random engineering things. It’s great.
Recently I started watching the History Channel's new series: World War II with Tom Hanks! I really love to learn about history and feel like I have already learned so much even in 3 episodes. I feel grateful to have the ability to learn about things that interest me so easily. I hope everyone can be so lucky!
Huge shout out to my local public radio stations. When I moved to MN and discovered our public radio I was blown away. This last winter it was more valuable than ever in reminding me we are all in it together, truly a media created by and for the community.
My favorite public interest media that isn’t made by Complexly is the medical history podcast Sawbones by Sydnee and Justin McElroy. In addition to episode about the history of medicine, they do a lot of very important and insightful updates on the current state of medicine and spread awareness about snake oil salespeople. They also seem like compassionate and delightful human beings.
Germany has a lot of wonderful public media houses, including Kika, which produces children's content. Every evening they run an episode of Sandmännchen at 6:50 pm, a show used by many families as a bedtime ritual. Episodes end with the sandman sprinkling sand at the audience, and as a child I was convinced I could feel it hit my face and make me sleepy. For older kids there was logo at 7:50 pm, a news show presenting current affairs in a child-friendly way. I'm so grateful to have had thoughtfully curated media available so easily during my childhood, with programs that released your attention when they finished instead of trying everything to keep you tuned in.
When I was a young person with a love of maths that wasn't totally met by school, I found the wonderful world of Khan academy - free educational content, including self-directed lessons and lots of quizzes. I did a decent portion of their maths curriculum, which taught me and stretched me in wonderful ways. It was a great joy, and helped continue my love of maths.
I love the podcast What’sHerName! It’s made by two sisters, one a medieval history professor and the other a women’s studies professor, and each episode tells about a woman you probably have never heard of but absolutely should have. Have you heard of Genghis Khan’s daughters, who made it possible for him to rule vast areas? Or the Irish pirate Grace O’Malley, with a new museum about her opening in Cork this year? Or Huda Shaarawi, founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union? Countless women shaped and made history and I get to learn about them thanks to this podcast.
You made it to the end!
Have you ever had a moment of shared being with strangers that left an impact on you? Tell us about it!
Send your moment of shared being to [email protected].
