Journalism
As a member of the Solutions Journalism Network, contributing editor for David Byrne’s solutions-focused online magazine Reasons to be Cheerful, and columnist for the international Süddeutsche Zeitung, Michaela believes we can find solutions for the world’s most vexing problems. Her awards include the Professional Excellence Award 2022-2023 by the Foreign Press Correspondents Association (AFPC-USA), First Place Columnist L.A. Press Club 2022, Winner ASJA Health Writing 2022, and First Place for Environmental Reporting L.A. Press Club 2020.
CONSERVATION
What If Extinction Wasn’t Forever?
At the frontier of conservation, scientists are learning how to bring back “functionally extinct” species using frozen cells from the past.
Read the full story in Reasons to be Cheerful.
ME/CFS
A Geneticist’s Biggest Challenge
One of the world’s greatest geneticists, Ron Davis, is fighting to cure his son’s ME/Chronic Fatigue, and COVID-19 patients may benefit.
This feature won the ASJA Award for Health Writing 2022.
Social justice
Would You Open Your Home to an Ex-Prisoner?
A new effort in Oakland, Calif., matches hosts with people who were recently incarcerated to help them reintegrate after they’re released.
Read the full story in the New York Times.
More Solutions
Could Wild Horses Help Fight Wildfires?
Naturalist William Simpson proposes a large-scale solution to issues that have been the subject of furious debates across the American West: He wants to free the roughly 60,000 horses that are currently kept in BLM corrals and relocate them strategically to the nation’s more than 110 million acres of designated wilderness and open land, where they could keep grasses and vegetation in check. “Keeping wild horses in captivity is like keeping the fire department in jail during fire season,” he says.
Read the full story on Reasons to be Cheerful!
Navigating the Waves
Surf therapy is being embraced—from the US Navy to the British health service—as a surprisingly effective treatment for depression, anxiety, and trauma. “How high are the waves today, the ones out there on the water and the emotional ones within me?” Surf therapist Natalie Small likes to ask at the start of a group therapy session. I dove in!
This story won 2. place in the Solutions Journalism category of the Los Angeles Press Club 2024.
Read the full story in Reasons to be Cheerful!
Up-Close Ecotourism Is Saving Gray Whales
The 40-ton gray whale stretches her massive head out of the murky water next to our small boat so that we can bend over the railing and pet her chin. She opens her mouth so we can scratch her tongue, which weighs about 3,000 pounds. Then the 40-foot-long giant turns onto her back for a belly massage. Finally, the mother of a two-month-old calf holds up her baby on her back so we can give it some love, too. The calf’s skin feels surprisingly soft, like smooth silicone. In the lagoons off the Pacific coast of Baja Sur, physical contact between tourists and whales is at the heart of a successful model of marine conservation.
Read the full story in Reasons to be Cheerful!
“Protecting the Climate Is the Best Medicine”
Copyright COMSEVENTHFLT/Flickr
The medical industry is responsible for a surprisingly large percentage of greenhouse gas emissions and toxic waste. A new generation of doctors is leading the change to make the health care industry more sustainable – for the benefit of their patients and the planet.
Read my 3-part series on Leaps here.
Hope for an Incurable Disease?
Dr. Simone Spuler by Pablo Castagnola
Next year, neurologist Simone Spuler will test CRISPR base editing in a trial of five people with muscular dystrophy to see if their muscles accept corrected cells and whether they multiply and take over the function of damaged cells. A medical breakthrough? A visit with the youngest patient in the trial, his parents, and the scientist who dedicated her life to this research.
Read the full story at Leaps.org.
What Growing Up in Rural Germany Taught Me about Guns
In the Bavarian village where I was raised, guns are a part of life. Mass shootings are not.
I love guns. I grew up with them. My grandpa taught me how to shoot them in our garden when I was eight years old. Like many kids who grow up in rural communities, guns were part of our life. Many in our village had at least one. But — and here comes a crucial difference — I did not grow up in rural America, but in rural Germany. The LA Press Club awarded this op-ed first place in the category Columnist in 2023.
Read the full op-ed in Reasons to be Cheerful.
Would You Compost Your Body to Create Life after Death?
Katrina Spade leads a “death care revolution” in Seattle, Washington, and composes human bodies. The truth is that nature is really, really good at death,” Spade insists. “We’ve all seen it. When organic material dies in nature, microbes and bacteria break it down into nutrient-rich soil, completing the life cycle. In nature, death creates life.”
Read the feature in Reasons to be Cheerful.
The World's Fastest Drummer
After an electrocution accident that nearly killed him, Jason Barnes lost his right hand but Gil Weinberg built him a “music hand” with A.I. Barnes is the beneficiary of high-end research that might one day ease challenges not only amputees face in accomplishing very precise tasks. “People are always afraid robots will take away our jobs,” Gil Weinberg says. “Here, we have a human who wouldn’t be able to work in his job without robotics.” The progress in bionics opens possibilities for other clients, for instance, people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries and need to relearn movements. Read more on Reasons to be Cheerful!
