Good news for people who love bad news

Summary

Podcast Summary: Unexplainable – "Good News for People Who Love Bad News"

Release Date: August 4, 2025
Host/Author: Vox
Episode Title: Good News for People Who Love Bad News

---

Introduction

In this compelling episode of Unexplainable, Meredith Haddon engages in a thoughtful conversation with Brian Walsh, the editor of Vox’s Future Perfect Team. Together, they explore the dichotomy of good news versus bad news in the media landscape, delving into the psychological underpinnings and societal implications of a predominantly negative news cycle.

---

The Dominance of Negative News

Meredith begins by prompting Brian to highlight Vox's top-performing stories, which predominantly feature negative headlines:

Brian Walsh [02:01]: "The Supreme Court just handed Trump his biggest victory of a second term. Well, I guess that's good news from someone's perspective."

Other examples include stories about canceled shows, government mishaps, and rising costs in American suburbs. This selection underscores a concerning trend:

Brian Walsh [03:15]: "You know, I'm not going to try to smokescreen, you hear and say that everything is great in the year 2025. In fact, it's probably quite a lot worse than it's been in most of the years I've been alive."

---

Understanding Negativity Bias

The conversation shifts to exploring why negative news dominates:

Brian Walsh [03:49]: "Audience members often tell you, why does the media report so negative? If you just report positive news, we would jump all over it."

Brian explains that positive stories often develop slowly and require extensive context, making them less suited for the fast-paced news cycle. Additionally, negative events tend to be more sensational and easier to narrate:

Brian Walsh [05:01]: "The best good news honestly tends to involve lots and lots of people. The real meaning of it is not that it's just happening to one person. The real meaning is happening to many millions of people over many years."

---

Introducing "Good News"

Acknowledging the scarcity of positive reporting, Meredith and Brian brainstorm the introduction of a dedicated "Good News" segment:

Meredith Haddon [08:12]: "Let's bring some good news to the unexplainable listeners."

After a brief discussion on naming the segment, they settle on the straightforward "Good News", emphasizing its clarity and appeal.

---

Highlighting Positive Trends

Brian presents several uplifting stories that counterbalance the prevailing negative narratives:

1. Decline in US Murder Rates

Brian shares a significant drop in the US murder rate, potentially the lowest in recorded history:

Brian Walsh [11:51]: "The early numbers for 2025 indicate that we may be on a pace for the lowest murder rate in US History, at least in recorded US History. That's pretty amazing."

He highlights the paradox of media coverage focusing more on crime spikes rather than significant decreases:

Brian Walsh [12:06]: "We're less likely to report on and less likely to read a story about where a bad problem is getting less bad."

2. Improvements in Climate Impact

Despite ongoing economic damages from climate change, there have been fewer deaths from extreme weather events:

Brian Walsh [13:31]: "In the first six months of 2025, we saw the fewest people globally on record dying from extreme weather."

This improvement is attributed to better disaster preparedness and advancements in technology, although economic impacts continue to rise.

3. Advancements in Driverless Car Safety

Brian discusses the safety benefits of autonomous vehicles, citing Waymo's impressive statistics:

Brian Walsh [18:45]: "Waymo has accumulated 56 million miles of fully autonomous driving, resulting in 81% fewer deployments of airbags due to accidents, 85% fewer serious injury crashes, and 96% fewer intersection injuries compared to human drivers."

He extrapolates these figures to suggest potential nationwide safety improvements:

Brian Walsh [19:27]: "You save something like 34,000 lives a year."

4. Progress in Cancer Treatment

Significant advancements have reduced the risk of dying from cancer:

Brian Walsh [22:19]: "People today of a certain age have about a one-third lower risk of dying from cancer than someone of the same age in 1990."

This progress is largely due to decreased smoking rates, improved therapies, and better diagnostic tools.

---

Addressing Complexities and Caveats

While celebrating these positive trends, Meredith and Brian acknowledge ongoing challenges and complexities:

• Murder Rates: Despite the overall decline, the persistence of high murder numbers (10,000+) complicates the narrative.

• Climate Change: Although fatalities from extreme weather have decreased, the economic toll continues to escalate.

