April 1 - 4, 2026 (The Bear of Bad News 6)

IntroHello, my name is welcome to the Bear of Bad News, I’m your host LorBear, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, so I won’t! This is your weekly recap of positive news stories from around the world. Articles included in this broadcast were originally published from April 1 - 4 2026The stories in this episode are sourced from various news outlets and publications. The Bear of Bad News does not conduct independent fact-checking or verification of these stories. Listeners are encouraged to review original sources for accuracy and complete context. We are not responsible for the accuracy or content of third-party reporting.Which is a fancy way of saying I read it, I didn’t report it, and here are this week’s stories:ArticlesDolly Parton Makes ‘Generational and Transformational’ Donation to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital Named After Herhttps://people.com/dolly-parton-transformational-donation-childrens-hospital-named-after-her-11940384In New England, Catching Climate Data Along With Fishhttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/climate/new-england-fishermen-ocean-data.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ZlA.05xp.tqZxfeZj4dQGThis South African mom sold her house, bought 34 tonnes of salt – and built a global brandhttps://www.news24.com/life/food/news/this-south-african-mom-sold-her-house-bought-34-tonnes-of-salt-and-built-a-global-brand-20260331-0687Smartphone-powered water test detects waste contamination in under one minutehttps://interestingengineering.com/innovation/rapid-water-contamination-test-smartphone-detectionLuxembourg becomes second country worldwide to enshrine abortion rights in constitutionhttps://www.luxtimes.lu/luxembourg/luxembourg-becomes-second-country-worldwide-to-enshrine-abortion-rights-in-constitution/138838058.htmlEtsy bans animal fur as industry sentiments continue to shifthttps://fashionunited.com/news/fashion/etsy-bans-animal-fur-as-industry-sentiments-continue-to-shift/2026040371580Nearly half of US data centers planned for 2026 are facing delays or cancellationhttps://www.techspot.com/news/111947-nearly-half-us-data-centers-planned-2026-facing.htmlWheel of HappinessIn addition to our regular stories, this week we are starting the Wheel of Good Fortune! If there are less than ten articles each episode then we spin the wheel to report on old articles that have been missed or were not found in time for the original broadcast. This will allow the show to happen twice weekly and bring more good news into your life!Currently, there are 19 stories waiting in the missed queue. Wheel Spins this week were as follows: 1, 7, 13Toucans reintroduced 50 years ago disperse seeds of endangered trees in Brazilhttps://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/toucans-reintroduced-50-years-ago-disperse-seeds-of-endangered-trees-in-brazil/Trawling ban sparks marine recoveryhttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86y8z9wdnwoDutch court bans xAI’s Grok from generating nonconsensual nude imageshttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/26/dutch-court-bans-xais-grok-from-generating-non-consensual-nude-imagesA Tale of Two ParagraphsAnd that is the end of this weeks articles, hopefully they added a little positive joy to your life. Before we end, I have our final segment of the show, something I like to call, A Tale of Two Paragraphs.In this segment, I take the first and last paragraph from an article on substack or another similar source, and read them to you, to encourage you to go read the article yourself. Many people forget the power of the written word to move us, and how intriguing the middle of the story is. The less I read the better, but people often want to know how we got to endings more than the endings themselves, and maybe then you will go exploring the substack and read the paragraphs in between.This weeks article is from the Oldster Magazine substack, entitled “What I Did For Love #2: Say it Out Loud,” and comes from We get through life not by telling ourselves stories, but by looking away from the accumulating evidence of the truth about ourselves.A memoir puts witnesses into your past life. As if you had said, “Hey, you, I will haul you out of your today and put you squarely in my yesterday. I will make you watch what happened ten thousand days ago, twenty thousand days ago, and I will make you feel what I felt.”But the witnesses notice the things you avoided during the writing and the rewriting. It was only when my memoir was finally written, rewritten, rewritten, proofed, edited, and published, that I knew.I’d failed the love test.A few paragraphs in between and an ending of:When his wife died, two years later, I felt compassion for my old friend.I sent condolences; he wrote back. There was silence for a few months.I thought no more of it.Until we began to speak on the phone. And behind every polite kindness were the words I didn’t say, “I love you.”We married five years ago, in an empty town hall in the middle of a snowy field, with six masked witnesses and a judge.I was 72. He was 74.I had waited twenty thousand days.OutroWe hope you enjoyed our show everyone, thanks for tuning in, and until next time, I hate to be the Bearer of Bad News, so I won’t!Have a good day.Thanks for reading The Bear of Bad News! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebearofbadnews.substack.com