Read Dylan's feature, 'Why a Retired Texas Shrimper Crossed the World to Confront Asia’s Biggest Petrochemical Company', produced by Inside Climate News and co-published by The Xylom: www.thexylom.com/post/texas-s...

This week in our newsletter: Our Publisher and Editor @alexip718.com takes a look at how Stories from Afar, an award-winning documentary series that captured the lives of the Chinese diaspora at the turn of the century, has shaped his approach to international reporting.

"I wanted to know the history behind the price we all pay for excluding these doctors, and the proverbial debt America owes for their resilience and fight for basic human rights."

One thing that gives me hopium: @thexylom.com's newsletter list grew by 42% in 2026, with an open rate of 45%! Our team is discussing how to better serve you, especially as we move our website to @ghost.org. Everything from increasing frequencies to *adding* newsletters are on the table:

This week in our newsletter: Our Publisher and Editor @alexip718.com takes a look at how Stories from Afar, an award-winning documentary series that captured the lives of the Chinese diaspora at the turn of the century, has shaped his approach to international reporting.

The network of community health workers who track cases and distribute medicines for trachoma and other diseases has been disrupted. “Without them receiving salaries anymore, years of thorough field tracking are going to waste in months,” says Mozambique’s former deputy minister of health.

"I wanted to know the history behind the price we all pay for excluding these doctors, and the proverbial debt America owes for their resilience and fight for basic human rights."

“It is no accident that the far right opens the door for this pseudo-scientific theatre. Sowing doubt about established science is their business model, and the Patriots are happy to hand over a parliamentary room to do it”, said German MEP @michabloss.bsky.social, member of the Greens Group.

Last week, a bipartisan House bill was introduced to ban paraquat, a toxic pesticide linked to Parkinson's disease. The U.S. is among a handful of countries allowing paraquat use and one of the last remaining holdouts of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. (Published October)

Our weekly newsletter is your one-stop shop to understand the latest developments on the world's most pressing health and environmental disparities. Subscribe for FREE, or become a member now: newsletter.thexylom.com

Scientists are exploring animal and human trials of vaccines and monoclonal antibodies — lab-made antibodies that mimic the natural immune system — to reduce overdose deaths. The plan is to train the immune system to produce antibodies that bind to fentanyl in the bloodstream.

NEW: June 26th is the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. We spoke to Marco Pravetoni, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington, who's leading a team to explore antibody- and vaccine-based approaches that prevent fentanyl overdoses.

“Mining is one of the most disruptive interventions in the environment and one that leads to some of the most drastic modifications,” said Indian environmental activist and researcher Shripad Dharmadhikary. ”Thus, sustainable mining is almost an oxymoron.” (Published April)

Yikes: "We have a fentanyl vaccine, and we lost funding for the Phase I clinical trial because of the current administration’s misalignment on vaccines. […] Now we have a bunch of very expensive vials that are just sitting there, ready to go in somebody’s arm."

NEW: June 26th is the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. We spoke to Marco Pravetoni, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington, who's leading a team to explore antibody- and vaccine-based approaches that prevent fentanyl overdoses.

Monthly members allow us to reduce our reliance on philanthropic grants and pursue months-long investigative projects without fear or favor. Join our community of readers supporting our coverage of the world's most pressing health and environmental disparities:

Many of you have not been to Sudan or South Sudan. However, we at @thexylom.com were on the ground in both countries last year. Those folks are facing an unimaginable decade-long humanitarian crisis. They need a good Samaritan, not a Levite: www.thexylom.com/post/as-sout...

Here at The Xylom, we believe that independent press and bookstores, free from the influence of billionaires, are vital to a healthy democracy. This Anti-Prime Day, check out our @Bookshop.org and receive FREE shipping with any order from now through June 26th: bookshop.org/shop/thexylom

“When major economies such as the [U.S.] don’t fully ratify the Stockholm Convention, it weakens global enforcement,” says expert Aminu Zakari. “These chemicals continue to move through international supply chains and often find their way into countries with weaker monitoring systems like Nigeria.”

Experts say heat safety on election day comes down to three things: voting hours that allow peak heat to be avoided; crowd management that avoids people waiting in the sun; and polling booth infrastructure that prevents heat stress.

The doomsday "cult" AllatRa has had extraordinary access to the late Pope Francis since 2024. AllatRa members have also participated in the two most recent UN summits on the climate crisis – COP29 in Azerbaijan, and COP30 in Brazil – as well as the 2025 Bonn climate conference.

Last week, a bipartisan House bill was introduced to ban paraquat, a toxic pesticide linked to Parkinson's disease. The U.S. is among a handful of countries allowing paraquat use and one of the last remaining holdouts of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. (Published October)

“Mining is one of the most disruptive interventions in the environment and one that leads to some of the most drastic modifications,” said Indian environmental activist and researcher Shripad Dharmadhikary. ”Thus, sustainable mining is almost an oxymoron.” (Published April)

In this week's newsletter, we asked @dylanbaddour.bsky.social, our colleague at @insideclimatenews.org and a new-ish father, what he learned following three environmental leader mothers from Texas to Taiwan for his latest reporting project: newsletter.thexylom.com/archive/go-u...

“Saying that microplastics are already becoming a driver of climate instability is, in my view, an overstatement. [...] They [AllatRa] are splicing pieces of information together and reaching conclusions that are not supported by the science that sits behind them,” says professor Richard Thompson.

Publications like The Xylom and 404 are the starter seeds. We cannot let corporations be in charge of the news that shapes reality, we MUST have worker-led media as a pillar to rebuilding democracy. We build from the ground up. I wish I knew a faster way.

