Keeping your streak alive

+ reading poetry in the ICU US Edition - Today's top story: Keeping a streak alive can be strong motivation to stick with a chosen activity [View in browser]( US Edition | 5 January 2024 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Top headlines - [Public schools still segregated, 70 years later]( - [Streaming rate hikes take a page out of cable TV]( - [Ready to be a trivia champ this year?]( Lead story Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? If so, how are they holding up now that we’re five days in to 2024? For those who’ve stuck with it this far – and to be clear, that group does not include me – you may have started a new streak. Clemson marketing professor Danny Weathers explains the power of streaks to help you stay committed to a desired behavior. For instance, it can boost your motivation to run a mile every morning if you haven’t missed a day in months. Adding that daily check mark to your calendar for having meditated before breakfast or watching your streak grow on a language-learning app can be extra compelling for some people. Weathers breaks down what streaks are and aren’t, [how they motivate and who tends to respond best](. And remember – you can start a new streak any day of the year. [ [Get our Understanding AI series – four emails delivered over the course of a week, with experts explaining this confusing topic.]( ] Maggie Villiger Senior Science + Technology Editor Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep a streaker from their self-appointed activity. janiecbros/E+ via Getty Images [Keeping a streak alive can be strong motivation to stick with a chosen activity]( Danny Weathers, Clemson University A streak can motivate you to keep on keeping on with behaviors ranging from praying to running to sharing pictures on social media. Here’s what goes into making them so compelling. Science + Technology - [Jan. 6 was an example of networked incitement − a media and disinformation expert explains the danger of political violence orchestrated over social media]( Joan Donovan, Boston University Social media allows a political leader to direct the behavior of political movements, including engaging in violence and insurrection. Education - [70 years after Brown vs. Board of Education, public schools still deeply segregated]( Erica Frankenberg, Penn State As the nation approaches the 70-year anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, an education professor lays out the state of school segregation in America. - [Why does Claudine Gay still work at Harvard after being forced to resign as its president? She’s got tenure]( Ray Gibney, Penn State Barring evidence of moral turpitude or excessive absenteeism, former administrators are very hard to force out. Health + Medicine - [Literature inspired my medical career: Why the humanities are needed in health care]( Irène Mathieu, University of Virginia While medical school may teach students about how the body works, it often neglects the social, political and cultural factors that determine health and disease. The humanities can help. - [What is resilience? A psychologist explains the main ingredients that help people manage stress]( Rachel Goldsmith Turow, Seattle University Supportive relationships, economic stability and exercise are among the building blocks that develop resilience. Environment + Energy - [The US invented shopping malls, but China is writing their next chapter]( John Rennie Short, University of Maryland, Baltimore County China has a lot of vacant retail space, including many underused shopping malls. An urban policy scholar describes how the Chinese are rethinking what the mall is for. Politics + Society - [Trump’s Iowa political organizing this year is nothing like his scattershot 2016 campaign]( Barbara A. Trish, Grinnell College Donald Trump’s Iowa caucus campaign is very nuts-and-bolts. That may be a recognition that celebrity will only take him so far and attention to traditional political tools might be in his interest. - [2 colonists had similar identities – but one felt compelled to remain loyal, the other to rebel]( Abby Chandler, UMass Lowell What might appear to be common values about shared political and cultural identities can at times serve not as a bridge joining people together but a wedge driving them apart. Economy + Business - [With higher fees and more ads, streaming services like Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu are cashing in by using the old tactics of cable TV]( Kathryn Cramer Brownell, Purdue University Like their cable predecessors, streaming companies have lured customers in with low rates and promises of a better viewing experience. Now they’re cashing in. - [‘Designated contrarians’ could improve nonprofit boards by disrupting the kind of consensus and groupthink that contributed to the NRA’s woes]( Dana Brakman Reiser, Brooklyn Law School A legal scholar argues that assigning a designated contrarian and rotating this role over time will help nonprofit boards resist the dangerous pull toward passivity and deference. Trending on site - [Cardio or weights first? A kinesiologist explains how to optimize the order of your exercise routine]( - [The Lotus Sutra − an ancient Buddhist scripture from the 3rd century − continues to have relevance today]( - [The chickadee in the snowbank: A ‘canary in the coal mine’ for climate change in the Sierra Nevada mountains]( The Conversation Quiz 🧠- [The Conversation U.S. weekly news quiz]( Fritz Holznagel, The Conversation Here’s the first question of [this week’s edition:]( Humans are more likely to begin working out or dieting after a "temporal landmark" such as New Year's Day, studies say. What is this phenomenon called? - A. Calendar Feels Index (CFI) - B. Time-stamping - C. Chronogramming - D. Fresh start effect [Test your knowledge]( - - More of The Conversation Like this newsletter? 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