• Driverless Cars: Brian notes that the current success of autonomous vehicles like Waymo is limited to specific, manageable environments (e.g., Phoenix’s weather-friendly conditions).

• Cancer Treatment: The reduction in cancer mortality does not negate the rising incidence of certain cancers among younger demographics.

Brian Walsh [25:02]: "One element does not cancel out the whole story... It's improving, but bad things can happen within that."

---

The Importance of Good News for Resilience

Brian emphasizes the psychological benefits of focusing on positive developments:

Brian Walsh [26:17]: "Hope is a reinforcing element to resilience. It’s like an armor you can put on as you go off into the not very easy world."

He reflects on his own transformation from skepticism about positive attitudes to recognizing their value in fostering resilience and combating "doom scrolling."

---

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a call to action for both media creators and consumers to prioritize and share good news. By doing so, they can foster a more balanced and hopeful societal outlook, enhancing collective resilience in facing ongoing challenges.

Meredith Haddon [27:19]: "If you want more good news from Brian every week, you can sign up for his newsletter on vox.com."

---

Key Takeaways

• Negativity Bias in Media: Tendency to prioritize negative news due to its sensational nature and immediate impact.

• Challenges in Reporting Good News: Positive stories often require more context and time to develop, making them less prevalent in fast-paced news cycles.

• Impact of Good News: Highlighting positive trends can enhance societal resilience, hope, and a more accurate perception of reality.

• Examples of Positive Trends: Declining murder rates, fewer deaths from extreme weather, safer driverless cars, and advancements in cancer treatment.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Brian Walsh [03:15]: "If you just report positive news, we would jump all over it."

• Brian Walsh [05:01]: "The real meaning of it is happening to many millions of people over many years."

• Brian Walsh [12:06]: "We're less likely to report on and less likely to read a story about where a bad problem is getting less bad."

• Brian Walsh [18:45]: "Waymo has accumulated 56 million miles of fully autonomous driving…"

• Brian Walsh [22:19]: "People today have about a one-third lower risk of dying from cancer than someone of the same age in 1990."

• Brian Walsh [26:17]: "Hope is a reinforcing element to resilience."

---

Unexplainable continues to push the boundaries of what we understand, encouraging listeners to seek out the positive amidst the often overwhelming sea of negative news. This episode serves as a crucial reminder of the importance of balance in media consumption and the profound impact of good news on our collective psyche.

Transcript

[Robinhood Ad]

Support for this show comes from Robinhood. Wouldn't it be great to manage your portfolio on one platform? With Robinhood, not only can you trade individual stocks and ETFs, you can also seamlessly buy and sell crypto at low costs. Trade all in one place. Get started now on Robinhood Trading. Crypto involves significant risk. Crypto trading is offered through an account with Robinhood Crypto llc. Robinhood Crypto is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Crypto held through Robinhood Crypto is not FDIC insured or civic protected. Investing involves risk including loss of principal. Securities trading is offered through an account with Robinhood Financial LLC. MemberCIPIC, a registered broker dealer.

[Thumbtack Ad]

Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint, finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app. Download today.

[Meredith Haddon]

All right, Brian Walsh.

[Brian Walsh]

That's me.

[Meredith Haddon]

So you are the editor of the Future Perfect Team. You oversee the climate team. You oversee some podcasts like yours truly. So top editorial leader here, one of them at Fox.

[Brian Walsh]

Yeah, you could say that. I think that's fair to say.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah. Could you pull up the best performing Vox stories right now and we'll play a little game of good news, bad news?

[Brian Walsh]

Oh, boy, this is so embarrassing. Okay, okay.

[Meredith Haddon]

Top story, Vox.com.

[Brian Walsh]

All right, top story. July 14, Ian Millhiser. The Supreme Court just handed Trump his biggest victory of a second term. Well, I guess that's good news from someone's perspective. True. Okay, July 18th, constant Grady. There's a bigger story behind Colbert's cancellation. Yeah, I don't think the bigger story is that bad for the media, as I'm pretty sure. And bad for media freedom.

