CURATED READS FOR GEN Z—AND THEIR Z-CURIOUS COLLEAGUES

I’m an “inclusive consumer.” Are you? Also, did you hear about the space company that helped fight locust swarms? Scroll to pick up a word that makes our impending mortality sound a lot like your favorite app, and while it’s still no Wordle, our crossword this week is pretty fun.

first up

Do your social values shape where you shop? Mine do, and that makes me what’s called an “inclusive consumer.” Like 45 percent of America (and growing), inclusive consumers think that retailers should support and uplift Black-owned businesses and brands. Personally, I buy my books from local bookstores and my hair products from small brands—I like knowing that my retailers get me.

If you buy a new backpack from a curated list of diverse brands, it probably won’t change the world. But you know what could? The other 100 million-plus socially conscious customers in the US who want to put their money where their minds are.

For retailers trying to court us, some simple steps could go a long way:

The influence of inclusive consumers is only growing, with millions more expected to join the ranks in the years ahead.

visualize it

The climate crisis is one of the most important issues facing our generation. But getting to net zero won’t cost net zero. It’ll take a lot of green to make the transition—around $25 trillion more in the next 30 years than in a scenario where we only keep up today’s mitigation policies (a total of $275 trillion).

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Go green or go home. Is your (company’s) next product going to change the world? Remember the planet before you prototype that big idea. Consumers are increasingly interested in sustainable products, and up to 80 percent of a product’s lifetime emissions depend on design choices.

I think it’s going to be a short, short time. Space tourism made headlines in 2021, so it’s understandable if you missed other orbital breakthroughs. Like the fact that space companies are using satellites to help combat swarms of locusts (kind of biblical, right?). A CEO whose company is in the vanguard has intel on what to expect from the next 15 years of space tech. 

On the tip of my tongue.  If you’re at a loss for words, maybe you need to come up with a few of your own. That’s what author John Koenig did when he wrote The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows (Simon & Schuster, November 2021) and coined terms like tichloch, “the feeling that you don’t know how much time you have left on this earth,” says Koenig. 

“I realized the idea of meritocracy was bunk.”

—Jason Wright

My favorite high school teacher once told me to set my own worth and let others take direction from me instead of the other way around. Those words have stuck with me. Jason Wright, president of the National Football League’s Washington Commanders, talks us through a similar transition in his leadership journey: when he wasn’t drafted into the league after college, he pitched himself to the pro teams over and over until he made it. Learn how to tell your own story the way you want it told. 

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On our Careers Blog, Saisha, a business analyst in New York, tells us how learning to fly—yes, literally!—helped her deal better with work stress 

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– Edited by Sarah Skinner, Gen Z curation editor, New York