This goes without saying, sending my colleagues to report all across the Global South is extremely costly, so if you are able and willing, please become a monthly member to sustain this work! We're working on an on-the-ground Ebola story, you don't want to miss it: fundrazr.com/sustain-the-...

Here at The Xylom, we believe that independent press and bookstores, free from the influence of billionaires, are vital to a healthy democracy. This Anti-Prime Day, check out our @Bookshop.org and receive FREE shipping with any order from now through June 26th: bookshop.org/shop/thexylom

Elon Musk's destruction doesn't just stop at killing children, it also includes needlessly permanently blinding Black Africans because doctors no longer have the resources to fix kids' eyelashes from physically scraping their eyeballs, our exclusive reporting at @thexylom.com revealed this month:

“When a 28-year-old loses the ability to eat, speak clearly, smile, and work because of a climate crisis created primarily by high-emission countries on the other side of the world, that’s not just a dental issue, it’s a manifestation of environmental racism and climate apartheid.“

By quirk of coincidence this story on Taiwan and the following story on Taiwan both appeared in my reading feed this evening. [1/2] "That’s what drove them both to fight the same multi-billion-dollar company, Formosa Plastics Corp." (Dylan Baddour/The Xylom) 🧪🧋 www.thexylom.com/post/texas-s...

Climate change “is already profoundly affecting the lives of poor people worldwide — A, because they live in places that are already hot, and B, because they are not able to protect themselves as well,” said the Nobel Prize-winning economist Esther Duflo. www.thexylom.com/post/slums-c...

“Saying that microplastics are already becoming a driver of climate instability is, in my view, an overstatement. [...] They [AllatRa] are splicing pieces of information together and reaching conclusions that are not supported by the science that sits behind them,” says professor Richard Thompson.

In this week's newsletter, we asked @dylanbaddour.bsky.social, our colleague at @insideclimatenews.org and a new-ish father, what he learned following three environmental leader mothers from Texas to Taiwan for his latest reporting project: newsletter.thexylom.com/archive/go-u...

This investigation by @jreingold.bsky.social and Ignacio Conese is produced by @opendemocracy.net and co-published by The Xylom: www.thexylom.com/post/atlanta...

Born in Tule Lake Segregation Center, Dr. Satsuki Ina is a consulting psychotherapist, documentarian, and co-founder of a nonprofit dedicated to Japanese American mental health and community healing. She reflects on how the community has, over time, channeled pain into empowerment and healing.

NEW: Meet AllatRa, an Atlanta-headquartered "religious cult" founded by Ukrainian sympathizers of the Russian invasion, that believes humanity will go extinct by 2036. AllatRa rejects the scientific consensus on climate change, yet was invited to participate in the two most recent COP summits.

Thank you to a new supporter who wishes to remain anonymous! Support The Xylom's human-powered coverage of our world's most pressing health and environmental disparities by making a tax-deductible donation: fundrazr.com/sustain-the-...

“It is no accident that the far right opens the door for this pseudo-scientific theatre. Sowing doubt about established science is their business model, and the Patriots are happy to hand over a parliamentary room to do it”, said German MEP @michabloss.bsky.social, member of the Greens Group.

Climate change “is already profoundly affecting the lives of poor people worldwide — A, because they live in places that are already hot, and B, because they are not able to protect themselves as well,” said the Nobel Prize-winning economist Esther Duflo. www.thexylom.com/post/slums-c...

The doomsday "cult" AllatRa has had extraordinary access to the late Pope Francis since 2024. AllatRa members have also participated in the two most recent UN summits on the climate crisis – COP29 in Azerbaijan, and COP30 in Brazil – as well as the 2025 Bonn climate conference.

"But land isn’t the only thing Black people have lost in Hancock County. They’ve lost the only hospitals they’ve ever had nearby — and on more than one occasion." On Juneteenth, read an exclusive excerpt from @nicolefcarr.bsky.social's new book, The Price of Exclusion":

Monthly members allow us to reduce our reliance on philanthropic grants and pursue months-long investigative projects without fear or favor. Join our community of readers supporting our coverage of the world's most pressing health and environmental disparities:

By associating itself with the European far-right, “spiritual advisor to President Donald J. Trump” Mark Burns, and unsuspecting scientists, AllatRa operatives have been spreading climate disinformation in the EU Parliament, UN conferences, and TikTok. www.thexylom.com/post/atlanta...

You cannot make this up. What do you mean a pro-Trump, pro-Russia, doomsday "cult" got kicked out of Ukraine, moved to ATLANTA, and found its way to two UN COP climate summits?

"But land isn’t the only thing Black people have lost in Hancock County. They’ve lost the only hospitals they’ve ever had nearby — and on more than one occasion." On Juneteenth, read an exclusive excerpt from @nicolefcarr.bsky.social's new book, The Price of Exclusion":

NEW: Meet AllatRa, an Atlanta-headquartered "religious cult" founded by Ukrainian sympathizers of the Russian invasion, that believes humanity will go extinct by 2036. AllatRa rejects the scientific consensus on climate change, yet was invited to participate in the two most recent COP summits.

In 2019, Diane Wilson won a historic settlement in which Formosa Plastics committed to zero discharge of plastic into the coastal waters of Texas. However, since the requirements took effect in 2020, Formosa had reported 962 wastewater tests, and all of them detected plastics:

"We’re very aware of the ways in which euphemistic language and stories blame the victim. So much of our history and our trauma had been covered up by the efforts of the government to tell the story of what happened to us in a way that excused them from any responsibility."

"I jotted down notes to list the counties with the highest percentage of Black residents. Then I paired them with the counties reporting the fewest number of Black doctors. With zero Black doctors and a 71% Black population, Hancock County earned a place in my top three potential landing spots."