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CNN 5 Things
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5 Good Things: Can Bacteria be the Future of Fashion?
CNN 5 Things
May 18, 2024
A couple is growing their family by adopting all five siblings who grew up in foster care together. Nimble – a mixed-breed dog – made history and a rescue mutt stole hearts at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. A street librarian is getting creative to increase access to free books for kids in Baltimore. A family outing turned into a rare fossil find of a brand-new species that existed right after the dinosaurs went extinct. Plus, could handbags made with bacteria help clean up the fashion industry?
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Episode Transcript
Krista Bo
00:00:00
Hey there. Need a breather from the breaking news? Then you're in the right place. Each Saturday, we focus on stories that remind us of the good stuff happening. You'll hear from a librarian in Baltimore who's hitting the streets to make sure kids have access to free books.
Ms. Araba Maze
00:00:15
Those moments where I see kids becoming readers, identifying themselves as readers, and seeing themselves in the book keep me going.
Krista Bo
00:00:21
Plus, can bacteria be the future of fashion? From CNN, I'm Krista Bo and this is 5 Good Things.
00:00:30
Matt Galantowicz and his husband, Keith, have always wanted to be parents, and now they're in seventh heaven. They're adopting not one, but five siblings who grew up in foster care, all under the age of ten.
Matt Galantowicz
00:00:45
The thought of separating them like, I can't even imagine that we're blessed times five, you know, with artwork and hugs and kisses and laughter.
Krista Bo
00:00:54
The four girls Jordan, Madalynn, Sky, and Alvina and their brother Keanu moved in back in October. And come July, it'll be official. Matt knew moving around from foster home to foster home was taxing for the kids.
Matt Galantowicz
00:01:08
You know, you could be gone in a moment's notice, so they never really feel that attachment to anything or anyone other than each other.
Krista Bo
00:01:15
That's why they decked out their rooms with different themes to fit their personalities.
Matt Galantowicz
00:01:20
Keanu had Pokemon and we had the Minnie Mouse theme for Alvina.
Krista Bo
00:01:25
so that it sunk in for them that these were their beds and they're not going anywhere.
Matt Galantowicz
00:01:30
So when they walked into their rooms, it was just like, you know, they were living their best lives. So that was fun to see.
Krista Bo
00:01:36
Keith and Matt say it was a long process to get to this point, but it was so worth it. And they hope their story will inspire others to adopt kids and siblings of all ages.
Keith Galantowicz
00:01:47
There will be moments where you're just like, "maybe this isn't going to happen." But just keep at it.
Matt Galantowicz
00:01:51
And if you're on the fence, just go for it. All of these beautiful children who are out there waiting for homes and it'd be your future child.
Krista Bo
00:02:03
'A small and fluffy black poodle, may have won best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. But who doesn't love rooting for the underdogs? In the agility competition this week, a small, but mighty, six-year-old dog named Nimble became the first mixed breed dog to win the obstacle course in 28.76 seconds.
Cynthia Hornor
00:02:23
She is that 'wow' dog that most people just love watching run agility. I'm just so proud of her.
Krista Bo
00:02:29
'Her handler, Cynthia Hornor, says she's had Nimble since she was a puppy and always knew the border collie-papillon mix was going to live up to her name. Nimble has been enjoying some special treatment since then to celebrate.
Cynthia Hornor
00:02:41
I think she may have had some steak already and she gets to be princess all week, probably all month, but truly, she is always a princess to me.
Krista Bo
00:02:49
Nimble wasn't the only mixed breed dog beating the odds this year. One of the other agility competitors, Miles, is a former shelter dog who had been deemed an adoptable. But he found his perfect home with Christine Longnecker, a horse trainer, who found out he had some serious hops when she brought him along for lessons one day.
Christine Longnecker
00:03:08
And the horse jumped the fence and he just took off running, jumped the fence with the horse, turned around and barked at me and was like, that wasn't hard.
Krista Bo
00:03:15
Miles the mutt may not have won a title at Westminster this time around, but he certainly won hearts with his inspiring story, and Christine couldn't be prouder.
Christine Longnecker
00:03:25
I think Miles is the perfect example of you don't have to be perfect, you don't have to win. But if you're doing something that you love, people will resonate with that.
Krista Bo
00:03:38
'Miss Araba Maze is a self-proclaimed street librarian based in Baltimore who wants to change kids lives, one book at a time. It all started a few years back, when she was reading to her nieces on her front stoop.
