Greetings Earthlings!
It’s Saturday and it’s nearly Earth Day, so let’s celebrate with some regenerative reading, writing, and randomness. But first, an Earth-friendly quote!
Quote of the Week:
““Destroying rainforests for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.”
E. O. Wilson
A Reading About a Man Who Changed the Earth:
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford. If you were going to list people who made a massive impact on our planet, Genghis Khan might not be your first guess — at least not for any good impact. The 13th century conquerer not only killed millions of people (and their livestock), but razed cities and toppled entire empires. However, with all that destruction came some unexpectedly beneficial results. Jack Weatherford lays out the life story of this earth-shattering figure, plus the long-lasting effects of his conquests. Dan Carlin compared Genghis Khan to a “civilizational wildfire,” someone who burns down old, rotten kingdoms to help something new and fresh grow in its place. I would hardly argue that Khan set out to bring the longterm growth he ignited long ago, but there’s no denying the man had a dramatic impact on the Asian continent, and indeed the whole world.
A Guest Writing I Recently Did:
Dr. Foodlove: or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Embrace Tempeh. You may have noticed I didn’t do my usual Wednesday Substack post (*crickets*), but that’s because I had the opportunity to guest-post on my friend Maile Silva’s plant-based newsletter, Mai Time in the Kitchen! In this write-up, I summarized my lifelong love affair with food, and how I ended up going from a meat-and-potatoes-and-extra-meat kid to a young adult foodie to a middle-aged health nut. You may not think about food as much as me, but hopefully this will help you understand why I do.
Random Scenes of Wildlife on our Planet:
The Best of David Attenborough. It’s easy to pretend that our planet is a beautiful, harmonious place, and that nature is all birdsong and flowers. But the simple truth is that life on this rock of ours is an endless cycle of struggling to survive, to eat or be eaten. These stunning clips from various BBC Earth episodes show the unflinching reality of our world: life and death are inextricably intertwined.
And that's it! Did you like what you saw? Please share Lau’s Little List with anyone who you think would enjoy an extra dose of reading, writing, and randomness in their lives!
I would greatly appreciate any feedback you'd like to provide. Which recommendation was your favorite? What would you like to see more or less of in the next installment? Do you have any other suggestions? Feel free to leave a comment below with your thoughts.