[Meredith Haddon]

Right, right, right.

[Brian Walsh]

Oh, this is a good one. All right. July 23rd, Benji Jones, recent piece. The government stepped in to clean up a disaster in North Carolina. Then they created another one. I edited that story along with Paige Vega, our. Our climate editor and I. That was not. Not positive, unfortunately. Should I keep going?

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Walsh]

Do two or three more going down. Will we ever know why Brian COBurger Murdered the Idaho 4? Just going to keep on going on that one.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Brian Walsh]

The real reason why everyone's so mad over the Gen Z stare. I mean, everyone's so mad. And then they're like, oh, I love the way that Gen Z's look at me with dead eyes. Republicans now own America's broken health care system. Nope. America's fastest growing suburbs are about to get very expensive.

[Meredith Haddon]

I think that's a good representative sample. Yeah, I'd say so for July 2025.

[Brian Walsh]

You know, I'm not going to try to smokescreen, you hear and say that everything is great in the year 2025. In fact, it's probably quite a lot worse than it's been in most of the years I've been alive. I think at the same time, like, I bet if we went back to like 2010 or something like that, I bet we would find a similar kind of tone emotionally.

[Meredith Haddon]

I mean, you're one of the people shaping media out there. What have you figured out? Like, what can you tell me about good news and bad news from that perspective?

[Brian Walsh]

From that perspective, I can tell you one thing, which is that audience members, people will often tell you, like, why does the media report? Why so negative? Why so negative? You know, if you just, if you guys would report positive news, we would jump all. We'd read it. No, they're lying that they do not. They don't actually feel that way. I mean, this is the problem we face, right? Like it's important for any editorial, company or person, whatever, you know, think seriously about what they're putting out into the world. You know, not in a kind of like woo woo energy way, but like, you know, real things about the human, about who we are as people and where we could be going. And I think we need that now more than ever.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah. Why, why do you think it's so easy to, to miss the good news or to miss covering the good news?

[Brian Walsh]

I think quite honestly one part is there is, you know, the news often is like what is happening right now. And so usually the more positive stories, they change imperceptibly over a longer period of time. And that probably more than anything else is why we miss them.

[Meredith Haddon]

It seems like the good news has a lot more context and explaining that has to go into it before getting to what that good news is or being able to appreciate the scale of it.

[Brian Walsh]

Exactly. Yeah. I think that that's another part where this is hard because we're dealing with the biggest, the best good news honestly tends to involve lots and lots of people. The real meaning of it is not that it's just happening to one person. The real meaning to it is happening to many Many millions of people over many, many years. And that's just, I don't think that fits into a narrative or a story quite as easily as a lot of the more negative stuff.

[Meredith Haddon]

What's the mystery here? What's unexplainable about some of these biases?

[Brian Walsh]

Why, why we lean negative, even though I don't think it makes us feel good. We know it's funny. Like, we know that like optimistic people, you know, generally turn out better, better health, live longer, really annoying, you know, all those things, you'd think these are habits of mine that maybe would be selected or you'd want to develop more and you see it elsewhere. Just, you know, I think it might be here in the media. That's less often. And then I wonder as well, like, is there anything that can be done to change this? Is this just who we are as human beings? Is it just how our media system will generally work? Because it doesn't feel like it's getting better. Like it feels like, if anything, we're seeing like a darker tenor tend to win out over time. And look, maybe that's reality to a certain extent. Maybe I'm the one who's wrong.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah. How do you think this negativity bias shapes what we believe is true?

[Brian Walsh]

You know, so much of this comes down to attention, right? Like, what are we paying attention to? What we notice. And what you notice then becomes your reality. So I think negativity bias just makes us more likely to pick up on things that are bad, that are negative. And if you think of your sense of reality or truth as a product of what you're noticing, then, yeah, that will be affected, you know, and the picture you see, it's like, you know, if you, if you're drawing a picture on the paper and you only have black, gray and white, like it's going to look differently than if you have full colors. In a way that I think is. I do, I think it's ultimately counterproductive.

