June 3, 2026 - Justices Revive Alabama's Disputed Map

Richard Louv wrote one of the most impactful books I've ever read. “Last Child in the Woods” introduced the concept of nature deficit disorder, and when it came out I spoke extensively about the need to keep our kids tethered to the outside world - but I didn't yet see it as part of a larger pattern of societal disconnect. That would come later, when I started connecting the dots: Putnam's “Bowling Alone”, Murray's “Coming Apart”, Bishop's “The Big Sort”, Twenge's “iGen”, Haidt's “The Anxious Generation”. But Louv was the original Mingling building block.

Now he's back with “Noticing: Intimate Encounters with the Natural World”, and I read it this past weekend in my backyard - the only way it should be consumed. He was my guest on radio yesterday. (You can watch that interview, see the YouTube link below this note.)

The core argument is simple and urgent: direct experience in nature isn't a nice-to-have. It's a have-to-have for mental health, physical health, cognitive functioning, and creativity. When Louv wrote “Last Child”, there were roughly 60 studies supporting that claim. There are now upwards of 1,500.

What struck me most is how the new book addresses our epidemic of inauthenticity. You can't trust what you read. You can't trust what you see. And Louv's answer is that the authentic world has been there all along. He calls it your "first place" - that initial imprint of nature that stays with you for life.

Mine is a wooded area at the end of the street where I grew up, adjacent to Henry Chapman Mercer's famous Fonthill residence in Doylestown, PA. Mercer himself was a man obsessed with what human hands leave behind. The woods next to his concrete castle felt mysterious for exactly that reason - it's where we rode bikes, built underground forts, cased a haunted house and caught crayfish in the creek. Find your "first place" and create an environment for your kids and grandchildren to discover their own.

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The Supreme Court ruled that Alabama may use its contested 2023 congressional map in the 2026 elections, overturning a lower court's finding that the map intentionally discriminated against Black voters and prompting a sharp dissent from the court's liberal justices.

SCOTUSblog

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KTLA

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department will permanently abandon its controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, despite ongoing legal and political scrutiny surrounding the Trump-IRS settlement that created it.

NBC News

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Semafor

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The Washington Post

As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, two separate organizations—Congress’s bipartisan America250 commission and President Trump’s Freedom 250 task force—are planning competing celebrations, with Freedom 250 drawing controversy over artist withdrawals, transparency concerns, and accusations of political and religious bias.

USA Today

Veteran "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley was fired by new executive producer Nick Bilton after a contentious staff meeting in which Pelley publicly criticized network leadership and challenged Bilton’s qualifications, prompting Bilton to cite misconduct and refusal to collaborate as grounds for termination.

Mediaite

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NBC News

Sen. John Fetterman unloaded on Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner over reports of extramarital sexually explicit text messages and a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, as fellow Democrats met with Platner in Washington and largely declined to push him out of the race against Sen. Susan Collins.

CNN

Two-time Grammy-winning R&B singer Peabo Bryson, celebrated for his iconic Disney duets “Beauty and the Beast” with Céline Dion and “A Whole New World” with Regina Belle, has died at 75 after suffering a stroke, leaving behind a decades-long legacy of chart-topping music and beloved performances.

The Hollywood Reporter