In a historic win for cetaceans and animal-rights activists, Canada is banning the practice of keeping whales, dolphins, and porpoises in captivity.
Remember the scene in Free Willy when the Orca who had been living in an amusement park finally leapt into the wide open ocean and the whole audience cheered? Well, that iconic scene is taking on new significance in Canada this week, as the nation’s House of Commons just passed a bill making it illegal to keep dolphins, whales, and porpoises in captivity for breeding or entertainment purposes.
Bill S-203, or The Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act (known colloquially as the “Free Willy Act”) means anyone found capturing the animals, holding them captive, or procuring their embryos or sperm, can be fined up to $200,000.
“The passage of Bill S-203 is a watershed moment in the protection of marine animals and a victory for all Canadians,” Rebecca Aldworth, executive director of the Humane Society International/Canada, said in a statement. “Whales and dolphins don’t belong in tanks, and the inherent suffering these highly social and intelligent animals endure in intensive confinement can no longer be tolerated. We congratulate the sponsors of this bill and the Canadian government for showing strong leadership in responding to public will and sound science on this critical issue.”
INCREDIBLE! Keeping whales and dolphins in captivity is going to be banned in Canada! Legislation that bans keeping whales, dolphins, and porpoises in captivity for entertainment has just passed through Canadian Parliament. This is truly an historic victory! ?? #cdnpoli#S203pic.twitter.com/fZUD6gkRyg— Humane World for Animals Canada (@humaneworldcan) June 10, 2019
The bill makes exceptions for animals that are being rescued and rehabilitated, and for limited scientific research.
Not everyone who holds cetaceans captive are exploiting them for money or entertainment. There are legitimate research and rehabilitation reasons to temporarily keep an animal in captivity.
“A person may move a live cetacean from its immediate vicinity when the cetacean is injured or in distress and is in need of assistance,” the bill states. Researchers must obtain a license from the government in order to hold a cetacean for research purposes.
The bill allows the two facilities in Canada that currently house cetaceans—Vancouver Aquarium and Marineland in Niagara Falls—to keep the animals they have as long as they do not breed them. The Vancouver Aquarium has a dolphin named Helen, and Marineland houses an Orca named Kiska and around 50 beluga whales.
According to Mongabay News, the bill was supported by animal welfare organizations like the Humane Society International/Canada, Animal Justice, Humane Canada, the Jane Goodall Institute, and Ontario Captive Animal Watch. It was also supported by cetacean experts like Lori Marino and Naomi Rose of the Whale Sanctuary Project, and Phil Demers, the former head trainer at Marineland.
It was a hard-won victory, taking four years for the bill to pass through the Canadian legislature.
The bill was first introduced to the Senate in 2015. It will now return to the Senate for “royal assent,” or final approval before it officially becomes law.
Renowned marine scientist Hal Whitehead said, “The living conditions for captive marine mammals cannot compare to their natural ocean environments in size, nor in quality. We thank the federal government and all those involved in the passage of Bill S-203, so that our laws can finally align with the Canadian peoples’ values and end this cruel practice.”
“This is a major victory for cetaceans,” Lori Marino of the Whale Sanctuary Project said in a statement. “They are among the most cognitively complex of all animals. Confining them to life in a concrete tank is truly unbearable for them.”
Wilfred Moore, the senator who sponsored the bill, said, “We have a moral obligation to phase out the capture and retention of animals for profit and entertainment. Canadians are calling upon us to do better — and we have listened.”
Thank you, Canada, for passing this bill protecting these magnificent creatures!
From Pakistan to Tanzania, the most effective education solutions are community-led. Here’s how local leaders, in partnership with Malala Fund and supported by Pura, are mobilizing entire communities.
When asked to describe what Tanzania smells like, Grace Isekore closes her eyes and breathes in deep. For a moment, she’s somewhere else entirely. Tanzania is a rich tapestry of sights and scents, from the smell of sea mist that permeates the coastline to the earthy cardamom and cloves she cooks with in her kitchen. But when Grace emerges from her reverie, her answer is unexpected.
“Tanzania smells like peace,” she says, her eyes still closed. “I see a beautiful country where we are free to move, free to speak. And there is peace within the community.”
For Grace, that sense of peace isn’t just something she smells; it’s something she works toward every day. As a project coordinator with Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC), a women-led organization that empowers pastoralist communities in northern Tanzania, she has seen firsthand how girls flourish when they have the opportunity to attend school. Like scent, education not only connects girls to their own culture, but also helps broaden their horizons, realizing new possibilities for themselves and others. That transformation reshapes entire communities and ripples outward, with the potential to change countries and transform the world for the better.
Different scents, different approaches, and communities driving change
Spices in Tanzania. Captured by James Roh for Pura
For Grace and others around the world, education is freedom, as well as a pathway to a stronger community. Rooted in that shared belief, Pura, a home fragrance company, was inspired to build on their four-year partnership with Malala Fund to create something truly unique: a fragrance collection that connects people through scent to communities in Tanzania, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Brazil, where barriers to girls’ education are among the highest.
Using ingredients from each region, the new Pura x Malala Fund Collection uses scent to transport people to these regions directly. “Future in Bloom,” for example, invokes Pakistan’s lush valleys through notes of jasmine, cedarwood, and mango; while Tanzania’s fragrance, “Heart on Fire,” evokes the spirit and joyfulness of the girls who live there through cardamom, lemon, and green tea.
The new Collection honors the work Malala Fund does every day, partnering with locally-led organizations in these four countries to ensure every girl can access and complete 12 years of education. Each scent celebrates the joy, tenacity, and courage of the women and girls driving change on the ground, while also augmenting Pura’s annual grant to Malala Fund by donating eight percent of net revenue from the Pura x Malala Fund Collection to Malala Fund directly.
