The week of September 2, 2017 was practicing our best professional email clapbacks; our friends started doping and we might too; and enjoying the last few full-family meltdowns of the summer.

We’re hard at work on the new season of our podcast (subscribe!). Quick question: What’s your bubbemeise? You know, that old wives tale that you know probably isn’t true but believe in anyways. Ours? Korean Fan Death. Tell us yours here!

Mash-Ups In The News:

Dreamers Prepare For The Worst

The mental and physical toll on immigrants — undocumented and documented alike — for just navigating daily life is enormous. As the administration considers ending DACA, which helps protect undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, Dreamers who registered all of their information with the government are preparing for the government to use that against them, while figuring out what they — we — are going to tell our children.

via Vox

South Korea Is Aging Faster Than Any Other Developed Nation

The senior population is the largest demographic in South Korea, while the birth rate is only 1.17 kids per woman. It’s plunging the country into crisis. Many elderly Koreans live in poverty and are resorting to prostitution to support themselves.

via Quartz

Kids Try Dumplings From Around The World

Gyoza. Pierogi. Coxinhas. Bao. Deliciousness.

via Huffington Post

Why Parents Are Afraid Of City Schools

Middle and upper-income families are leaving cities at increasing rates, exacerbating the effect of good old-fashioned white flight. When they leave city school, these families take their resources with them and deepen the effects of segregation. Support your local schools, y’all.

via Atlantic

Google Reveals The Top Things People Want To Find Out ‘How To’ Do

What are people all over the world googling to figure out how to do? Go to this fun site to see the brilliant analysis. Apparently “how to fix a toilet” and “how to use chopsticks” follow the same trend line. But, seriously, it’s fascinating to see the categories of what we are searching (how to make money!) and the insight into our psyche.

via Techcrunch

A Harlem Teacher Remixes Cardi B In Geography Class, Sees Grades Improve 

Members of Mash-Up HQ may have written a rap about electrons in the 5th grade to the beat of Rump Shaker. Very here for this.

via Buzzfeed

Designing A Megacity For Mental Health In Japan

While dealing with mental health issues personally still carries a stigma in Japan, policymakers are diving into it as they plan for the future of Japanese cities. Everything from increased sunlight exposure in offices to creating more green spaces has a profound effect on a person’s mental health, and experts are bringing this thinking to cities globally.

via Citylab

Surviving This Summer On The Internet

We need this. “I’m not urging anyone to tune out the news or retreat from current events. But the patterns of news consumption we’ve adopted — mostly reading in silence, engaged in monogamous relationships with our devices — pull us away from the people we’re actually with, and leave us more atomized and vulnerable.”

via Wired

John Leguizamo: Latinos Are Underrepresented Everywhere, And I’m Done With It 

First, John Leguizamo is one of our Mash-Up heroes. Second, Latinos make up 18% of the U.S. population. That’s nearly 70 million people. And yet, less than 6% of characters on TV and in movies are Latino. Meanwhile, “Despacito” has more than 3 billion views on YouTube. Give us a chance and we will make it rain.

via Billboard

The Tater Tot Is American Ingenuity At Its Peak

Mormon brothers in Oregon made the perfect food, made from leftovers (of course). We will be forever indebted to them for their genius.

via Eater

The “Cajun Navy” Brings Its Boats To Flooded Texas

This week we have all been devastated by learning (and living) the impact of Hurricane Harvey. Please find this useful and vetted list of places to donate to. We have also been uplifted by the incredible stories of humanity and heroism. Like the Houston mattress stores that became temporary shelters and the Anheuser-Busch plant that stopped producing beer and instead produced cans of water to distribute. And the ‘Cajun Navy’ — a group of volunteers bringing their own boats and being heroes to save those who are stranded. And then, of course, the bakers at a Mexican bakery who were trapped overnight in the bakery and proceeded to make thousands and thousands of loaves of pan dulce to deliver to those who were struggling and stranded — including their families.

via Garden and Gun