What's Good Wednesdays

What’s Good Wednesdays™, April 22, 2026

Book cover: The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
"The Sound of Things Falling" by Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Anne McLean (Translator)

Watch: Clouds. In honor of Earth Day, go sit outside and watch some clouds. It’s actually good for your health. – Natalie J.

Eat from the Hudson River. For the first time in five decades, some fish from New York City’s Lower Hudson are safe enough to eat, according to advice from the New York Department of Health earlier this month. It’s a big changeup for the river that’s been polluted since the Industrial Revolution. – Nolan

Read: The Sound of Things Falling.” Given our mention of Colombia in today’s newsletter, it’s only right that I recommend to you this exquisite novel by Juan Gabriel Vásquez – which itself was recommended to me by the newly-crowned Webby winner Alex Kliment. As you may have guessed, the book itself is a reference to planes – specifically, the use of them to transport drugs from Colombia to the United States. But rather than laying out the details of this drug trade, this historical fiction lays out the after effects of the violence that struck Colombian society in the 1980s and 1990s, and how it touched every single citizen. It’s a short, beautiful read that may prompt a few tears. – Zac

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