How One Woman Protected Millions of Acres
Photo by James Q. Martin
Kristine Tompkins has conserved more land than any other single individual, calling it “capitalist jiujitsu” for the planet. She helped conserve a total of 14.7 million acres of land and 30 million marine acres. “The planet does not belong to us humans,” Tompkins says. “If you really believe this, it changes everything.”
Read the full story on Reasons to be Cheerful!
More states are banning abortion without exceptions for rape. But what happens to women who carry their pregnancies to term?
Many rape survivors are forced to share custody with their assailants, and nobody seems to care what a toll these encounters take on the mothers and their children. Three women share their stories.
Paws Up! A Prison Goes to the Dogs
Copyright: Rita Earl Blackwell
Dogs behind bars rehabilitate men behind bars: An innovative dog training program in prison is surprisingly successful in finding overlooked pups a new home – and giving lifers a second chance at freedom.
Read the full story at Reasons to be Cheerful!
L.A.’s New Reflective Streets Bounce Heat Back into Space
The record heat waves that scorched the earth from Arizona to Antarctica this year will only get worse, and cities, where heat radiates off buildings and asphalt, will bear the brunt of this heat. “We’ve built our cities like ovens,” L.A.’s Sustainability Officer Greg Spotts says. “We’re largely using the same materials we have been using since World War II. We need a large-scale change.” Reducing greenhouse gas emissions tackles the root cause, but in the meantime, cities are looking for ways to lower the temperature. One of the cheapest is to paint roofs and streets white. Read the full story on Reasons to be Cheerful.
How Does Healing Sound?
Do you hate hospital sounds, too? When musician Yoko Sen ended up in the hospital, she was overwhelmed by the cacophony of noise. “The constant rhythm of a cardiac monitor ticking like a time bomb reminded me every second that my life is finite,” she says. What if all those beeps and alarms could sound like music instead? The artist founded SenSound to embark on her mission to make hospital sounds more healing - and the manufacturers of hospital monitors are listening.
Read the full story at Reasons to be Cheerful.
Asha de Vos Is Changing the Landscape of Marine Biology
Asha de Vos is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on blue whales though she’s always been, in her own words, “too young and too female.” She founded Sri Lanka’s first marine-protection NGO, Oceanswell, and was named one of BBC’s 100 most inspirational and influential women of 2018. Despite our fascination with the biggest animal that has ever lived on Earth, we know astonishingly little about them.
Read the full interview in Shondaland.
Inside the LAPD’s Experiment With Trust-Based Policing
Can the notoriously hardline force become an ally to Black communities? Emada Tingirides, 50, is only the second Black female officer in Los Angeles to reach the position of Deputy Chief. Since September 1, 2020, she has been in charge of the Department’s new Community Safety Partnership Bureau (CSP). “My son is 20 years old and Black,” says Tingirides. “I have to have difficult conversations with him about the police in this country. There are these incidents we all need to own. I know both sides of the debate.”
Read the full story in Reasons To be Cheerful.
One Percent Better Every Day
Photo: Nik Nikic.
Chris Nikic is the first person with Down Syndrome to finish an Ironman triathlon. On November 7, 2020, he swam 2.4 miles, rode his bike 112 miles, and then ran a 26.2-mile marathon in under 17 hours, securing his entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. I spoke with the 21-year old athlete from Orlando, Florida, and his father, Nik Nikic, about why he works to become 1 percent better every day.
Read the full interview on Substack.
“Who is my father?”
When Ben Norman turns 14, this question turns into his quest. When he finds the answer in a mugshot, the discovery not only uproots his own life, but also the credibility of the most renowned sperm bank in the US.
Read the full story in Medium.
Can a sophisticated platform cooperative help minimize exploitative working conditions in the gig economy, even during the pandemic? The new co-op platform Up & Go tries to pick the best of two worlds: For clients, the ease of an app to book help quickly. For workers, the security of regular jobs plus the pride of being an entrepreneur.
Read the full story in the New York Times. This story won 2nd place in Solutions Reporting @LAPressClub 2021.
10 years, $20 Million, and no sand. Malibu homeowners banded together to address sea level rise. A decade later, they are at war with the city, the surfers, and each other.
Reported with the generous support of the Pulitzer Center, this story won first place in Environmental Reporting @LAPressClub 2021.
Read the full story in Curbed.
Taking in an elderly homeless woman was one of the most challenging things I ever did - and one of the most rewarding. Here is Gloria’s incredible story.
Read the full story in Medium.
One chef's simple color-coded solution to end sexual harassment in her restaurant could just be the blueprint the service industry needs. Erin Wade, a lawyer by training, is not your usual restaurant owner, and she has come up with a new way to protect her staff.
The Climate Solution Right Under Our Feet
The way to stop climate change might be buried in 300 square feet of earth in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, amid kale and potatoes. “Soil just might save us,” filmmaker Josh Tickell says in his book Kiss the Ground, “but we are going to have to save it first.”
