1 . Dede Gardner was born in Chicago in 1967 and studied English at Columbia University. Seventeen years after her graduation, she worked as President of Plan B Entertainment, a production company started by Brad Grey.

At Plan B, Dede finds stories to make into films. Jeremy Kleiner, who is now co-president of Plan B, says Dede was his mentor (导师) before he joined her as a producing partner. “I’ve had the honor to work with her for almost 20 years,” he says. “She’s just a one-of-a-kind person in so many ways. She is very brave and views storytelling as the focus of her films.”

This year, Dede is the only woman to have won two Best Picture Oscars, for Moonlight and 12 Years a Slave. Before, together with Kleiner, she won seven films to Best Picture nominations (提名) including Selma in 2015, The Big Short in 2016 and Minari in 2021.

“Basically, whatever Dede does, it turns to gold,” says Jessie Buckley, one of the stars of Women Talking. “Dede has also changed the culture of making movies. She is always there to make the set feel comfortable when we are obviously coming across difficult things. She’s a great example to follow. She’s very careful with protecting the workers’ voice.”

Dede is actually exploring a much healthier and kinder way to make movies. She’s a producer who consciously thinks about creating a set where there is care. That includes making sure there are therapists (治疗专家) on set for all the workers in case there are emergencies happening.

2 . With artificial intelligence (AI) seemingly working its way into every technology out there, one area where it’s considered particularly promising is in helping doctors. And already, AI is entering some doctors’ offices.

Dr. Michael Mansour of Massachusetts General Hospital is an early user who’s helped by a form of AI that could someday change the way doctors get information. When a patient comes in with unknown infection (感染), Mansour turns to a computer program called UpToDate. It’s a common tool, with more than 2 million users at 44,000 health care organizations in over 190 countries. Basically, it’s Google for doctors — searching a huge database (数据库) of articles written by experts in the field, who are all getting information from the latest research.

Wolters Kluwer Health, the company that makes UpToDate, is trying to incorporate (整合) AI so that doctors can have more of a conversation with the database.

Some doctors hope to use AI to comb through a patient’s medical history before an appointment (预约). In some cases, Dr. June-Ho Kim, who directs a program on primary care at Ariadne Labs, says AI technology may also help primary care doctors look after patients without the help of specialists. “It will free up specialists’ time to focus on more difficult cases that they need to really home in on, rather than the ones that could be answered through a few questions,” he says.

Dr. Marc Succi, who was a co-worker of Kim, says, “AI will finally prove to be a trusted medical tool. AI won’t replace doctors, but doctors who use AI will replace doctors who do not. It will become very common just like designing a PPT on a computer. It’s that level of leap.”

3 . The Fire Festival is celebrated in northern Ghana. It’s a holiday we had never heard of before we came to live in a village here as Peace Corps community volunteers. It’s unbelievably great.

On the Fire Festival — Bugim Chug u in the local language — drums beat a quick and regular rhythm that locals dance to in a circle of bodies, men and women, the old and young, holding torches of burning grass above their heads, which stands for the light and getting off negative energies.

At this moment, this festival is being held at the beginning of the lunar year. The locals are all so involved in the celebration that they don’t pay as much attention to us as they normally will. When they find us getting involved as they are, they dance more vigorously and scream with joy.

Danielle, a friend of mine in the Peace Corps, says, “That we join in the celebration is significant because foreigners here are typically seen as the representatives of other organizations, not as people who are willing to join in the Fire Festival rituals (仪式). But in fact, we are dancing and celebrating as one.”

Our two-year Peace Corps service will finish up in mid-November. We can think of no better way to say goodbye than by celebrating the Fire Festival with the villagers we’ve come to know. The festival lets us see a different side of them — and lets them see a different side of us. The neighbors who sell rice are now the women who urge us to run faster and dance harder at the Fire Festival. And rather than view us as low-key (低调的) volunteers, they see us as the ones who have crazy dance steps with wild screams.

4 . How to Go Green

The idea of “going green” means that you’ll try to reduce your impact on the environment. It’s a great way to improve the planet.     1    .

Walk or bike to places if you live close enough.

    2    , so they’re not a friend to the environment. Walking or biking instead of using a car is a great way to save natural resources while saving you money. When possible, walk or bike to work, school or shops.

    3    .

Communicate digitally whenever possible, and only print out items when you absolutely must. When you do use paper, recycle it or save it to reuse the other side of it.

Buy second-hand products or borrow items instead of buying something new.

Buying things produces more waste and pollution, so try not to buy things you don’t need. When you do need something, shop at local second-hand market or use online resale shops.    4    .

Skip products that have a lot of packaging.

Products that come with a lot of packaging are bad for the environment because the packaging is waste. Even if you recycle the package, it’s still an unnecessary waste of resources.    5    . This can keep more trash out of landfills and save natural resources.