Just as each country’s scent is unique, so too are their needs related to education. But with support from Malala Fund and Pura, local leaders are coming up with creative ways to mobilize entire communities (parents, teachers, elders, and the students themselves, in their pursuit of solutions, understanding that educating girls helps everyone thrive. Here’s how their efforts are creating real, durable impact in Tanzania and Pakistan, and creating a ripple effect that changes the world for the better.
Parent-teacher associations help Maasai girls and their communities in Tanzania problem-solve
A girl’s school in Tanzania. Captured by James Roh for Pura
Northern Tanzania, Grace’s home, is home to pastoralist communities like the Maasai, a nomadic people who have moved with the seasons to nurture the land and care for their livestock for centuries. The nomadic nature of this lifestyle creates significant and unique barriers to girls’ education. Longstanding gender roles have enabled Maasai to survive in the harsh environment and have placed great value on both women and men. Over time, as nomadic life has been threatened by the privatization of land and stationary education models have been implemented, the reality of pastoralist livelihood has shifted and introduced new complexities. Now, the sheer distance to schools is both a practical challenge and one that often comes with danger from the landscape, predators, and potential exposure to assault along the journey. Girls shoulder the responsibility of household chores and there is often cultural pressure around early marriage – both leading to boys’ education being prioritized over girls’.
“There are very, very good [pastoralist] cultural practices, which are passed from generation to generation,” says Janet Kimori, an English teacher at Lekule Girls Secondary School in Longido, Tanzania. But when cultural practices act as educational barriers, “you have to sit down and look for where you are going to assist. As a school, as an individual, the school administration—all of us will chip in and know how we are going to deal with this problem.”
PWC works to ensure girls are able to exercise their right to an education while also preserving pastoralist culture. One successful approach, the organization found, has been the formation of Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), created with help from Malala Fund. In PTA meetings, students, parents, teachers, elders, and government officials meet, discuss educational barriers, and come up with community-led solutions that preserve and honor their culture while advancing educational outcomes.
PTA meeting in Tanzania. Captured by James Roh for Pura
One recent PTA meeting highlights how these community-led solutions are often the most effective. At Lekule Girls Secondary School, the lack of fresh water forces girls to walk long distances to collect water for the school’s kitchen during the school day, and these long journeys not only disrupt class time but can leave girls vulnerable to sexual assault in isolated areas. Through facilitated discussion, PTA members landed on a solution: installing a borehole to pipe in fresh water to the school. Reliable access to water creates a better learning environment for the girls, but it also benefits the community at large, as local governments are then more likely to invest in health clinics and other community resources nearby.
With a solution in place, the PTA was then able to discuss ideas and map out a course of action. The women would raise money for the cost of the borehole, while the men would recruit workers to dig the hole and lay the pipe. Together, they would ask government officials to match their investment.
The benefits of PTA meetings within the pastoralist communities are undeniable. “The girls are talking and addressing issues in a confident way, and parents feel they are part of the resource team to solve challenges happening at school,” Grace says. One unexpected benefit: The larger cultural impact these PTA meetings have created. Thanks to the success of PTAs within pastoralist communities, the models are now being endorsed on a national level, and schools across Tanzania are starting to use them to solve problems in their own communities. When a community creates opportunities for girls to learn, everyone benefits.
Safe spaces in rural Pakistan help students and their parents connect, then drive change
Safe space for girls meeting in Pakistan. Captured by Insiya Syed.
A continent away in Pakistan, the country’s northernmost region of Gilgit-Baltistan seems like a land untouched by time. The region’s looming mountains, snow-capped peaks, lush valleys and crystalline lakes draw nature lovers and landscape photographers from around the world, but living among this kind of breathtaking scenery has its drawbacks. Schools in the region are few and far between, and the area’s harsh climate often makes roads inaccessible for travel. Poverty and gender-based discrimination are additional obstacles, making school even further out of reach, and girls are affected disproportionately. Going up against these barriers requires a persistent, quiet strength that’s found in the women who live there and reflected in Pakistan’s signature scent.
Saheli Circles are how local leaders in Gilgit-Baltistan are bridging the gap between girls and education. An Urdu term for “female friend,” Saheli Circles are after-school safe spaces where girls explore subjects like art and climate change, while also developing skills that help them manage emotions, set goals, and build positive relationships. Girls study in groups, visit the library, play sports, and tackle filmmaking and photography projects, all designed to develop self confidence and teach the girls how to advocate for issues that matter to them. But the work doesn’t stop there.
“What we’re trying to achieve here will only be impactful if it trickles down to the home environment and the school environment,” says Marvi Sumro, founder and program director of Innovate, Educate, and Inspire Pakistan (IEI), the local organization that developed the Saheli Circles model and partnered with Malala Fund in 2021 to make it a reality. Ever since, Saheli Circles have grown to involve teachers, elders, and parents to encourage relationship building that’s essential for young girls and adolescents. “Our spaces can give mothers and daughters an opportunity to interact a little differently—do an art activity, or have a cup of tea together, or some good conversation,” Marvi says.
The relationship building is what makes the biggest positive impact throughout the community. Recently, one Saheli Circle was able to bring together parents, teachers, and administrators to advocate for better education at their local school, and together they convinced the department of education to hire a science teacher. Another Saheli Circle organized a fund where members of the community can contribute monthly to pay for uniforms, books, and other school expenses for the girls in their village, eliminating those small, hidden costs that are often a barrier to education for many. A third Saheli Circle was able to produce a short film about how gender-based household chores can take away valuable study time from girls, leaving them at a disadvantage. “The girls put the film together and showed it to the mothers, and the response from the mothers was just beautiful,” Marvi says.
Girls smiling in Pakistan. Captured by Insiya Syed.
The education and relationship building that the girls receive in Saheli Circles connects them to larger opportunities and economic freedom that are not possible in their hometown. “For girls in Gilgit-Baltistan, education is extremely important because of the fact that we’re so far away from where the economy is, where the opportunity is. Education becomes this bridge for us, for our girls, to access all the opportunity and economy that exists in [larger cities].”
