Vacationing with friends? Read this first.

I've lived all over, but one big reason I chose to make my permanent home on the East Coast is because I love seasons. Living in a changing seasonal weatherscape means you always know you’re not stuck in the weather that you have, which is really helpful in February. And it also means you get to live in a constant state of anticipation for the next season, if you choose to see it that way. Like millions of my fellow seasons-lovers, I have been looking forward to summer since well before Memorial Day. And now it's officially here for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, as of yesterday at 4:51 p.m. EDT. Hopefully I am not the first to wish you a Happy Summer! 

Here’s the thing with the Summer Solstice, though. The moment it hits, the days aren't getting longer anymore. They are already getting shorter each day and the easy swoon of summer is steadily ticking away. But for now, I'm not going to linger on the fact that the start of summer effectively signals the beginning of the end. Instead, Im going to enjoy it while it lasts. 

With all that in mind, here are a few summer-y picks from Vox this week, plus a couple others I was excited to read and listen to.

—Miranda Kennedy, Today, Explained's executive producer

🎧 What’s a wild bat worth to you? This economist is asking

One of my best memories of summer is lying in my mom’s garden, listening to my daughter and niece squeal with amazement every time a bat swooped through the dusk to grab an invisible gnat. So I was very interested in this exploration of bats on the Unexplainable podcast, where I learned bats can eat as many as 1,000 bugs in an hour — I think my daughter would have lost her voice if she’d been witness to a bat as hungry as that one. The story asks a very unlikely question: What is the value of a bat’s time in our modern economy? I’d argue it's worth your time to find out why they’re asking this question.

Going on vacation with friends? Read this first.

Speaking of my daughter, she’s spending the first week of her summer with one of her friends, who is staying with us this week. And reading Vox senior reporter Allie Volpe’s piece reminded me of why it’s hard to vacation with friends, whatever stage of life you’re in. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it, but recognizing ahead of time that you may have totally different ideas from your friends about what you want to eat, when you want to eat, and how much money you want to spend could help forestall some of the worst disagreements. I love Allie’s suggestion to set boundaries early on with your friends, of what you each can and cannot afford. I remember one friend vacation in my college years where I refused to eat all day in protest over my friend’s expensive taste in lunchtime food. Don’t go on hunger strike; instead, utilize this piece’s checklist and talk about money upfront. 

🎧 It’s not easy being a green conservative

This episode of Vox’s daily news show Today, Explained explores the unlikely crossover between Republicanism and environmentalism. Days before the heat dome descended on the East Coast, presidential candidate Donald Trump talked dismissively and incoherently about climate change. But Gen Z conservatives make a different argument: They say it shouldn’t be counterintuitive to believe humans are responsible for changing our climate and also to lean fiscally or even socially conservative. They are pushing the Trump campaign to address climate change. And the tool they say we need is a conservative byword: capitalism. Capitalism may be to blame for climate change, but it can also be harnessed to find solutions, through technologies and innovations. 

Taking the right seriously

In this first issue of Vox’s new newsletter on the political right, senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp looks into the fascinating history of the efforts to ban national distribution of the abortion pill, mifepristone. It all comes down to the successful PR efforts and creative legal maneuvering of a “once-fringe anti-abortion legal theorist,” Jonathan Mitchell. It’s a well-known formula and a well-trod path for the conservative movement to launch an idea out of the backwaters of more extremist thought and into the mainstream. This is just the first issue of On the Right, so sign up here!

Yes in God’s backyard? This housing solution may be the answer to your prayers.

The parallel housing and homelessness crises are apparent to people in cities everywhere. Apartments and houses are next to impossible to come by in most urban areas unless you have unlimited cash. So we all appreciate hearing about solutions. That's been a focus for senior reporter Rachel Cohen, and in this piece, she explains the YIGBY movement (that’s Yes in God’s Backyard for those of you not in the know — a faith-based version of the Yes in My Backyard movement.) The idea is that churches, synagogues, and temples partner with developers to share the burden of high costs and difficult permitting and zoning issues to help move people off the streets. Due to declining memberships and contributions, religious organizations have buildings and land to offer, and the participation of faith leaders could bring bipartisan support and a diverse political coalition to what is one of the top issues of our time. 

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