What you missed in September and other recommendations

Hey Sowers,

For those who’ve been here since the very start, you’re probably already aware that I’ve had a bit of a rocky year. A guardian devil must be watching over me because I got quite sick only a few weeks after launching the newsletter, putting me on the back foot. As the cold, dark winter looms, however, it finally feels like I've reached a point where I have all my plates spinning again.

It’s an important point to mention because I’ve definitely been using a lot of poetic licence with the term round-up over the last couple of months. As you can see this time, I’ve put in significantly a bit more effort to bring you a more comprehensive look at what people have been doing to make the world a better place in September—and this is the energy I plan to bring to the round-ups going forward.

The first thing I wanted to share was this quote posted by Katharine Hayhoe on Bluesky. I think it nicely demonstrates why I'm trying to encourage people to take action through Sower:

Stories of people taking action

• Over 400 artists and labels have come together for the No Music For Genocide campaign, a cultural boycott asking musicians to pull their music from streaming platforms in Israel. Key context: the movement to end Apartheid in South Africa started as a consumer boycott.
• On the 21st of September, 25 streets across Dublin were transformed into "play streets" free from cars. The idea is that children get to play outside without fear of being hit by a car. It's a form of activism that shows our urban centres should be centred on humans and not vehicles.
• One teenager on a Scottish island has started a petition to ban single use plastics that has garnered support from Members of Scottish Parliament and the wider public. Something as simple as a petition can genuinely create waves in politics.
• A group of academics recently published a paper pushing back on the uncritical adoption of "AI" in education. The researchers are from AI labs and work in the computer sciences, so their opposition to these commercial tools says a lot. Generative "AI" tools have already been shown to weaken critical thinking skills.
• Researchers in the UK have been restoring ponds by accessing seeds that have been trapped in the soils there for centuries. Nature has deposits of seeds like this everywhere and if we simply took a step back many rare species would return to our landscapes.
• The words we use to describe nature are disappearing. At some point, we started speaking about forests using scientific and economic terms, rather than regarding them as places of inspiration or beauty. The story highlights how we can resist that by having more tactile experiences with nature, but I think keeping those words alive is important, too.
• The implementation of "gender-affirmation forms" to ensure that the girls playing are "biologically female" in Edmonton, Canada has led to some girls refusing to sign them, showing solidarity with the trans community. However, overall the initiative has led to fewer girls playing sports. Really highlights how anti-trans policies have a profound affect on cis people (mostly cis girls/women) as well.
• This one feels like it should be satire, but a new group called Grandparents for Vaccines has formed in the US. The group formed to share stories of what it was like growing up without various vaccines that we take for granted in today's world. Cool.

Other interesting reads

• A report found that renewable energy companies are making significant progress on embedding human rights considerations into their operations. I still think we should be doing more to reduce our energy use so that we don't need to affect small communities living near mineral deposits, but it's a step in the right direction.
• Really enjoyed this essay on how support for the far-right doesn't come from left-behind working class communities, but rather those who feel like they have a sense of status to lose in a more equal society.
• Sustainability and food researchers wrote for the BBC that the world has already reached peak farmland. That doesn't mean deforestation is solved, as it is still advancing in certain regions, it just means that on an acre-for-acre basis, total farmland area is shrinking.

Other media

A little late to the party on this one, I think, but Magdalena Bay are easily one the most exciting alt-pop acts out there right now. My friend introduced me to them at the beginning of September, and I've had them on repeat since – Image is by far my favourite, but other great songs include Death & Romance and That's My Floor.

Generally, I'm very happy about the ongoing trip-hop renaissance. My favourite track of that variety this month is james K – Blinkmoth (July Mix).

Ahead of their new album this week, Say She She have recently released a couple of singles. Their female-led mix of psychedelic, funk, and disco works best for me on the track Under the Sun.

Got any news stories or other recommendations that you think other readers would like? Share them in the comments!