From rural Tanzania to remote Pakistan, local organizations prove every day that prioritizing girls’ education benefits everyone. Communities that lift up girls are able to secure resources like clean water and well-staffed schools, as well as build stronger relationships.
These outcomes are only possible because of the women and girls who work tirelessly in these regions to overcome barriers and drive progress. The Pura x Malala Fund Collection is a way to honor them, celebrate their achievements, and unite people the world over around a shared belief that education is freedom. Like scent, that belief can build, travel, and has the possibility to transform the world.
Experience the Pura x Malala Fund Collection here, and connect with the stories of real girls leading change across the globe.
There’s no doubt that the role aunts and uncles play in a child’s life is important. Typically, these are the people who are raising the cousins that often serve as your child’s first best friends. But many Millennials are part of a growing group of adults opting not to have children.
Instead of raising their own children, they’re leaning into their childfree status and the additional bandwidth it affords them. “Rich auntie” status is not new. It’s the endearing nickname given to women who chose to forego children to maintain the lifestyle they worked for. It replaced the more derogatory term of “childless cat lady,” which replaced “spinster.”
Though the idea of a childless aunt or uncle isn’t new, the prevalence is. This phenomenon was once so rare that it caused speculation around sexuality and sanity. Clearly, there must be something wrong with you if you didn’t have children. Today, people are celebrating the mutually beneficial role childless adults play. Not only do they bring fun and adventure to a child’s life, but they also serve as a trusted babysitter for a much-needed evening out.
It’s not only the kids and parents that benefit, but the childless adults also gain. TikToker Amanda Vanhook says, “I’m very much single, no interest in dating, none. And I’m very happy that way. I’m very happy in my life.” Later, she adds, “I’m also very fortunate that I had a sister that gave me two little crazy hooligans, my four-year-old nephew and my two-year-old niece, and I would not change that for the world because they are the light of my life.
I would go above and beyond, go over the moon, and wouldn’t even blink an eye for those two. So I get the best of both worlds. I get to spoil myself, treat myself whenever I want, and enjoy my quiet time life, but I also get my nuggets, who I want to spend all this time with. I want to show them the world, I want to show them the great things of life.”
Adults remain childless for a variety of reasons. Struggles with fertility, not finding the right partner, or simply not having the desire to raise a child full-time are some of the most prominent. No matter the reason for being child-free, though, the mutual benefit of those without kids having close relationships with those who do have them shouldn’t be understated. One family has a tradition they’ve shared online for others to see. Since their aunt doesn’t have children, instead of Mother’s Day, they created a special day just for her called “Auntie Lynn Day.”
Man holding young girl like an airplane. Photo Credit: Canva
Every year, the family gathers for a cookout complete with decorations and a cookie cake, declaring it “Auntie Lynn Day.” It’s a day filled with love and smiles, acknowledging how valued her role is in their family.
Another woman, Jillian Gerhardt, explains the importance of having childless friends who double as aunties and uncles to your children. “Every parent needs a childless auntie or uncle friend. They’re not real aunts and uncles, but they’re that friend that shows up smelling like independence and freedom.” She advocates that their role is vital to remind parents who they were before they had children, to keep them grounded in their sense of self.
Mike Mancusi, a childless uncle, makes an argument for those on the fence about becoming a parent. “Anyone that’s on the fence about having kids or not having kids, I’m going to propose to you a third option, and it is by far the best option–being an aunt or an uncle. It is the best. It’s all of the good parts of parenting and none of the bad parts.” He adds, “You get to hang out with these kids, you get all of the joy, all the endorphins, and then as soon as they start being annoying, you just get to hand them off to the people that are legally required to take care of them.”
The consensus of the childfree aunts and uncles is that they get to be the fun-havers. They come in like a superhero to either give parents a break while they spoil them, or rile the kids up right before bedtime. Either way, they get to go home or drop the kids back off with their parents when they’re overstimulated.
Parents who appreciate the childless aunties and uncles celebrate what they bring to their lives. Childless aunts and uncles appreciate that they get to share parenting with their sibling or friend without the full-time responsibility. It’s a win-win-win. A win for the parents, a win for the childless person, and a win for the kids.
“The DINK, Auntie and Funcle life is really underrated,” one person says. DINK stands for Dual Income No Kids.
“It really is the best option. Also, when they become teenagers, they only fight with their parents and have a great relationship with you and ask for your advice and will listen to you,” someone writes in response to Mancusi’s video.
An adult child reveals, “My Auntie is my favorite human. 42 years later that woman is my go to for just about EVERYTHING.”
Someone else adds, “Childless auntie here! My besties kids are my world. My weekends are spent at soccer games, cheer games, etc and then I get to go home at night and read my book in silence. Someday we will build a compound so they can just walk to my house whenever lol.”
CNN had created a remembrance video for the Back to the Future star, titled “Remembering the life of Michael J. Fox.” Now, it’s fairly standard practice for news outlets to make these sorts of posthumous tributes in advance. But publishing them before the celebrity actually passes away? Not so much.
And yet, on Tuesday, April 7, that’s what happened. But when Fox saw the accidental announcement of his death, he met it with a bit of philosophical humor.
On Threads, Fox wrote, “How do you react when you turn on the TV and CNN is reporting your death? Do you…A) switch to MNSBC, or whatever they are calling themselves these days, (B) Pour scolding hot water on your lap, if it hurts your fine, (C) Call your wife, hopefully she’s concerned but reassuring, (D) Relax, they do this once every year, (E) Ask yourself wtf ?”
@realmikejfox Threads
Ending with just a dash of self-deprecation, he concluded, “I thought the world was ending, but apparently it’s just me and I’m ok. Love, Mike.”
As to be expected, fans were quick to “yes and” Fox’s sense of humor.
“Go outside and ask the first person you come across: ‘Can you see me?’ Glad you’re ok btw!” wrote one person.
