Cutting through the news cycle #1

As we do our best to settle into quarantine and self-isolation, deplete our snack reserves and keep up-to-date with the new social rules that have come hand-in-hand with life under Covid-19, it is difficult to not to not get swept away by the incessant bad news cycle. Fortunately, there are still some good things happening in the world right now. Here are a few of the stories that are giving us hope this week.

In the environment: Air pollution across the world is dropping

If there is one silver lining  to the industry slowdown that has accompanied the spread of the coronavirus is that the air is much cleaner, with noticeable differences in big cities like Beijing and New York. According to the BBC, drastic reductions in air travel and daily commutes are causing significant drops in dangerous gasses like methane, carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. In New York City alone, CO2 levels have dropped by 5-10 percent and a more than 50 percent drop in carbon monoxide levels compared to averages for March. The drop in pollution is not just good news for the environment, but also for coronavirus patients as unclean air can aggravate the respiratory disorder.

In entertainment: Tiger King is everyone’s favourite new Netflix obsession

You know everyone has been at home streaming TV too long when the most talked about television show is a documentary about people in the United States who own hundreds of large cats, but this is where we are at right now. Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder Mayhem and Madness premiered on 20 March  and, for good reason, has become an overnight phenomenon. The story follows three large cat owners, Joe Exotic and Doc Antle, who run zoos where visitors can pay to pet tiger cubs, and Carole Baskin, who runs a large cat rescue. The surreal true-crime series features everything from bleach blonde mullets, to attempted murder and bizarre gift shops that sell everything from tiger-branded BBQ sauce to an underwear line—the world of big cat owners is as competitive as it is strange.

In culture: You can stream the New York Metropolitan Opera’s performances for free this week

New York’s Metropolitan Opera was topical in its choice of featuring Richard Wagner operas for its second week of free streaming its performances—a move the opera house made after it closed its doors owing to the coronavirus outbreak in mid-March. The Met says that the German master composer’s operas “often depict destruction and strive, but also offer hope for redemption and rebirth—a message that resonates now more than ever.” The week starts out with the 2016 performance of Tristan und Isolde, a piece based on the medieval French tale of adultery, but inspired by the composer’s own affair with the wife of a patron, while Tuesday through Thursday are dedicated to the four operas of Wagner’s famous Ring Cycle which portrays the mythical destruction of Gods and the return of the Rhein River’s gold to the land. The week is rounded out by the composer’s only comedy Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Tannhäuser, a story about the “redemptive and transcendent power of woman’s love.” Each opera stream starts at 7:30PM EDT of the scheduled day and is available until 6:30PM EDTon the following day.