Memorable Stuff I Read This Week

The climate crisis is threatening the future of the world’s most popular fruit, as almost two-thirds of banana-growing areas in Latin America and the Caribbean may no longer be suitable for growing the fruit by 2080, new research has found.

Rising temperatures, extreme weather and climate-related pests are pummeling banana-growing countries such as Guatemala, Costa Rica and Colombia, reducing yields and devastating rural communities across the region, according to Christian Aid’s new report, Going Bananas: How Climate Change Threatens the World’s Favourite Fruit.

— Nina Lakhani / “Climate crisis threatens the banana, the world’s most popular fruit, research shows” / The Guardian

The war left me only those who died to call friends. I bless
night and light a votive candle so they pass through me in
a dream, like a scalpel or a cough, it left me no heart as a
window to hang on the wall of memories…

— Nasser Rabah / “To Whom Should We Recite the Time”

We will no longer be active on Twitter. We’d rather not contribute content and engagement, for free, to a platform owned by a paranoid billionaire who peddles in delusional misinformation, self-interested disinformation, and outright white supremacist conspiracy. (Not to mention all the DOGE stuff.) 

If you are a literary organization of any kind, please consider joining us, along with Electric Literature, over at Bluesky. 

@literaryhub.bsky.social

@electricliterature.com

— Johnny Diamond, Editor in Chief / “We’ve Logged Off” / Lit Hub

Know that when zebra finches felt the first pinch
of climate change, they chirped to their offspring, still shelled,
to warn, to insist, they hatch

smaller and fiercer.

— Amie Whittemore / “Future History of Earth’s Birds”

Acute food insecurity continues to rise at an alarming rate, with almost 300 million people at risk of death through starvation, new analysis reveals.

Escalating conflict and cuts to humanitarian aid along with climate and economic shocks forced an additional 13.7 million people into chronic food insecurity last year.

— Mark Townsend / “Almost 300m people at risk of death through starvation – report” / The Guardian

What we are attempting is dangerous:
Building a bridge.
Forging a bond.
Helping one another.
Let no one sway us otherwise.
We must keep on loving each other
through the killings.

— Essex Hemphill / “Meditations in a War Zone”

Christian Aid is calling on wealthy polluting nations most responsible for the climate crisis to urgently transition away from fossil fuels and fulfil their obligations to provide financing to help communities adapt to the changing climate.

“Bananas are not just the world’s favourite fruit, they are also an essential food for millions of people. We need to wake up to the danger posed by climate change to this vital crop,” said Osai Ojigho, Christian Aid’s director of policy and campaigns. “The lives and livelihoods of people who have done nothing to cause the climate crisis are already under threat.”

— Nina Lakhani / “Climate crisis threatens the banana, the world’s most popular fruit, research shows” / The Guardian

What I’m Listening To:

Though this world’s essentially an absurd place to be living in
It doesn’t call for bubble withdrawal
It’s said human existence is pointless
As acts of rebellious solidarity can bring sense in this world
La resistance!
La resistance!

— Stereolab / “French Disko”