Hello!
Greetings from sunny, if chilly, Indianapolis. Yesterday, in America's twelfth-largest city, rumors began to spread in our neighborhood that a flock of wild turkeys had somehow made their way to our little nook of town. I was hesitant to believe it—we may not live downtown, but it's still the city. But then Potato started barking, and I looked up to see a huge turkey, feathers fanned, speeding through my backyard. The turkey was nearly person-sized! It gobbled! It strutted off down toward the White River before I could even get a picture, but trust me, this was some turkey.
The river is always delivering new wildlife to our neighborhood—foxes and coyotes and deer and the occasional turtle that loses its way, and that's not even to mention the birds. Every morning in May, a cacophony of birdsong fills the neighborhood, so much so that Potato is always looking around confused, trying to figure out where all this morning song is coming from. It seems to come from the trees themselves. What a gift to live in a living world. Yes, all this biodiversity is at risk on this planet, but to be outside on a crisp May morning is to remember why Earth and its residents are worth fighting for.
Thanks for being here with us. I hope there are turkeys in your neck of the woods.
John
You can always email us at [email protected]
This Week in Stuff
Zach King recreated Star Wars out of cardboard. (YouTube)
Someone traveled the world to see all 7 types of sea turtles and helped save them along the way. (goodgoodgood.co)
A We’re Here reader made a working kaleidoscope out of copper metal clay. (Instagram)
Speedbag Bard performs covers of songs by using a speed bag as drums. (YouTube)
Sir David Attenborough celebrated his 100th birthday today, May 8th! (Instagram)
Please send us stuff you think we should feature to [email protected]
Teenage pregnancy rates have fallen across the world
Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Arriagada
Teenage pregnancy rates have fallen across all regions in the last few decades.
The chart shows the number of live births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 since 2000, based on data compiled by the United Nations.
Globally, rates have fallen by over one-third. This decline has been even more dramatic in some regions. For example, rates have fallen by over three-quarters in Central and South Asia.
Birth rates have also fallen among adolescents aged 10 to 14 years old, where health concerns for pregnancy in such young girls are even greater.
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
Today’s beast flies, hangs upside down, eats fruit, and... it's a raptor! The African harrier-hawk doesn't seem to fit our ideas of what a typical bird of prey is, but... What is a bird of prey, anyway?
You might think your risk of cancer goes up as you get older, but that's not completely true. Among the very oldest people, the risk of cancer actually goes down. Scientists may finally have discovered why.
Stories From the Maternal Center of Excellence
Link to register: pih.org/mcoe-opening
Date & Time: Wednesday, May 13, 2026, 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT
The opening of the Paul E. Farmer Maternal Center of Excellence (MCOE) marks a major step forward for maternal and neonatal care in Sierra Leone, a country long challenged by high maternal mortality rates. Built through years of partnership, the MCOE aims to ensure every mother and baby receives safe, high-quality, dignified care.
Advocates Hank and John Green join Director of Nursing and Midwifery Isata Dumbuya and nurse-midwife Patricia Efe Azikiwe to share firsthand experiences from the MCOE and highlight progress already made to reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone.
Some Games to Play!
Spellcheck (by Answer in Progress)
This Gubbins postcard was made by Arly. 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)
A Sudsy, Soapy Sale
Hank celebrated his birthday on 5/5, and he asked for only one thing: to raise more money for the Maternal Center of Excellence. So we’re here to do just that! For one more day, you can get any bar of Sun Basin soap for only $5! And as always, 100% of all profit will go directly to the MCOE. Use code THANKSHANK at checkout. Shop Sun Basin Soap here.
Kitchen Sink Sandwiches
Last week, we featured a video about kitchen sink sandwiches as a way to reduce food waste and encouraged readers to make their own! Thank you to everyone who told us about their sandwich or shared their own food waste hack.
My kitchen sink sandwich is a bit on the intense side, resulting from a hunger-induced mass hysteria me and my friend suffered. We started with two frozen costco chicken bakes, which we used in lieu of bread. Next, we used a heaping few spoonfuls of mac n cheese, followed with pulled pork, bacon, and pepperoni. Then to top it all off, we added bbq sauce, ranch, and louisiana hot sauce. Eating it was an endurance sport, taking the both of us, two hangry teenagers, a solid 20 minutes to finish. Sometimes, when I’m tossing in my bed at night, I can still taste the sandwich and feel my arteries clogging in real time.
I usually give leftover chicken to my cat, but she has plenty of other treats right now. So it's time for chicken salad. I added the usual mayonnaise, mustard, and pickle relish. I've been collecting a lot of unusual herbs, so I grab some whenever I cook. My marjoram plant is starting to crowd out its neighbors, so I pulled a long stem off of that. Next was Japanese parsley, rosemary, and coriander. For the greens, I picked a few leaves from my radish and mushroom plant. I chopped up all of the garden ingredients and mixed them into the salad. Then a dash of curry powder (which is honestly probably expired, which is why I'm trying to use it up).
Finally, fresh bread from our favorite farmers market stand! Ok, maybe it doesn't look too appetizing, but it was delicious!
So my roommate pre-cooked a bunch of sausages and meat, and I am vegetarian. He then left the house for a week. I'm still vegetarian, but I figured that meat was going to waste, and I have been living off it for a few days.
I have learned:
Sausages cut up in an omelette: bad
Sausages on their own: better?
Pork: the crackly skin bit seems like the grossest possible food, but it's not!
Steak: I think the problem is me, but truly awful.
It's mostly typical ingredients, your mayo and lettuce and tomatoes, but I also added my grandpa's pickled cabbage, leftover tzatziki, crumbled fancy cheese, and Tapatio hot sauce.
It was very tasty!
I don't do a lot of kitchen sink sandwiches because in my house we do kitchen sink fried rice! You can really combine any type of leftovers with rice, an egg, and soy sauce and have an excellent kitchen sink fried rice. The one I'm most proud of is the Thanksgiving leftovers kitchen sink fried rice I made last year. Stir fry each component individually: turkey, roasted squash and brussel sprouts, and stuffing. Fry the leftover rice at the end. We didn't even have rice for this one, we had millet with leeks and potatoes as our "rice." Crack an egg into the rice, add sauces (gravy and homemade turkey stock), and then put all the ingredients back in and bring up to temp. Top with garnish and devour! The Thanksgiving version was shockingly good! And after a solid week of trying to get through a mountain of leftovers, fried rice-ifying them added a much needed fresh take!
My kitchen sink sandwich is a Strata (based on a recipe by Sohla El-Waylly). We had a party last weekend and we had a leftover baguette and some milk bread crusts (we made finger sandwiches) and some untouched caprese salad ingredients.
A strata is basically a savory bread pudding. I toasted all the bread and sautéed leftover tomatoes with some onion and basil and threw in some chicken sausage that was in the fridge. Mixed all that together, poured over beaten eggs and added all the mozzarella we had left. It turned out really good!
I made this vegan kitchen sink sandwich from leftovers on a camping trip!
Dave’s Killer Bread: Good Seed (lightly toasted over the campfire)
Smashed avocado
Bruschetta
Lettuce (from the campsite host’s garden – thanks Donald!)
Sliced red bell peppers
Roasted garlic hummus
It was freakin’ delicious.
What year has been your most memorable birthday so far, and why? Tell us about it!
Send your birthday memories to [email protected].