Meanwhile, actor Kathy Griffin quipped, “You’re a helluva ghost. ❤️😂.”
In CNN’s defense, the tribute, however premature, did respectfully honor Fox’s legacy not only as a beloved actor, but also as an active Parkinson’s advocate.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the narrator in the now-deleted video said of Fox: “He came into our living rooms on the small screen each week as Alex P. Keaton [on Family Ties] and eventually onto the big screen as Marty McFly in [Back to the Future]. But Michael J. Fox had a compelling third act as a Parkinson’s sufferer and stem cell research advocate.”
“His most lasting role may have been as a tireless voice against Parkinson’s, a performance the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2022,” the clip went on. “In the end, Fox came to understand that his battle against the disease brought out the best in him.”
A CNN spokesperson also stated: “The package was published in error; we have removed it from our platforms and send our apologies to Michael J. Fox and his family.”
On Wednesday, Fox’s rep assured TMZ that “Michael is doing great.”
So great, in fact, that he was out and about in Los Angeles speaking on a panel for the Apple TV series Shrinking, in which he filmed a three-episode guest arc playing a character who also deals with Parkinson’s disease. The guest spot marked his first on-screen appearance since 2020. Harrison Ford, who also plays a character with Parkinson’s on the show, regarded Fox as “an extraordinarily powerful person” after meeting and working with him on set.
So, Michael J. Fox is still kickin’. And he’s still meeting each moment with a tremendous amount of humility and humor, lifting our spirits as he does it.
For millions of people, this sort of run-of-the-mill sleep advice feels like being handed a pamphlet about umbrellas in the middle of a tropical storm. The advice isn’t wrong, not really. But it’s basic. Generic. It fails to account for the wildly diverse reasons people struggle with sleep in the first place.
A new study from Concordia University feels radical for a simple reason: Instead of lumping all sleepers into “good” and “bad” categories, researchers identified five distinct sleep profiles, each with its own causes, brain patterns, and emotional fingerprints. Once you know which one sounds like you, the advice actually starts to make sense.
What they found: Your sleep isn’t just about what happens when you close your eyes. It’s deeply intertwined with your brain wiring, your emotional life, and how you move through the world during the day. These findings align with the current sleep-deprivation crisis. Six in ten adults aren’t getting enough sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that one in three adults is chronically sleep-deprived. But not all of those sleepers are struggling for the same reasons, and that distinction matters more than previously realized.
Your sleep profile isn’t a quirky, fun fact like an astrological sign. Knowing which profile you belong to could unlock a good night’s rest—not just tonight, but for a lifetime.
Does this sound familiar? You get into bed exhausted, lie there for an hour, and suddenly your brain wants to review every awkward conversation you’ve had since 2009. When you do sleep, it’s shallow. You wake up wondering why you even bothered.
LC1, known as the Struggling Sleeper, is the most prevalent and clinically significant sleep profile. It is defined by a potent combination: sleep difficulty and underlying mental health struggles, including anxiety, depression, low mood, and poor concentration. These factors are so closely linked that it’s almost impossible to tell which came first. Research has consistently shown that insomnia and anxiety and depression have a bidirectional relationship, with each feeding and amplifying the other in a self-reinforcing cycle. Treating only the sleep without addressing the emotional root is like mopping the floor while the faucet is still running.
Brain scans reveal another neurological layer: Individuals with LC1 exhibit hyperactivity in emotional processing regions and reduced connectivity in areas tied to rumination and focus. The brain gets stuck in a loop. So when it’s 2 a.m. and you’re mentally planning contingencies for catastrophes that haven’t happened, this is your brain’s wiring, not a personal failure.
This one’s surprising. While Resilient Sleepers often carry real psychological stress—attention difficulties, low mood, pressure that would flatten most people—somehow, they sleep.
This profile offers a fascinating contrast to LC1. People in LC2 experience similar levels of psychological burden as those in Profile 1, but their sleep does not break down under that pressure. Researchers think this may reflect a neural resilience pathway—a different kind of wiring that prevents stress from taking over the sleep system.
Their brain scans reveal something intriguing: strong attention and control networks that act as a buffer, preventing emotional noise from flooding the sleep system at night. You might even underestimate your own sleep quality, thinking it’s worse than it actually is. Researchers believe this profile could be key to understanding what the brain can learn to defend, and whether those defenses can be developed in other sleepers.
For the Medicated Sleeper, sleeping aids are non-negotiable. Photo credit: Canva
Profile 3: The Medicated Sleeper (LC3)
Melatonin gummies, sleepy tea, a glass of wine, a Benadryl “just this once” that became every night—if sleep aids have quietly become non-negotiable, you probably recognize this profile.
Medicated Sleepers are often doing well by most measures—they’re socially active and physically healthy—but simply can’t fall asleep on their own without a little chemical assist. The trade-off? Mild declines in visual memory and emotional regulation, as sedating medications have been shown to affect both perceptual and emotional processing.
An important note: The researchers found that LC3, LC4, and LC5 were less robust than LC1 and LC2, suggesting these profiles may be more variable across populations and should be interpreted with caution.
Short Sleepers don’t need less sleep—they’re sleep-deprived. Photo credit: Canva
Profile 4: The Short Sleeper (LC4)
You’re efficient. You’ve adapted. So five and a half hours of sleep is fine—you’ve been running on it for years.
Here’s the hard truth: The brain scans of Short Sleepers look nearly identical to those of people who have pulled a full all-nighter. No, not just tired people—people who literally haven’t slept. As you can imagine, the cognitive costs of this sleeper profile accumulate quickly, often below the threshold of what we can feel but well above what researchers can measure.
LC4 is characterized by regularly sleeping fewer than six to seven hours per night, and the cognitive impacts are measurable: slower reaction times, decreased problem-solving ability, lower emotional patience, and difficulty managing interpersonal frustration. You may pride yourself on needing little sleep, having built an identity around efficiency. But your partner notices you snap more easily. You’ve forgotten three appointments this month. You’re not superhuman. You’re sleep-deprived, and your brain is working overtime to hide it from you.