[Meredith Haddon]

Is it also somewhat of like a confirmation bias here too? Like once a narrative is rooted in our brains, it's like hard to shake. Or we're more skeptical of like a good news take on something that we're convinced is bad?

[Brian Walsh]

Yes, I think so. That's absolutely true. And I think, you know, we tend to pay attention to whatever we saw more recently, I think, of what's available in front of us. You know, even if there are things that are more unusual, things that aren't actually how things usually work on a day to day basis. Like a terrible Crime or an airplane accident, anything like that, That'll be the thing that'll stick in our head. Not all the stuff that went just fine.

[Meredith Haddon]

Got it. So it's like the one off holds just as much weight as, like, everything working well for millions of people.

[Brian Walsh]

Exactly. Like we're not walking around sort of being like, well, there's that one plane crash, but actually, you know, 3 million passengers every day land perfectly safe. No, that doesn't work that way.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah, I mean, we have the power to do our little part. Maybe put some little bit more good news out into the world. Mm. Let's bring some good news to the unexplainable listeners.

[Brian Walsh]

I love it. Let's do it.

[Meredith Haddon]

Let's do it. All right. I mean, you said that, you know, it's, like, hard to get people's attention with good news. So we should, like, name this something super catchy, right? Like, what should we call this?

[Brian Walsh]

I think we should call it good news.

[Meredith Haddon]

Just simple, clean, to the point.

[Brian Walsh]

Look, this is news and it's good. It is good. Put those things together, you have good news.

[Meredith Haddon]

It's good news. Yeah, I mean, I was kind of thinking, like, along the lines of, like, what's the opposite of a sad trombone? You know, like, that kind of sounds like Blue's Clues.

[Brian Walsh]

Exactly.

[Meredith Haddon]

How about you may have missed the silver lining as you fell into a pit of despair.

[Brian Walsh]

Poetic, but a bit long.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah, it's not. It's not as catchy. All right, we'll stick with good news. You make a compelling case.

[Brian Walsh]

Thank you.

[Meredith Haddon]

I did make a little theme song for you.

[Brian Walsh]

Oh, good. Yeah. So I'm asking you, can you give me that?

[Meredith Haddon]

Can you give me that good news?

[Brian Walsh]

I feel like I'm ready to start, like, a morning radio show with that.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Brian Walsh]

So good.

[Meredith Haddon]

Awesome. So this is good news. You are Brian Walsh. Did you bring me some good news?

[Brian Walsh]

I do have some good news. And it starts with bad news first, of course. Did you ever watch, like, the nightly news, like the local news when you were growing up?

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah.

[Brian Walsh]

What did it usually start with?

[Meredith Haddon]

I think I remember. Yeah, definitely. It's 10 o'. Clock. Do you know where your children are?

[Brian Walsh]

Yeah, exactly. And like, I grew up outside Philadelphia, which in the 80s was definitely, like, every day, like, every without fail, 5:30, Larry Kane comes on the TV show or whoever. This murder happened here. This murder happened here. This murder happened here. Now, there were a lot of murders happening. Violent crime going through the 80s into the 90s was generally going up and up. That was sort of the peak. And I think there was a real sense of like, could this even be changed? And then, you know, for reasons that criminologists still have, I'm sure, very detailed academic arguments in very polite language with each other on it started to drop drastically beginning in the sort of around the, the mid-90s and just mostly kept dropping, kept falling and kept falling into late 90s, through the 2000s. In the 2000s, you know, maybe occasionally increases, but like, in general, the story of crime was just going down, down, down. And that became the new reality. Now what's interesting is that even during that time period when you asked Americans, like, their feelings about violent crime, like, this is when we're in the middle of like a ski slope going downwards, like, majority would still say that they believe crime is rising. You know, like that to me is one of the all time best, like negativity news bias stories. But during the pandemic or in the years that really followed, you had a real meaningful, huge spike in violent crime in the United States. This was happening across the country. And what's amazing is really just over the last about year and a half or so, I think, or a little bit further than that. The early numbers for 2025 indicate that we may be on a pace for the lowest murder rate in US History, at least in recorded US History. That's pretty amazing. No one can quite explain why that is, but that feels like that should be a bigger story. I mean, certainly the media covered the increase in crime quite heavily for good reason, because it was a big deal. But you don't see the same amount of attention being put on. Why is it coming down hearing you.