Ms. Araba Maze
00:03:52
And other neighborhood kids started gathering around. So I invited them to join us.
Krista Bo
00:03:56
After reading a few books, she told them it was time to go home and read on their own.
Ms. Araba Maze
00:04:00
And they were like, "oh, we don't have any books at home." And it was a really harsh reminder for me.
Krista Bo
00:04:06
So she wants to get more books in the hands of kids who need them, in areas where they can't easily get them, also known as book deserts. But she knew she had to get creative to reach more kids and places other than a library. That's where her initiative, Storybook Maze was born. With the help of crowdfunding and grants, Ms. Maze floods the streets with stories in three ways.
Ms. Araba Maze
00:04:29
It's free public book vending machines, pop up free book fairs, where we just pop up on the block and then we do street corner story time.
Krista Bo
00:04:37
She also wants to go mobile to hit more places in one day.
Ms. Araba Maze
00:04:40
We're fundraising for a book trolley to be able to do like an ice cream truck, but it's a bookstore.
Krista Bo
00:04:46
She says it can be hard sometimes to engage reluctant readers.
Ms. Araba Maze
00:04:49
But those moments where I see kids start becoming readers, identifying themselves as readers and seeing themselves in the book keep me going.
Krista Bo
00:04:56
'Check her out on Instagram and TikTok @storybookmaze if you want to support her work.
00:05:04
Paleontologist Tyler Lyson has a unique tradition with his family. He calls them fossil finding, family picnics. And one of those outings in Colorado, Tyler knew right away he'd found something rare when he broke open a rock to find a fossil inside.
Tyler Lyson
00:05:20
And I could see these teeny, tiny little teeth poking back out at me. And I was just, like, so, so excited.
Krista Bo
00:05:27
That fossil was of a mammal that had never been discovered before. It's called Militocodon lydae. And it lived about 65 million years ago, right after dinosaurs went extinct. That's what makes this discovery so cool. It can help us learn more about how animal life bounced back after Earth's last mass extinction.
Tyler Lyson
00:05:49
It's a really important interval because it's the origin of the modern world.
Krista Bo
00:05:54
'We don't have many fossils from that time. Animals, then were small, and those fossils are hard to find. It's kind of like finding a missing puzzle piece. Tyler and his colleagues at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science announced the new mammal discovery this month in a peer-reviewed journal. Using fossils, they were able to figure out what this animal might have looked like, and they think it was probably pretty cute.
Tyler Lyson
00:06:15
This animal was only about 300g, or roughly the size of a chinchilla or adorable. Undoubtedly, it was adorable, right? That's hard hitting science right there for you.
Krista Bo
00:06:29
Coming up, how something funky from kombucha can make something as chic as a designer handbag.
00:06:41
Bacteria kind of has a bad rap. Dare I say, a dirty one even. But a startup is relying on it to try to clean up the fashion industry. Modern Synthesis is using bacteria that ferments kombucha tea to make a strong, flexible and fashionable material.
Jen Keane
00:06:58
That's eight times stronger than steel. On a fiber level, it can have a dry touch, or it can feel more silky depending on the way that we process it.
Krista Bo
00:07:06
'Co-Founder Jen Keane bills it as a more sustainable alternative to traditional fabrics that can also help curb carbon emissions and pollution.
Jen Keane
00:07:14
For the first time, we're able to offer the esthetic and the performance of the materials that we use every day, but without the plastic and without the animal.
Krista Bo
00:07:24
And pretty soon you could have your very own boujee bag from bacteria. They've partnered up with the Danish fashion brand GANNI to release a line of luxury handbags made from the fabric by early 2025.
00:07:38
All right, that's all for now. Join us tomorrow for the next edition of One Thing. CNN's Kara Scannell joins host David Rhind to discuss if Michael Cohen's testimony and former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial could make or break the Manhattan DA's case.
00:07:54
5 Good Things is a production of CNN Audio. This episode was produced by Emily Williams and me, Krista Bo. Our Senior Producer is Faiz Jamil. Greg Peppers is our Supervising Producer. Matt Dempsey is our Production Manager. Dan Dzula is our Technical Director. And Steve Lickteig is Executive Producer of CNN Audio. We get support from Joey Salvia, Haley Thomas, Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Jon Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Jamus Andrest, Nichole Pesaru, and Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to Katie Hinman. Thanks for listening. Till next time.