You spend eight hours in bed, but you wake up exhausted. Throughout the night, everything in the world seems to keep you from rest—discomfort, noise sensitivity, a partner who snores—and despite spending plenty of time technically “sleeping,” Disturbed Sleepers rarely feel rested. The quality of sleep is just too fractured.
This was the only profile in the study to show a notable gender difference, with women scoring significantly higher—consistent with research showing that women experience greater sleep fragmentation over their lifetimes.
Why your sleep type matters
The stakes go well beyond feeling groggy. Each of these profiles carries unique long-term health risks, and the brain research is truly concerning.
The dementia connection
Every night, while you’re asleep, your brain quietly does something extraordinary. It activates what scientists call the glymphatic system—a built-in janitorial crew of fluid channels that weave between your brain cells. Their job? To flush out toxic proteins that accumulate during the day, including amyloid beta and tau. These are the same proteins that clump and tangle in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
When this system fails over time—as it does in people with the Struggling Sleeper, Short Sleeper, and Disturbed Sleeper profiles—toxic proteins don’t just linger; they build up. They cluster together. They trigger inflammation, worsening the problem. It’s a slow, silent spiral that can develop for years before anyone notices anything wrong.
The anxiety-depression loop
The relationship between sleep and mental health isn’t a one-way street where anxiety causes bad sleep. It’s more like a revolving door. Decades of research have confirmed that insomnia predicts the onset of depression, and depression predicts the worsening of insomnia. Each one fuels the other, back and forth, in a cycle that can go on for years.
If you treat depression alone and ignore sleep, you’ll often get incomplete results. If you treat only the sleep and overlook the underlying anxiety, the same issue occurs. The two are so closely connected that addressing one without the other usually leaves the whole thing unchanged.
The biggest takeaway from the research is the idea that sleep problems don’t all stem from the same place. They can’t all be fixed in the same way. What helps a Struggling Sleeper might do nothing for a Short Sleeper. What a Disturbed Sleeper needs is a completely different conversation from what a Medicated Sleeper needs. Here’s a rundown of what your sleeper profile requires for genuine rest:
Congrats! You’re doing something right, even if you’re not sure what it is.
Take a minute to take stock of your stress-management habits; something in your routine is actively protecting your sleep. Jot this down, whatever it is, and try not to trade it away when life gets busy. It’s doing more for your mental health than you realize.
One gentle caution: Resilience isn’t a permanent condition. Major life disruptions—loss, burnout, significant transitions—can shift your profile over time. Keep checking in.
If you’re a Medicated Sleeper (Profile 3):
No judgment here: a lot of people are in this category, and most of them didn’t plan to be.
Let’s name the thing directly: The belief that you’ve adapted to six hours is one of the most common and most convincing lies the sleep-deprived brain tells itself.
True Short Sleepers—people who genuinely thrive on less than seven hours due to a rare genetic trait—represent less than 3% of the population. Everyone else who “only needs six hours” has simply stopped noticing the deficit. Treat 7–8 hours the way you treat eating or exercise: a non-negotiable, not a nice-to-have.
If you’re a Disturbed Sleeper (Profile 5):
Sleep hygiene alone probably isn’t going to fix this, because the root is often physical, and physical problems need physical solutions.
A consistent sleep and wake schedule also helps anchor your circadian rhythm, making it easier for your body to build the biological pressure for sleep that actually gets you through the night.
Knowing your profile isn’t just interesting self-knowledge. It’s a starting point for solving the problem and finally getting the kind of sleep that makes everything else in life feel a little more possible.
There is something about finding connection with fellow humans that can help make even the hardest obstacles seem more bearable. So when Kirsty Waugh was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2024, she and her family sought to fight it. Not just for her, but for anyone out there suffering.
They had an ingenious idea. What if they could find every person named Kirsty, Kirstie, or Kirsti in the world to bond together and help support her battle, and any other child who might have the same affliction?
Kirsty Waugh. Photo Credit: Mat Waugh, website
Kirsty’s father Mat Waugh shared a bit of their story on his LinkedIn page, as well as their new plan to be of service. “Last year, our 11-year-old daughter Kirsty – who’s having chemotherapy for a brain tumour – raised £120,000 for Children with Cancer UK. As she cracks on with a second year of chemo, we have a new plan but we need your help!”
Looking for Kirstys
“We’re hunting for every Kirsty, Kirstie, and Kirsti we can find: to show their support for her, and for every other child with a brain tumour. There are about 50,000 in the UK, more elsewhere. There’s a one in three chance that you work, live, or are related to one – that’s the same odds of knowing someone with a brain tumour. (Try tagging below: there were three in my modest circle alone).”
Mat adds the importance of donating, as government child cancer research is underfunded. “Aside from giving a massive, Kirsty-shaped hug, we’re trying to raise money for badly needed research into child brain tumours: just 3p in every £100 of gov cancer funding gets allocated. Yet it’s the biggest cancer killer of kids, and indeed anyone under 40. Every penny raised will be spent on projects vetted and selected by OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity to find kinder, better treatments.
Everyone can show their support by joining Kirsty’s map and perhaps making a donation. Please help our girl by sharing her quest and let’s find those Kirstys!”
Kirsty shares her story
On their website, “My Name is Kirsty,” there is a statement from Kirsty herself. “My name is Kirsty. I’m 11, and I’m sorry you don’t have the best name in the world. But you can help! Here’s how.” She then relays the similar details her father had listed about her journey with chemo, and how to raise money for others.
There is a clickable map that shows every Kirsty in the world (who has so far participated), from Europe to Canada to the US to Australia. A red star indicates a “Kirsty” (or a spelling close to it), and a green heart represents a supporter.