[Meredith Haddon]

Say that this could be the lowest murder rate in recorded US History? Like, yeah, that seems like a catchy headline to me.

[Brian Walsh]

It is.

[Meredith Haddon]

Why? Why would this be good news that we might have missed?

[Brian Walsh]

This just feels like, I mean, maybe I'm being too simplified here, but this just feels like a situation where we're less likely to report on and less likely to read a story about where a bad problem is getting less bad. I mean, that's part of it, actually, come to think of it, like, because you can then look at this and be like, well, there's still, you know, 10,000, 12,000, 14,000 people who will be murdered. That's not a good news story.

[Meredith Haddon]

Right.

[Brian Walsh]

And that's not a very satisfying story to tell, especially in the absence of the, you know, if it bleeds, it leads stuff that you get when you're seeing a crime spike. And look you can reverse this too as well. I think climate change is a story where often is, I think, reported as if it is just a continuous story of things getting worse. That is true in some ways. The temperature is continuing to rise and it will rise for the foreseeable future. There's an element where it is the ultimate bad news story because every year will be worse than the year before, which is something I like not to think about too often. But I think, you know, there are positive things happening. Whether that's research that indicates that the worst levels of warming now seem less likely in the future, or something else that it sort of just looked at recently is that it appears as if the first six months of 2025 resulted in the fewest people globally on record dying from extreme weather.

[Meredith Haddon]

Oh, wow.

[Brian Walsh]

Yeah. No, I mean, it's, it's surprising. And that's definitely sort of the kind of thing that does not, does not get reported a lot. That is really good news. And that's actually something that's been a long term trend. Like we have seen really impressive reductions in deaths, at least from extreme weather, even as the economic damage from these disasters has been getting worse.

[Meredith Haddon]

Right.

[Brian Walsh]

But not dying is a really important thing. And we used to see massive casualties in big natural disaster events like half a million people dying in Bangladesh during major cyclones. That does not happen to the degree it used to. And that to me is a good news story. But I don't think you'll hear people talk about that as much because again, it does not fit into the picture of climate change as being something that is just, just, just, just getting worse.

[Meredith Haddon]

Right.

[Brian Walsh]

Can I just. Let me just run and get some water.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[Brian Walsh]

All right, thanks. Sorry. Okay.

[Meredith Haddon]

Good news is thirsty business. Yeah. Vox Creative.

[Adobe Ad]

This is advertiser content from Adobe. As the head of marketing for a big box retailer, I track a lot of moving parts. In addition to our online presence, we have hundreds of locations in dozens of countries. We're about to launch a full refresh of our brand. The new look and feel is a lot bolder and brighter. With all of the changes, our teams still need to create content fast and follow the new brand guidelines. That's why I chose Adobe Express.

[Marketing Team Member]

For members of the marketing team like me, this brand refresh means we have to work together to create a ton of content for different channels. We need to be consistent, but also fast and flexible. Adobe Express has us covered. Generative AI that seems safe for business, lets us create new content in seconds. Brand kits let us centralize our design assets. So we can always access or share the latest and greatest. Collaborating with my team members has never been easier.

[Brian Walsh]

And you know what?

[Marketing Team Member]

We're having more fun too.

[Adobe Ad]

Adobe Express, the quick and easy app to create on brand content. Learn [e-mail] Express Business.

[WhatsApp Ad]

On WhatsApp, no one can see or hear your personal messages. Whether it's a voice call message or sending a password to WhatsApp, it's all just this. So whether you're sharing the streaming password in the family chat or trading those late night voice messages that could basically become a podcast, your personal messages stay between you, your friends and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp message privately with everyone.

[Ceedee Lamb]

Hey guys, it's Ceedee Lamb, wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. I'm partnering with Abercrombie this season to tell you all about their viral denim. All you need to know is denim should fit like this. My jeans need to check a lot of boxes fit first, trend second. They need to go with whatever I'm feeling. And Abercrombie Denim has it down, whether I'm throwing on a tee or putting the whole fit together. Shop Abercrombie Denim in the app, online and in store.

