Community & Social Good Editor
Marcus reports on grassroots movements, community resilience, and the people rebuilding trust in local institutions.
Selma Hayek is a grandmother. The 59-year-old actress shared the big news on Instagram on August 16, 2026. The baby boy was born to her stepson François Pinault Jr. and his wife, Lara Cosima Henckel von Donnersmarck. Selma positively beamed, holding her new grandbaby, and could not wait to share the...
Caroline Grace is the founder and executive director of The Baby Kitten Rescue, a non-profit animal rescue organization based in Los Angeles, California. She has saved the lives of countless cats and kittens and documented their stories on Instagram — but two cats in particular are going viral again...
Mount Evans Home Health Care & Hospice, which serves mountain and foothill communities in Colorado, has spent 45 years fulfilling the final requests of its patients.One recent case was Dan, a man who came to his team with one specific wish in early August: To cuddle a golden retriever with “puppy br...
Going back to school can be an exciting time for students from elementary school through college, whether it's finding the perfect outfit to wear on the first day, returning to campus or filling a chalkboard with career dreams....
Soap box derbies send motorless cars down a steep incline. At one event, contestants make their cars look like cartoon characters, subway cars, food, and giant animals (among other outlandish shapes)....
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM You spend the first few years of your kid’s life repeating words back to them, hoping one will stick.
The creators of Digital Student Voice asked ‘What if these individual stories could become evidence of systemic problems?’Originally published on Global VoicesCyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia. Image via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. For nine years, Studentarija, an Instag...
Aug 15, 2026, 02:00 PM Photo Credit : Instagram/@imperfectbusymom “Mumma, what is sex?” It’s a question that can leave even the most prepared parent fumbling for words. But what if the...
August 14, 1945.World War II was over, and New York City's famed Times Square was filled with sailors and citizens rejoicing at Japan's surrender in what would become one of the first celebrations associated with V-J Day.Among them was photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, pointing his lens at the crowd,...
"Rushing,” in the sense of moving with haste, is a foreign concept to Italians. The word itself has no real place in the culture's vocabulary, and you certainly won’t find it hiding in Calabria.What you will find are communities reveling in the joy of dolce far niente, savoring the pleasure of letti...
If there’s one thing we’ve learned in the last few decades is that trolls love to hide behind a screen. They have no problem typing things they’d never have the nerve to say to someone’s face. Online bullying is no joke, and people seemingly stop at nothing just to hurt others. When you’re a celebri...
The new law limits data gathering and bars some algorithmic recommendations....
BREJÃO DOS NEGROS, Brazil — It’s hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. Here on Brazil’s Atlantic coast, where the São Francisco River meets the sea, waves ripple across the crystal-clear water. In the vast blue expanse, the green of islands and islets blends with fertile lands covered in...
Assam is battling one of its worst flood crises in decades. Millions of people have been forced from their homes. Entire villages have been cut off by rising waters. Roads have disappeared, communication networks have broken down, and reaching those who are stranded has become an enormous challenge....
In a significant milestone, the Siraya people of Taiwan have won legal recognition from the government as the island’s 17th officially designated Indigenous group. In late July, the Siraya were the first Indigenous people from Taiwan’s lowland plains, or Pingpu, to gain official status under the Pin...
It has taken more than 30 years for the Siraya to rediscover and revive their language and cultureOriginally published on Global VoicesSiraya activist Cheng-hiong Talavan led the younger generation in singing an ancient Siraya song. Screenshot from Onini315‘s YouTube channel This post is part of Glo...
Four years after Anderson Taylor began collecting specimens, he opened the Cambridge Natural History Museum in Cambridge, Illinois, offering school tours and attracting visitors from across the region...
4 magnitude earthquake rocked Cali, Quibdo, Pereira, and numerous other cities and towns in Colombia on Monday, according to the [Associated Press](https://apnews. com/live/earthquake-colombia-8-11-2026).
The ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface and is home to millions of species. Some of them are tiny, and others are among the biggest the world has ever seen. We love to swim in the ocean, but we have to remember that we are guests in someone else’s home and must play by their rules. Dur...
Bob Sheppard opened his mailbox in Long Beach, California, on August 5, 2026, just like every other day. That day, there was a single piece of mail, a postcard, that looked ordinary. But as Bob looked closer, he realized it was a true postcard from heaven. “I just started looking at it and go, ‘Oh m...