Kirsty Waugh map, Photo Credit: Mat Waugh
Update on Kirsty
Upworthy had the chance to speak with Mat, who gave us updates and explained more about how the idea to create a “Kirsty map” came to be.
Upworthy: First and foremost, how is Kirsty feeling now?
Mat: “Kirsty’s into her second year of weekly chemotherapy following her diagnosis in November 2024 for a benign brain tumour. If you’ve known anyone who’s gone through this, you’ll know that it’s really tough. Hair loss, nausea, anaemia, aches, and lack of energy: she’s had it all. And she has more than a year to go. It’s tough-going psychologically, too. But she’s a bright, feisty, and creative girl who fills her time with crochet, dance, and everything else she can manage. We’re learning a lot from her! ‘One day at a time’ is the cliche, but it’s true that we’re not looking too far ahead because we can’t control that. We can, however, control how much fun we have today.”
How to help
Upworthy: Whose idea was the “Finding Kirsty” challenge, and how did you turn it into such a successful nonprofit?
Kirsty Waugh, Photo Credit Mat Waugh
Mat: “The idea to find all the Kirstys came because she had to change treatment, and suddenly 70 weeks of chemo became 150. She’d spent much of 2025 raising money with her crochet project, raising £120,000 for a children’s cancer charity. But over the same period, she’d learned how poor and harsh the available treatments for brain tumours are, and how little money is spent on researching the biggest cause of cancer deaths in the under 40s. She decided she wanted to fund more research and chose OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity. They provided our family with support, but also run a research arm where every penny donated will go to research.
And so we had to work out who we should ask, because we’d already leaned on all our friends, relatives, and neighbours for the first campaign! Kirsty suggested that the best people to ask would be other Kirstys because, in her experience, they’re always kind and lovely. So we looked up how many there are, because it’s a pretty rare name now in every country. But there was a time in the 1980s when lots of girls were named Kirsty or Kirstie. We reckon there are about 50,000 worldwide. The website www.mynameiskirsty.com was born.”
A plethora of Kirstys
Upworthy: Who are some of your favorite Kirsty(s) and from which countries?
Mat: “First on the map was Kirsty Gilmour, who is the UK’s no.1 badminton player; our Kirsty met her when she was a guest at the All England badminton championships, and the lovely Kirsty G offered to be the first Kirsty in her campaign. Second was a duck – the newborn sister to a therapy duck called Goldie that Kirsty met the following day!
Kirsty has now hit the first milestone of 1,000 Kirstys found, and exploring their photos and messages on the map is great fun. But equally rewarding are the words left by other supporters of every name. They’re united by their appreciation of the tough time kids with brain tumours are going through, and the need to improve the odds for thousands of children worldwide who face an uncertain future and life-changing symptoms and treatments.”
Onion rings are a staple fast-food item. Yet you’re unlikely to find them at McDonald’s, one of the most recognizable fast-food chains in the world.
However, once upon a time, Mickey D’s did experiment with its own version of the side item, and it’s easy to see why the idea was short-lived.
It was the 1970s, and by then, allegedly thanks to a Texas-based drive-in restaurant called The Pig Stand, onion rings were already a popular fast-food item. However, McDonald’s’ entire brand is centered around efficiency and profit, and compared to fries, onion rings would have been more time-consuming to make and less cost-effective.
Enter: Onion Nuggets
Photo credit: Wiki.com – A vintage ad for McDonald's Onion Nuggets.
According to Mental Floss, the rather baffling idea came from Rene Arend, McDonald’s first executive chef, who would later develop the somewhat controversial McRib. And get this: they actually predate chicken nuggets.
Rather than cutting onions into thin rings, food workers would batter and deep-fry onion bits. However, it soon became clear that customers, especially children, didn’t enjoy this particular vegetable-to-batter ratio. You can almost picture the confusion at the counter: someone opens the box expecting a familiar crispy ring and instead finds a pile of tiny fried onion clusters. Technically accurate, sure. Emotionally satisfying? Eh, that’s another story.
But Arend was then instructed to apply the concept to a chicken-based product, and voilà—the Chicken McNugget was born, and we were never the same. So you could say onion nuggets walked so chicken nuggets could run!
Interestingly, McDonald’s could take Burger King’s approach, which essentially makes “rings” out of minced onions. According to Tasting Table, “The goal isn’t to recreate the diner-style onion ring, but to offer a salty, crunchy side that’s cheap, uniform, and easy to churn out by the millions.” However, some have criticized this recipe as more like “tiny onion flavored doughnuts.” Honestly, not seeing the problem there.
There have been far worse mess-ups
And when you think about McDonald’s’ long history of bizarre menu failures, including the 1960s Hula Burger (a pineapple slice with cheese), McSpaghetti, and Seinfeld-inspired Muffin Toppers, deep-fried onion bits don’t sound too strange. Some folks are even nostalgic about it and would love to see its glorious return. While the odds are never zero, they are quite low.
That’s not to say the restaurant won’t ever sell proper onion rings. But Mike Haracz, a former McDonald’s manager of culinary innovation, explains in a TikTok video that they would likely only ever be a “limited-time offer” so as not to compete with their “over-the-top profitable” French fries.
If you’re jonesing for some McDonald’s onion rings, they’re occasionally served in places outside the United States, such as Turkey, Greece, Israel, and even Australia. Just as Haracz predicted, they’re limited-time items.
We can probably all agree that if any menu item deserves a comeback, it’s the Apple Fritter.
As the music began, no one knew what the apparatus made of poles and bars surrounding the dancers was for. But it soon became apparent that they would use it to lift themselves off the ground. What started with a simple pull-up, however, turned into an incredible synchronized dance to Justin Bieber’s “Where Are U Now” in which the dancers synchronized their movements without their feet even touching the ground.
AIRFOOTWORKS dancing to Justin Bieber on AGT
The dancers, who hail from Japan, were mentored by Kenichi Ebina, who won AGT Season 8 in 2013. Their performance earned them a standing ovation from all four judges and the audience.
