5SR - April 16, 2024
Hitha on reimagining shopping malls, taste, and the magic of Bluey
A quick refresher - I’m Hitha Palepu, the founder of #5SmartReads. If you’d like to connect with me elsewhere, I’m most active on Instagram and write a weekly newsletter about smart, random things (check out the most recent issue).
Overdosing on Chemo: A Common Gene Test Could Save Hundreds of Lives Each Year (KFF Health News)
This is a heartbreaking story. But reading could save a loved one’s life, given how common cancer is becoming today.
Fluorouracil (5-FU) is one of the most common chemotherapeutic agents and is on eof the few that has an injectable, topical, and nearly identical oral presentation (the oral product is known as capecitabine). It’s also one of the least expensive, with multiple generic options on the market (the drug has been available since the 1950s).
And if you’re deficient in dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), 5-FU could kill you before the cancer does, as your body does not have enough of this enzyme to metabolize and excrete the drug and it stays in your body for hours longer than it should.
Sadly, that’s not the tragedy. The preventable tragedy is that the test to assess a patient’s DPD levels are rarely ordered for a new oncology patient before they’re dosed with 5-FU or capecitabine.
I share this not to just inform you (if you or a loved one are ever in this position), but to call attention to the need of standardizing life saving tests before administering medication, which is a necessary step for patient safety across different therapeutic areas.
“There’s something alluring about surrendering to the trend tides and letting yourself be guided, wallet first, toward aesthetic absolution. Finding your personal style—for your body, for your home—is the perfect light-hearted stand-in for the slogging, uncertain work of self-actualization. Suggesting personal insight, it feels existentially productive without asking you to face your own mortality. At what time, in the history of humankind, has such a pursuit been more accessible and habit-forming? There are millions of ways to answer the call for stylishness. How you do it might say so much about you. More, even, than you have to say yourself.”
The suitcases I packed over the past few weeks were filled with my tried-and-true pieces - the Mara Hoffman dress I’ve owned for 10 years that’s perfect for the desert or any warm destination, the budget-friendly bodysuit that looks perfect with virtually any skirt or trousers, my lucky loafers that have seen me through book tour and speaking engagements.
Selecting and packing these favorites literally felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders. I knew I felt and looked great in these outfits. More importantly, I felt like me - and not the person I try to be because I’m in the midst of an anxious or insecure moment.
I’ve long vowed to shop less and enjoy the my edited closet more. I think I’m going to print
’s essay and hang it in said closet when I stress myself out with what I think I need.Truth is, I need nothing. And I have some beautiful pieces that need to come out to play.
steal the quick and easy breakfast that makes me a nicer person to be around - 1 scoop of AG1, 2 scoops of protein powder (use your favorite, just hit 20 g of protein), and shake it up with ice water.
America is full of abandoned malls. What if we turned them into housing? (Vox)
There is so much opportunity in the Venn Diagram of commercial real estate that no longer makes sense and the need for housing.
Abandoned malls is one opportunity - and a compelling one. And it’s already underway throughout the country.
The biggest hurdle to scaling this kind of development is zoning laws, the majority of which were drafted 100 years ago (on the younger side). Changing the laws is the first common sense step to re-making our communities based on our current needs, and not relics of history.
The good news is this necessary legal change is happening slowly, at both the local/state and federal levels. Imagine if the public and private sectors come together to invest and scale this development in a big way.
It’d make for a better future, for all of us.
‘Paradigm-shattering’: Bluey’s biggest episode ever is packed with magic (The Guardian)
spoilers ahead - scroll past if you haven’t watched this episode yet.
The season finale of Bluey was the best thing I’ve watched all year. Maybe ever.
Bluey is a full family favorite in our household. Each seven minute episode never fails to make all of us laugh, and to make me think and sometimes cry. The longer finale, though - I sobbed like a baby and I’m not afraid to admit it.
unpacked this episode beautifully and brilliantly, and had me watching it during my lunch break yesterday. It was one of the best episodes of one of the best shows airing right now - and I need this show to last forever (and even that won’t be long enough).Sudan's uprooted millions pay price for year-long war (Reuters)
The Sudanese displacement crisis is the largest in the world - and sadly there’s minimal coverage about it. Here’s what you need to know.
For a year to the date yesterday, Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been at war for control over the country. What was supposed to be a planned political transition resulted in looting and occupation by the RSF beyond Darfur, which had already been under siege for years.
Aid can’t get into RSF controlled areas. Over 8 million have been displaced by the war and have to seek refuge in other countries. It’s a horrible tragedy that continues to be made worse by two factions that should be on trial, not vying for power.