As usual, a lot is going on right now.

For many years, I have watched a British TV show called "QI" and I have always had a hard time not imagining myself sitting up there making jokes and learning things. But then, about a year ago, I was actually able to go and do it, and now the episode is out!! It's a little hard to watch if you aren't British, but there might be some tips on how to watch if you check out this Reddit post. Not that I would encourage that kind of thing...

So I thought maybe this week I would make a video about what it was like to have a dream come true. But then, a much BIGGER dream came true. The Sierra Leone Ministry of Health cut the ribbon on the Maternal Center of Excellence, a hospital that this community has been working to build for over five years. When John first hit me with the idea of focusing our attention on one specific thing for a very long time, I was skeptical. I was worried that it would, at some point, fall apart. Things like this always can. But thanks to a lot of hard work, good leadership, and a TON of support from this community, we helped raise the tens of millions of dollars needed to build this hospital. Now we’ll continue to support staffing, training, and logistics.

Some ways people supported that over the years include: Sock subscriptions, monthly donations, one-off donations, large donations from rich people we know, people buying coffee and tea, speaking gigs John has done all over the world, and Project for Awesome perks that ranged from art my mom made to a commentary of the "Cats" movie adaptation that I recorded while sick with COVID. It has been a very strange fundraising journey, but the MCOE is a real thing in the real world now.

And so those are two very big wins for me personally, and one big win for the world. At the same time, I have spent today talking with people I know in the US who help make sure folks have enough food to eat and planning a video about that because the Trump admin has chosen (unlike previous shutdowns) not to fund the SNAP program, which helps more than 10% of Americans afford food. That's a pretty big loss for the world, and the more I talk to folks involved in getting people food, the more it seems making sure people have enough food in the absence of SNAP is going to be very, very difficult.

I'll know more after more chats, but in the meantime, thank you so much for your support of mothers, children, and families in Sierra Leone. And, if you can, support your local food pantries.

'Till next week,

Hank

As this chart shows, two centuries ago, about one in three children in Sweden died before they were five years old.

Since then, the child mortality rate in Sweden has declined to 0.3%.

South Korea achieved a similar reduction much faster. This is often the case: the first countries to improve living conditions usually needed much longer than some of those countries catching up later — the latter can learn from what worked elsewhere.

By the late 20th century, the Florida panther was down to just 20 to 30 individuals. Now, there are about 200 of them… Or are there? What if preserving an animal means changing it?

There are a lot of scary science stories that go around the Internet. It's easy for a single paper to get spun up into a media frenzy, and harder for the level-headed truth to prevail. From dangerous chemicals in your spatulas to the dangers of intermittent fasting, here are a few of the biggest, scariest stories that went around lately, and why you don't need to worry about them.

Yearly Daily (by CoffeeFirst.games)

SpellCheck.xyc (by Answer in Progress)

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The Paul E. Farmer Maternal Center of Excellence (MCOE) in Kono, Sierra Leone, reached a major milestone with its ribbon-cutting on October 25! Thanks to this community’s incredible generosity and years of dedication, we are commencing a new era of care for women and babies. But this is only the start. As the MCOE prepares to welcome patients next year, we’re excited to keep working with Partners In Health to ensure the facility has the staff, stuff, space, and systems it needs to thrive for generations to come. You can donate to PIH here and watch Hank’s vlogbrothers video here.

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