“Everything about the performance was perfect,” said judge Sofia Vergara.
“It was so creative and so different—and so difficult, by the way,” said judge Simon Cowell. “So you have a great mentor. However, even if you’ve got a great mentor, you’ve still got to be able to do what your mentor helps you to do. And you did it immaculately.”
AGT fans agree with the judges
People in the comments were equally blown away.
“How do people find out they have talents like this??? ✋ “
“My toxic trait is thinking I can do this without any difficulty .”
“Insane core strength.”
“OBSESSED with this audition.”
“What kind of core strength is this… flawless, “
Many people were disappointed that none of the judges hit the Golden Buzzer.
“Why no Golden Buzzer?!?!?! If I’ve seen any act more deserving of it, I can’t recall. These guys were AWESOME!!!!!!!”
“Did they run out of golden buzzers? This is worthy.”
“THEY DESERVED THE GOLDEN BUZZER!”
“This performance absolutely deserved a golden buzzer. It was just spectacular.”
“Can only assume all the judges were so enthralled and mesmerized by this performance they forgot there was a golden buzzer.”
The ‘Golden’ performance
AIRFOOTWORKS did, in fact, earn a Golden Buzzer from Howie Mandel during the Quarterfinals sending them directly to the finale, where the group performed to an EDM mix by Steve Aoki. While they didn’t receive enough votes to win the entire competition, they have certainly earned AGT royalty status.
Since their AGT run, AIRFOOTWORKS have continued to take the world stage – reaching the finals of talent competitions in France and Italy, and performing at the Royal Variety Performance in the UK.
For more talent auditions, you can follow America’s Got Talent on YouTube and TikTok.
This article originally appeared 2 years ago. It has been updated.
Halloween has come a long way since the 70s and 80s, when Gen X kids donned the worst mass-produced costumes known to man to go out and ask strangers for candy that we were sure was laced with poison or razor blades. Those sure were good times, though, weren’t they? Social media creator Kelly Manno shared a video describing what Halloween was like for kids who grew up in “the forgotten generation,” and holy moly is it accurate.
First, Manno showed a photo of someone dressed in an “80s costume” for Halloween, with neon colors, legwarmers and big hair, and said, “Absolutely nobody looked like that in the 80s, especially on Halloween. We looked like this.”
Then she showed a grainy photo of kids in the plastic masks and poorly printed costumes that were the hallmark of the age.
“Every single member of Gen X can smell this photo,” she said. “It’s like a vinyl, like plasticky paint smell.”
Manno explained that our parents only took a few photos of us per year, and Halloween was always one of them.
“You knew, before you went out trick-or-treating, that you had to line up with your cousins in front of the fireplace, in your highly flammable costumes, with your mom chain-smoking Virginia Slims.”
How about those masks
Oh, those masks were the worst inventions ever. The eyeholes never lined up properly, so you were constantly trying to adjust them to be able to see even a little bit.
“We would push our tongue through the slit in the mask. It would cut our tongue, but then we’d keep doing it again because we were eaten up with OCD and ADD and nobody cared.”
Then Manno described the “garbage bag costumes” we had, which were basically trash bags printed with whatever character it was supposed to be. So janky. So sweaty. So crinkly when we walked. But somehow still socially preferable to your mom making your costume from scratch.
“Look at us, we were terrifying,” Manno concludes. “No wonder people tried to poison us.”
A stroll down ‘That actually happened’ lane
Her descriptions of what it felt like to trick-or-treat in those costumes and haul our own bodyweight in candy are spot on, and people who lived it are feeling the nostalgia.
“So much truth in one video! I just saw, heard, and smelled my childhood.”
“You are literally making me laugh so damn hard, cause you described it exactly as it was, but my mom smoked Winston’s!”
“It was always freezing on Halloween that the vinyl/plastic suit would crack and tear halfway through the night.”
“Or the rubber band breaking at the second house and you had to hold it up on your face at the door the rest of the night. Good times.”
“The tongue thing is on point. I can still feel it. “
“I can totally smell that picture lol. I remember the steam from inside the mask would have your lashes and eyebrows covered in dew then after a couple streets of running house to house the crotch would tear out. We would stay out until everybody turned their lights off and the pillow case was full.”
“Yes!!!! And we used a pillow case for our candy. And no adult supervision.”
“My mom made me really nice homemade costumes, but I remember begging for the plastic Strawberry Shortcake garbage bag one. So, she bought it for me one year. That was a terrible, sweaty experience. “
“Let’s not forget having to inspect every piece of candy for razor blades. I swear I lost half my haul to my father in that clean up. “
Kids these days have no idea, with their official city trick-or-treat hours and their parents walking around with them and their costumes that actually look like the thing they’re trying to be. The 70s and 80s were a wild time, and as funny as it is to reminisce about those Halloweens of old, most of us would agree that the experience has been much improved for our own kids.
Pillowcases still make the best trick-or-treat bags, though. Some things do not change.
This article originally appeared 2 years ago. It has been updated.
Job interviews can be stressful for even the most prepared job seekers. For some, one common question adds to the pressure: “Can you explain this gap in your resume?”
Panic can easily set in. “What if they don’t understand how I lost my last job?” “What if being a homemaker for those years hurts my chances?” Many other questions can run through your head.
Anna Papalia, a career coach, says the gap-in-resume question is usually asked for a different reason than most interviewees think.
