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Welcome to the 79th volume of WizeWorld: a collection of stories and sounds to round out your week, pique your curiosity, and widen your wizdom.
This week’s theme is innovation.
From a 19 year old CEO who’s changing the game for female athletes, to an artist who reimagines our world with rolled-up mulberry paper, and a scientist turning trash into infrastructure, the world needs innovators now more than ever. Innovation helps us redefine what’s possible, and imagine a future unlike anything we’ve seen before. Here’s to them.
We’ll be looking at:
- Whether sauna use can extend your life
- An interview with 19 year old CEO and cyclist Victoria Kalyniuk
- The artist who makes dense, vibrant topography with paper
- Steezy’s Jams, a collection of hip hop and R&B throwbacks
- How one company turns plastic into durable bricks
Learn
More than 3000 years old, saunas are certainly nothing new, but we’re learning more and more about why people have turned to them over the millennia. Some of the benefits include reduced risk of sudden cardiac death, fatal coronary heart disease, fatal cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality. But it is dose dependant—those who get their sweat on four to seven times per week are more likely to reap benefits than those enjoying a weekly session. Researchers also caution that sauna use shouldn’t replace your exercise regime. In fact, when paired together, a hard workout and a sauna can boost the benefits of one-another. So let’s get sweating.
Connect
Get inspired by this interview with cyclist Victoria Kalyniuk. She’s won road cycling provincials, attended debate camp, was a competitive speed skater in high school, is the President of the UVic Mountain Bike Club, and just co-founded a company called She Trains that seeks to support and optimize performance for female athletes. And all it took to get her started on this path was the promise of a free slurpee from her brother.
Victoria doesn’t mess around with sugar-packed drinks anymore, though, preferring the smooth taste of Wize to keep her sustainably energized and refreshed. But when she needs something a little warmer, she reaches for a hot cup of Chocolate Dream.
Raise a glass to this 19 year old CEO showing us what’s possible.
See
Colossal brings us the work of artist Amy Genser, who uses mulberry paper to recreate the dense, lush, and vibrant topographies of everything from gnarled tree roots to coral reef. And the subjects are no accident. According to Amy:
“There is an inextricable link between my art and environmentalism. I am inspired by our earth and solar system and use natural materials in my work. I primarily use mulberry paper, which is created from the regenerative branches of a mulberry tree. I have a hard time justifying the use of materials with trying to conserve our natural resources. I’m adding new material into the work, more “stuff.” I try to minimize my use of unnatural materials.”
Listen
What’s old is new again: kick back with this collection of classic and reimagined R&B and hip hop favorites from the 90s and 00s including songs from Boyz II Men, Young Thug, Monica, En Vogue, G-Unit, and more.
Get inspired
Finally, also from Colossal is the story of Nzambi Matee, a 29 year old entrepreneur from Nairobi, Kenya, whose company—Gjenge Makers—turns plastic waste into bricks more durable than concrete. After noticing the staggering amount of plastic waste on the streets, Matee quit her job as a data analyst for an oil industry engineer and created a small lab in her backyard to test sand and plastic combinations to come up with the perfect mix for these building blocks. Having finally perfected it, Matee launched her company and has created 112 jobs so far in her community. The company currently makes 1000-1500 bricks per day with hopes to expand across the continent of Africa in the future.
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