[Brian Walsh]

Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy.

[Meredith Haddon]

All right, Brian. Brian with a Y. We're back.

[Brian Walsh]

Yes.

[Meredith Haddon]

What other good news is out there that I should know about?

[Brian Walsh]

I really like this one, and that is driverless cars.

[Meredith Haddon]

Okay.

[Brian Walsh]

A thing I know that everyone loves, but in fact, they really are good news. Because you know what? Human beings are really not actually good at driving cars. Like, we're really bad at it. Like, when you get down to it, I think some of us are better. I mean, all of us think we're good at it, Right. I'm obviously, I'm very good.

[Meredith Haddon]

Everybody thinks they're above average, Right?

[Brian Walsh]

Exactly. It's the Lake Wobegan effect on cars. But close to 40,000 people are dying in car accidents every year. That's a result of the speeding, which we shouldn't be doing. Result of us driving intoxicated, which we all shouldn't be doing. But just generally like the human. You know, like if we're moving 70.

[Meredith Haddon]

Miles an hour in a 2,000 pound machine.

[Brian Walsh]

Yeah, exactly. You know, it would be great if we didn't have to do this.

[Meredith Haddon]

I'm taking it that you do not like driving. Do you like to drive?

[Brian Walsh]

I don't, but I hate being driven even more, actually. So I drive a 2011 Toyota Prius right now. That is sexy. Terminally. Terminally dirty. Full of 8 year old cheerios and very uncomfortable. The shocks at this point are just like, it's like riding a wagon from the 1800s. So. But what Waymo, which is a Google offshoot that has been doing driverless taxis for quite a while now in a bunch of cities. San Francisco, Phoenix, a few others, they've finally got together something like 56 million miles of fully autonomous driving. And that means no safety driver at the side, like just the car doing it.

[Meredith Haddon]

Sounds like a lot. Is that a lot?

[Brian Walsh]

That's a lot. Yeah, I would say that's a lot. I mean like it's, it's, you know, I mean it's, it's enough that it becomes statistically meaningful. What they found was that just, you know, compared to what we expect like human drivers over about that amount of driving, about that many million miles, you had something like 81% fewer deployments of airbags because of accidents, 85% fewer serious injury crashes, 96% fewer intersection injuries versus human drivers. Those are very good numbers. I'd say 96. That's, you know, 96.

[Meredith Haddon]

Solid A for Waymo.

[Brian Walsh]

Yeah. So if you extend this data to be the equivalent of like the 3.3 trillion vehicle miles that are driven by humans in the US in typical year.

[Meredith Haddon]

Okay. So millions to trillions, we'd estimate that.

[Brian Walsh]

You save something like 34,000 lives a year.

[Meredith Haddon]

Okay.

[Brian Walsh]

Now, you know, all right, A lot of caveats to go with that.

[Meredith Haddon]

Okay, it sounds caveaty.

[Brian Walsh]

Yeah, yeah, I, you know, this is the beginning of a story, not the end of a story. And the way that these cars are being deployed, you know, they're deployed in warm weather cities like Phoenix, like San Francisco, you know, these are cities that were picked, especially Phoenix, I think that are easier to navigate. So not running into some of the things that, you know, I might be running into here in the Northeast in a bad winter.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah, the cow paths made into roads versus like roads that were designed as roads.

[Brian Walsh]

Right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You know, it's a company run study, it was peer reviewed, but you have to take that. I think it's just one self driving car operator. There are others out there that may not have the same focus on safety, but you know, I still look at this like motor vehicle deaths are a tragedy. They shouldn't happen. Like we have improved, like we've gotten safer cars. It's really us who are the problem. Our distractedness, our just general poor driving ability.

[Meredith Haddon]

Right. I guess I still wrestle with not trusting a driverless car. Like I wouldn't go into A driverless car. Have you ever been in one?

[Brian Walsh]

I've not yet, actually. I would though.

[Meredith Haddon]

You would? All right.