Read the full piece in the Soil Issue of Yes! Magazine
Copyright: UE Life Sciences
When computer engineer Mihir Shah was about to get married in 2007, the joyful occasion was overshadowed by a shock: His mother-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer, had to undergo chemotherapy, and attended the wedding covering her head with a wig. The experience motivated Shah to research breast cancer treatments, and he was surprised to realize that the survival rates of women with breast cancer largely depend on one factor: where they live. The Philly-area engineer developed a new device that is helping poor women around the world to check for breast cancer earlier and cheaper. It could save lives in America, as well. Read the full story in the Philadelphia Citizen.
Sometimes the most ingenious inventions are fueled by anger. Ridhi Tariyal was in her early 30s when she asked her OB-GYN to test her fertility to help her decide when to become pregnant. She wanted to focus on her career, but didn’t want to miss her biological "fertility window." Her OB-GYN brushed off her request, saying such a test wasn’t possible. As an A-student with an MBA from Harvard University and a Master of Science in biomedical enterprise from MIT, Tariyal had no trouble figuring out that her OB-GYN’s response wasn’t accurate, and she set out to develop a new test that might revolutionize health care for women. Read the full story on Shondaland!
Black men are among the most traumatized people in the country, and also the least likely to seek help. That’s why an Arkansas man is bringing mental health help to where they are: barbershops .
Read the full story in the Philadelphia Citizen.
How to Find Healing and Hope After a Mass Shooting - Huffington Post
An interview with internationally renowned grief coach and bestselling author Dr. Ken Druck
On December 14, 2012, 20 children and 6 adult staff members were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut ─ the deadliest shooting at a grade school in US history. On December 2, 2015, we witnessed the worst mass shooting since Sandy Hook in San Bernardino, California. The question how we can find healing after witnessing senseless violence and experiencing loss, is all the more pertinent. I spoke with Ken Druck who has worked on the front lines with families in the aftermath of 9-11, Columbine, and Sandy Hook. Dr. Druck, author of The Real Rules of Life, is an internationally recognized authority on traumatic loss, building resilience, and turning adversity into opportunity. Read more on the Huffington Post.
The Daily Beast: Helping Soldiers Transcend Trauma
"We need to actively work towards positive change, and we need the right tools and support in order to transform a bad break into a breakthrough."
For Veterans Day, I write about Brigadier General Rhonda Cornum and how she used her experience of being captured in the Iraq war to help other soldiers transcend trauma.
Read more on my blog or in the Daily Beast.
Photo: Peter Cunningham
How Richard Gere and Bernie Glassman Offer Solutions for the Homeless
Every country has a homeless problem, but I cannot think of another developed country that scorns its homeless people more willfully, thus exacerbating their physical, emotional and mental health issues, sometimes beyond repair. Richard Gere and Zen master Bernie Glassman set out to do something about it. Read the full article on the Huffington Post.
Interviews
What Cheryl Strayed Would Do If She Were President of the US (Hint: It Involves Pajamas, the F-word, and Guns)
An interview with the bestselling author of Wild about her book Brave Enough, posttraumatic growth, and running for president.
Read more on the Huffington Post.
We are all Dandelions
"We call dandelions weed when they pop up in our lawn, but the spring greens can make a tasty salad if we nourish them." Similarly, the apparent shortcomings of people on the autism spectrum (for instance, their attention to detail, and their directness) can become sought-after strengths.
Read more on my blog or the Huffington Post.
Phoenix Rising From Fire
Thirty years ago, nine-year-old John O’Leary was rushed to the emergency room, while his family’s home continued to be ablaze. As he lay in a hospital bed, he frantically wondered if he was about to die. He had suffered burns covering 100 percent of his body and was given less than one percent chance of survival. Today, he is an in-demand speaker who shares his gift of perspective and passion with thousands worldwide and whose book “On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life” became a national #1 bestseller. Read more on the Huffington Post.
My Brother, the Unabomber
A deeply personal encounter with David Kaczynski and Linda Patrik, family members of the man who was once the most sought after terrorist in the US.
Read more on the Huffington Post.
Features
The Ghetto Swinger: The amazing story of jazz star Coco Schumann who played in Auschwitz for his life
For more than 40 years, Coco Schumann did not speak about what he went through in Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. Then an encounter with a group of young Holocaust-deniers forced him to tell his story.
Read more on the Huffington Post.
Want to Be Happy? The Key Ingredient From Maya Angelou
When I asked the incomparable Maya Angelou the question that has gripped me for years, "How do we manage to triumph over adversities?", Angelou’s advice to me was clear-cut: Develop an attitude of gratitude. "I think we have to be grateful,” she told me in her deep, raspy voice. “You could have died last night, you know.” She laughed.
Here`s how this gratitude practice actually works: My new blog on mindbodygreen.
More from the archive here.
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