Reasons to be Cheerful

Reasons to Be Cheerful is an online magazine founded by musician and activist David Byrne. It shares inspiring, solutions-oriented stories highlighting positive developments and innovative approaches to global challenges. The platform covers a wide range of topics, including environmental sustainability, social justice, urban design, health, and culture, emphasizing practical, replicable solutions that are making a difference. Reasons to Be Cheerful aims to counterbalance the often negative news cycle by showcasing stories of progress, resilience, and creativity. The website encourages readers to engage with and support these initiatives, fostering a sense of hope and empowerment. It also offers a newsletter to deliver uplifting content directly to its audience.

1. What We’re Reading: World Cup Carousing — With Reusable Cups

   Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here. Fill your cup During the World Cup, soccer fans who come to watch games at Toronto’s FIFA Fan Festival zone at Fort...

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2. Banking Like the Planet Depends On It

   This story was originally published by Next City, a nonprofit newsroom reporting on solutions for equitable and just cities. Get Next City’s stories in your inbox: nextcity.org/newsletter.  America’s fastest-growing new bank doesn’t specialize in AI or crypto-currency or some exotic investment strategy with little real world value. It specializes in environmental sustainability....

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3. The Spark: Banishing Cars With a Block Party

   Welcome back to The Spark, our monthly celebration of how people just like you are creating positive change, one meaningful step at a time. The Spark is generously supported by Laura Rice. Sign up to Reasons to be Cheerful’s weekly newsletter here and you’ll get The Spark in your inbox at the...

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4. ‘Relentless Outreach’: The State That Doesn’t Give Up on Mentally Ill Residents

   One Thanksgiving, while most families gathered around dinner tables, Janina Estrada cruised the neighborhoods of Orange, California, searching for her 42-year-old son Jimmy Barela in the rain. For nearly two decades, he had cycled through schizophrenia, addiction, diabetes, homelessness and psychiatric crises. She knew his usual sleeping spot: behind the...

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5. What We’re Reading: Why Young Entrepreneurs Are Flocking to Britain’s Old-School Markets

   Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here. Marketable skills With few jobs available, youth in the U.K. are taking their skills to market — literally. That’s according to a Positive...

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6. How Utah Is Looking Out for Kids Who Lose a Parent

   “My kids lost their dad in 2020,” says Ashlyn Stone. Her partner, Hayden Hansen, died on the way to the hospital after a car accident in Kaysville, Utah.  Though she has two children, Stone says that no one, including those working for public agencies, reached out to offer support for...

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7. Nobody Taught Them to Adult — So They’re Teaching Each Other

   Across the world, 18th birthdays are a time for celebration. But in India, an estimated 30,000 teens reach this threshold in childcare institutions (places that offer shelter and protection to vulnerable youth) every year, and age out of care to become “nobody’s responsibility,” as one person who works to support...

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8. Letting a River Act Like a River

   This story was originally published by New Mexico Rivers Rising, an independent project dedicated to covering New Mexico’s waterways and wetlands and the challenges they face in a warming world. For river ecosystems to survive dry times, they need their floods — and big, messy floodplains. In a case study recently published...

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9. Inside Germany’s ‘Schools Without Racism’

   Above the entrance of a high school in Renningen, Germany, a promise is written in large letters: School without Racism – School with Courage. Inside, that promise is tested. On a cold day in January, 10th- and 11th-grade students spend hours moving through workshops on racism, bystander intervention and sexualized...

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10. What We’re Reading: Denver’s Newest Clean Energy Source Will Be Sewage

    Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here. Filthy clean energy Denver’s goal is to reduce its greenhouse gases to zero by 2040, which means throwing everything it possibly can...

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