⬇️ Employers do—and should—care about large gaps in employment. Since they invest major time and resources in screening, onboarding, and training new employees, companies must be selective about who they hire. 📄A resume gap could signal you had trouble finding a new job after a job loss, or that you have difficulty making a commitment. They may wonder what you were doing while unemployed and whether you’re trying to hide something. If you have gaps in your resume, hiring managers want to know the “why” behind that period of unemployment. 🚨More importantly, they want to be sure your absence from the workforce doesn’t imply behavioral patterns or attitudes that might make you a risky hire. 🧐What is considered a big gap in employment? According to Indeed.com, any break over six months is considered significant. ➡️How to answer “Why is there a gap on your resume?” 🔵 Be honest. It can be tempting to conceal gaps in your work history when you’re trying to present yourself in the best light possible to employers. But lying on your resume is never a good idea. Since they review so many of them, hiring managers are skilled at spotting inconsistencies and other red flags on resumes. Most verify work history and may even perform background checks. If you’re untruthful about employment dates, it’s likely you’ll be found out eventually—and you could even lose your job over it. Honesty is always the best option. 🔵 Explain employment gaps in your cover letter. In general, there’s no dedicated place on your resume to detail the reasons you were out of work for an extended period. This is where your cover letter comes in handy. Address resume gaps proactively by calling them out in your cover letter. Summarize the reasons for your hiatus—one or two straightforward sentences will do. Don’t get too wordy, since you want to keep the focus on your relevant experience and attributes and why you’re the right choice for the job. extra hard to illustrate the value you bring to a potential employer. 🔵 Highlight what you did accomplish while out of work. You may have been out of the workforce for a bit—but that doesn’t mean you sat around twiddling your thumbs. If you took on any unpaid roles or noteworthy projects during that period, be sure to say so on your resume. This shows you stayed active and engaged even though you weren’t formally in the workplace. Volunteer or caregiver roles should be listed on your resume just like a paying job. Any degrees completed or courses taken can be noted in the Education section of your resume. 📌For example: ◦ You volunteered for your community food bank. ◦ You went back to finish your degree. ◦ You brushed up on your technology skills by taking a course. ◦ You were the sole caregiver to an ailing family member. ◦ You pursued a side project important to you. ◦ You traveled extensively and explored new cultures. • 🎯Consider any transferable skills or perspectives you gained and how they make you a stronger candidate for the job. For instance, maybe you came up with a successful fundraising idea for a charity you volunteer for. Or you managed the event committee at your church and gained valuable leadership skills. Don’t hesitate to think outside of the box! #interview#howtoanswerinterviewquestions#resume#jobsearch#careertips#unemployed
In a TikTok video, Papalia explains that hiring managers are primarily asking this question to weed out candidates who don’t need a job.
“I know it sounds ridiculous, but they want to verify that you’re not just quitting every time you get frustrated,” she says.
Papalia says the interviewer wants to make sure the person wouldn’t just leave the job because they have a trust fund or a wealthy family member to fall back on. It’s to ensure the interviewee wants or needs the job, so they can say, “Great! We need a reliable person who needs a job, so this works out.”
Gaps in a person’s resume and career have become more common. It’s very likely that the interviewer has spoken with several candidates who have career gaps. They may have had one or two gaps on their own resume as well. So the stigma of having a gap in a resume is less of a red flag than in previous years.
How to answer “Can you explain this gap in your resume?”
While the insight Papalia provides may calm some fears, many may still wonder how to answer the resume gap question. Having an answer prepared ahead of time is still recommended. There are many reasons for gaps in a resume, but there are also some guidelines career experts recommend.
Keep it short and honest
No matter the reason for a gap in your resume, it’s better for both the interviewer and the job seeker not to dwell on it. For one, the interviewer doesn’t want or need your life story, and a detailed answer could be too personal. Secondly, the interviewee wouldn’t want to waste the limited time in the interview instead of focusing on what they can bring to the role, the job description, and the company environment.
Give a brief explanation—one or two sentences that get to the point. The best answers don’t go into unnecessary detail or leave room for second-guessing. Here are some common reasons for career gaps and stronger ways to respond:
Don’t: “I was laid off because…”
Do: “Unfortunately, I was affected by the company’s restructuring, and my role was eliminated.”
Don’t: “I wasn’t working because I was a full-time parent/caregiver and now I need a job.”
Do: “I took time away from my career to care for my young children/family member.”
Don’t: “I was fired but it wasn’t my fault because…”
Do: “I learned a lot in my last role, but it turned out to be challenging in unique ways and it wasn’t a good fit. While it didn’t work out, it was a good experience and taught me to be careful of the next role I accept.”
There may be different reasons, but overall, the advice is to keep it brief, impersonal, and focused on the positives.
Redirect the conversation to what you can offer
Another reason to keep your explanation short is to allow you to shift the focus from what happened then to what you can offer now. After your one- to two-sentence answer, spend most of your time discussing why you’re excited about the role you’re interviewing for. If it applies, share any relevant classes or certifications you acquired during your time away from full-time employment.
If you did any freelance or volunteer work during that time away, bring it up. It shows the interviewer you’ve been proactive and preparing for a full-time position rather than sitting around. It can be especially helpful if the work is relevant to the role.
Redirecting the focus to the job itself shifts the conversation back to the role rather than why you didn’t have one.
Remove the gap in the first place
Another way to answer, “Can you explain this gap in your resume?” is to remove the question entirely. Simply include a section explaining why you weren’t working during that time frame. Much like with a verbal answer, it can be brief and avoid personal details.
“Family care leave” is a valid answer. It can apply to childcare, caring for a sick loved one, or even yourself. Just be sure to make it clear that you’re ready and motivated to get back to full-time work.
Even if you were taking care of yourself… you’re a part of your family so it’s still family care leave. Also, sharing our own health issues or other challenges can activate biases in the hiring managers. We do not need to share details. ANOTHER IMPORTANT TIP: you don’t need to explain every gap. I usually say that if it’s more than a year ago or less than a year, just leave it be. #resume#cv#career#jobsearch#learnontiktok#greenscreen
Gaps in employment that are under six months usually don’t require an explanation. That said, you should still have an answer prepared if your resume includes multiple short gaps.
Eliminating those gaps preempts the question, and most interviewers will respect your privacy. It also reinforces that you’re proactive and intentional in your job search.
Those searching for work should mind the gaps, but there’s little reason to feel too tripped up about them.
