Welcome to The Poverty Trap, a newsletter and podcast for people who are fed up with the inequality baked into America’s system and want to individually and collectively make change.
“Let us move forward with faith in ourselves, in our intelligence, in our indomitable spirit. Let us develop respect for all living things. Let us try to replace violence and intolerance with understanding and compassion and love.”
Dr. Jane Goodall
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We lost two public figures recently, Robert Redford and Jane Goodall, who accomplished so much good with their lives that their impact is probably impossible to quantify. And I won’t try. But I’ll share with you a few pieces of their own writing that seem to reflect the thinking behind their actions.
— Robert Redford, artist, actor, director, environmentalist and philanthropist spoke eloquently, not only about his art and the artistic community, but about protecting our environment and defending our democracy:
— Jane Goodall, primatologist, field biologist, conservationist and relentless advocate for animals and the environment discussed how her extensive research with chimpanzees upended traditional thinking about the animal mind. In later interviews, Ms. Goodall reflected on how being a woman in the male-dominated world of science actually helped her advance her work, and the perils of humans’ disconnect from other animals and our shared environment:
I’d like to share two additional, but related readings as you head into the weekend with absolutely nothing to do, I’m sure. Both pieces demonstrate the dangers inherent in our country’s increasing disregard of science and the scientific process.
— First up is an opinion piece published in The New York Times on August 20, 2025 describing the inequality on top of inequality created by climate change induced heat— between the “cooled and the cooked” as the long-time climate reporter, Jeff Goodell explains:
—Finally, a second New York Times opinion piece discusses how and why “vaccine-hesitant” parents feel justified to interpret science for themselves and their children, the heck with their larger communities:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/opinion/vaccine-hesitancy.html
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Have you been reading about the legacies of Robert Redford and Jane Goodall? What do you make of our country’s deepening disregard of science? How do we balance individual freedoms with public health threats? Please leave your thoughts in the Comment Section below. I’d also appreciate a “Like” and a “Re-stack” of this post if you have an extra minute—thanks!