[Brian Walsh]

But it would also feel weird, even though I, like, almost certainly I'm going to be safer than I would with a human driver. Even me, if I was the human driver.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah. What would it take for you to put your kid on a driverless school bus?

[Brian Walsh]

That's. That's really got. Low blow. Okay. Woof. All right. Well, it's funny though. I mean, like, I actually had a thought. Okay, this is a little dark, but every day I do put my kid in a school bus, he gets sent to nature camp in Staten Island. What would it take? It's funny because then it becomes a matter of trust, right? Not just trust in the machine, but trust in whoever is regulating the machine. Even though, again, like, how much trust do I have in who might be regulating bus drivers? I mean, I don't know. Yeah, I guess I would have to do it a few times myself. And then I would try to look at the numbers and try to convince myself that, like, what do you believe? Like your intuition based off what you're used to doing, what you're just accustomed to versus what the data shows you, and try to go with the data, but when you put it that way, it's really actually quite hard. Me, I jump in it tomorrow, you know, I'd be fine. But like, there is something different about staking someone else's life on that one.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah. All right, last good news story of the day. What do you got?

[Brian Walsh]

Okay, cancer.

[Meredith Haddon]

Cancer.

[Brian Walsh]

Funny. Yeah, no, it's funny how often the good news of good news stories start with something really bad. And I believe there's a reason for that, which is that that's where the progress is being made, I think more than anything else. Also, that's more counterintuitive. That's a trick in journalism. Like, you think one thing, I deliver something else.

[Meredith Haddon]

The little switcheroo.

[Brian Walsh]

Yeah, exactly.

[Meredith Haddon]

So what's good about cancer?

[Brian Walsh]

What's good about cancer is that we're getting much better at treating it. Basically. One of the stories that's recently looked at general data around cancer and people today of a certain age have about a one third lower risk of dying from cancer than someone of the same age in 1990. Cancer is very age dependent. You know, the older you get, generally speaking, the more at risk you are.

[Meredith Haddon]

Because it just like takes time for cancer.

[Brian Walsh]

I mean, and it's important to know that, like, because the population in the United States as a whole has gotten older. From 1990, okay, you can see raw increases because there's more people who are falling in the age group where cancer might happen. But then if you just look age by age, any given age group, then, yeah, you have about a one third lower risk of dying from cancer as someone of the same age back in 1990. And that, to me is like, that's a pretty meaningful improvement.

[Meredith Haddon]

So just to, like, break that down a little bit, like, going back to, like, what this good news actually is. So even though there are more people dying of cancer today than there were 30 years ago, me personally, as a 34 year old, I have less of a chance of dying from cancer this year than if I had been 35 in the 90s.

[Brian Walsh]

That is correct. Yeah. It's not like rocket science exactly, of why this has happened. The fact that we don't smoke in anywhere near the degree we did in the 1960s is a big, big, big, big, big cause here.

[Meredith Haddon]

So part of what was driving Trends in the 90s was how much people were smoking in the 60s?

[Brian Walsh]

Yeah, I think so. I think, plus, Even in the 1990s, people were still smoking more than they do now. Like, it's been a general decrease, but, you know, beyond that, like, there's been really amazing improvements in certain therapies and things like immunotherapy, like targeted small molecule drugs, you know, things like colonoscopies become more common. I've had the lovely experience of going through that.

[Meredith Haddon]

Welcome to your 40s.

[Brian Walsh]

Yeah. Yes, exactly.

[Meredith Haddon]

I've been hearing recently, though, about, like, more younger people getting cancer, like, getting like, cancer in surprising ways. How does this square with that?

[Brian Walsh]

That is happening as well. But I guess at the same time, like, one element does not cancel out the whole story, you know, And I guess I would not suggest that. Okay. Ignore the fact that there are rising rates of gastrointestinal cancers among people who are like younger people and people my age. I. Now we'll see what happens with this. Like, if this becomes a really bigger public health issue, then that really does seem to complicate the story. But I think otherwise. I think you. You see a. A situation where it is improving. That's part of it. Bad things can happen even within that. But that shouldn't obviate the whole story.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah. All right. Well, I'm feeling a little better.

