About Lately, Better

Hi, I'm Dan. Welcome to Lately, Better.

Every day I put together a small collection of stories about people doing good and the world getting better in ways that don't usually make headlines. Science, culture, community, the environment. But mostly stories at human scale. Someone helping someone. A neighborhood noticing what was needed. An act of care that nobody required.

I started this because I got tired of news that makes us feel worse about each other than we should. So much of what we read is built to grab us by the collar, with crisis, conflict, and outrage on repeat, and after a while it just leaves you tired and a little cynical about everyone. I wanted a spot on the internet that pushed back gently against that. Not by pretending hard things aren't happening, but by making sure the kindness and the building and the quiet good work get a turn in the spotlight too.

How I pick stories

Each morning I go through candidates from a few dozen sources and choose what runs. Most don't make the cut. I read every story before it goes up. Nothing's automated, nothing skips review.

What usually gets a no, even when a story is technically “positive,” is anything that feels hollow. The celebrity doing something small for the camera. The feel-good piece that's really a dig at someone else. The headline promising more than the story delivers. If something feels engineered for a reaction rather than worth your time, I pass.

I'll sometimes publish a story that's hard or sad, as long as there's something real inside it. A hospice doing better work. A community pulling together after loss. Someone clawing their way back from something. Hope isn't pretending. It's noticing that people learn and build and heal, and that some of that work happens in the middle of painful things.

Why this exists

Lately, Better is for people who want the truth about the world but also want some perspective on it. I think a better news habit is possible: one that tells us how things are without forgetting what they could be.

Follow along

Lately, Better publishes daily. To get each edition in your feed reader:

or subscribe via RSS in any feed reader.

Get in touch

Have a story tip, a correction, feedback, or just want to say hello? I read everything. Use the contact form and I'll get back to you.

Thanks for visiting.

— Dan