April 5 - 8, 2026 (The Bear of Bad News 7)

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 5 - 8, 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:ArticlesThese common drug tests lead to tens of thousands of wrongful arrests a year, experts say. One state is fighting backhttps://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/05/us/colorado-field-drug-test-lawApril 5, 2026Researchers turn recovered car battery acid and plastic waste into clean hydrogenhttps://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/researchers-turn-recovered-car-battery-acid-and-plastic-waste-into-clean-hydrogenApril 6, 202610% of the ocean is protected. Now just 20% more to gohttps://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-of-the-ocean-is-protected-now-just-20-more-to-go/April 6, 2026Johns Hopkins Scientists Develop Nasal DNA Vaccine for Tuberculosishttps://scitechdaily.com/johns-hopkins-scientists-develop-nasal-dna-vaccine-for-tuberculosis/April 7, 2026From biodiversity to carbon capture: Saving bison from extinction has brought big benefits to Europehttps://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/from-biodiversity-to-carbon-capture-saving-bison-from-extinction-has-brought-big-benefits-to-europe/ar-AA20nLmjApril 7, 2026Ecuador study finds tropical rainforest biodiversity rebounds over 90% in 30 yearshttps://phys.org/news/2026-04-ecuador-tropical-rainforest-biodiversity-rebounds.htmlApril 8, 2026Inside a Kentucky City’s Unusual Experiment in Citizen-Led Governancehttps://nextcity.org/features/inside-a-kentucky-citys-unusual-experiment-in-citizen-led-governanceApril 8, 2026Man unexpectedly cured of HIV after stem cell transplanthttps://techfixated.com/man-unexpectedly-cured-of-hiv-after-stem-cell-transplant/April 8, 2026Let’s Do The Good News AgainAlong with our Wheel of Good Fortune addition is Let’s Do the Good News Again, if articles are found during the making the next set of episodes we’re gonna add them to the list and report on them at the end of the next episode.Here are the stories we missed in last episode:There’s something special about Kangeroo island’s koalashttps://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260401-the-island-saving-koalas-from-chlamydiaApril 3, 2026Braiding knowledge: how Indigenous expertise and western science are converginghttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/04/indigenous-knowledge-western-science-climate-ecosystemsApril 4, 2026A 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 Open Letters by Mersault substack, entitled “I Lied My Way Into a MAGA Focus Group,” and comes from I like to think of myself as a basically decent person. Responsible. Honest. I pay my taxes without trying to outsmart the government. I pay for my own streaming accounts, even when the password field practically begs me to use a family member’s login. I rarely drive more than five miles over the speed limit. Heck, I return the shopping cart even when no one is watching.So I had a system. A quiet agreement with myself: I am not the kind of person who does things that require a defense attorney.And yet, this week, I committed an act, premeditated, sustained, and by any reasonable standard, unethical. Furthermore, what I am doing right now, writing this (publishing it) is, strictly speaking, illegal.A few paragraphs in between and an ending of:And then came the next question.And with it, something I hadn’t accounted for.Up to that point, I’d been operating with a kind of internal script: blend in, establish credibility, wait for the moment to turn.That plan ended there.What followed over the next hour and forty-five minutes was not a continuation of what came before. The conversation moved. Quickly. Into places I hadn’t anticipated.It wasn’t what I expected.And more to the point, it’s not something I can compress into a few quotes or a neat summary at the end of this piece.It needs more room than that.That’s Part 2.Next week.OutroWe hope you enjoyed our show everyone, thanks for tuning in, and until next time, I hate to be the Bear 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