[Brian Walsh]

That's good.

[Meredith Haddon]

How are you feeling?

[Brian Walsh]

I'm feeling like by the end, I was, like, acting as the press secretary for the concept of good news. Really spinning very hard on that one, which is funny, but it Needs help.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah, it sounds like it needs somebody in its corner. You've taken that on.

[Brian Walsh]

There you go.

[Meredith Haddon]

Yeah. How has looking for a good news story every week for your newsletter changed your approach to looking for stories?

[Brian Walsh]

The thing about a weekly newsletter is you do it every week and that adds up. So, you know, just wait until you.

[Meredith Haddon]

Go to twice a week.

[Brian Walsh]

Oh, God. Yeah, I walked right into that. Okay. I think things that, like, what are the stories we've told ourselves and what are the conditions that allow people to be more resilient, you know, because I think things will be tough and hard and giving up doom scrolling is not an option. And so trying to be more hopeful and with that hope is a reinforcing element to, I think, resilience. And so I used to be someone who was very like, I don't know, like the idea of like, oh, positive attitude can make you better, healthier, so forth didn't really. I didn't make sense to me. But now I think to a degree it does. And I think. I'm not sure I have science back that up exactly. But I think it's. It's almost like an armor you can put on as you go off into the not very easy world, frankly, in the not very easy and a little scary future.

[Meredith Haddon]

If you want more good news from Brian every week, you can sign up for his newsletter on vox.com we will also include a link in our show notes. This episode was produced by me, Meredith Haddonot. I also run the show. It was edited by Jorge Just. Noam Hassenfeld makes our music. Kristian Ayala did the mixing and sound design and Melissa Hirsch checked the facts. Bird Pinkerton backed away from the platypus as Eren Bird stepped forward. His wings flared and smirked. What a touching story. But let's not forget why we're here. It's duel time. Pinkerton. Thanks to Brian with an I Resnick for co creating the show. If you, Brian and all the other non Brians out there want to share your thoughts with us right in send us a voice memo. Tell us what you're thinking. We're@ unexplainableox.com we really love hearing from you. If you want to support the show, help us keep making it, please join our membership program. That'[e-mail] membership you will get ad free podcasts and unlimited access to Vox journalism. And if you sign up because you love unexplainable and the things we make, please tell our bosses it makes a big difference. You can also support us by leaving a nice rating or review wherever you listen to your podcasts or just tell the folks in your life the good news of Unexplainable. Unexplainable is part of the Vox Media Podcast network and we will be back in your feed on Wednesday.

[Ziply Fiber Ad]

When the Moore family ditched cable Internet and switched to Zigly Fiber, they got so much more. Mr. Moore got more upload speed for next level gaming and live streaming to the masses. With reliable service, Mrs. Moore is no longer her family's IT guru, leaving her more time to stream games into overtime.

[Meredith Haddon]

Let's go.

[Ziply Fiber Ad]

And young Mason Moore got more done quickly uploading HD product demos and video conferencing. Without freesight, the numbers look good.

[Brian Walsh]

Brad, you're on mute.

[Ziply Fiber Ad]

Switch from cable Internet to ziply fiber and get more of what you love for $65 less per month than [e-mail] hi, I'm Teffy.

[Teffy]

Maybe you've seen me on TikTok or TV or interviewing celebrities on the red carpet. But before all that, I was just another girl running late to her desk job, transferring calls, ordering printer ink. I don't miss that. But I do miss not working at work, gossiping with my co workers about celebrities. What's the latest with Bieber? Where's Brittany? And which Jonas brother is which? That's what I want my new podcast to feel like. Like you and I are work besties. We'll chat about celebrities we're obsessed with. How could you be registered to vote and not know who Jennifer Aniston is? Look up their star charts. Sagittarius and a Capricorn. They do clash and have so much fun avoiding real work together. I'm having a silly goose of a time. Teffy runs, Teffy laughs. Teffy overshares. Teffy explains. But most of all, Teffy talks from me. The Cut and Box Media podcast. This is Teffy Talks.

[Brian Walsh]

Let's go.