News Above the Noise—Week of October 8, 2023
1. Israel Says It Is “At War”
Around 6:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, the militant group Hamas fired a barrage of rockets and sent gunmen into Israel in an unprecedented attack. “Citizens of Israel, we are at war—not in an operation, not in rounds—at war,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video message. To learn more about what happened, how Israel has responded, how the two sides got here, and more about this conflict, click here.
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2. Why Everything Is Getting Louder
We’re all accustomed to environmental noise—a loud neighbor here, a delivery truck parked right outside your living room window there. Yet these common noises are more hazardous to our health than we realize, causing our bodies to pump out stress hormones, blood pressure and heart rate to rise, and digestion to slow down. In fact, experts say our bodies aren’t able to adapt to noise—something that’s become increasingly a problem due to our high-tech world. For a thoughtful look at the impact of noise, click here.
3. How to Tell if You’re Aging Well
We all want to live long, healthy, happy lives. Our health care practitioners want this for us, too. So, what do doctors look for when examining a patient’s longevity? And how can you adopt the behaviors they’re on the lookout for to improve your own life? Read the signs here.
4. Better Relationships Are Rooted in “Mattering”
While some people confuse “mattering” with belonging, self-esteem, and social connection, it actually involves much more than feeling like you belong. “To matter, people must feel valued—heard, appreciated, and cared for—and they must feel like they add value in ways that make them feel capable, important, and trusted,” Isaac Prilleltensky, co-author of How People Matter, told The New York Times. For more on this concept that is linked to better connections with others and with oneself, click here.
5. Self-Silencing Is Making Women Sick
The stats are alarming: Women account for nearly 80 percent of autoimmune disease cases, are at higher risk of a host of chronic diseases—from insomnia and fibromyalgia to migraines and long COVID—and twice as likely as men to die after a heart attack. Yes, sex differences play a role when it comes to explaining why women are falling ill to these diseases at higher rates than men. However, psycho-social factors play an important role as well, argues psychologist Maytal Eyal in a TIME magazine article, which you can read here.
Editor's Note: Every week, The Sunday Paper's team of journalists sift through the news to find what Rises Above the Noise, makes sense of what's happening in the world, and provides hope for your week to come. While we do our best to provide our own informative summary of each piece, some publications require their own subscriptions beyond our control.
