The week of March 4, 2017 was learning why food tastes weird on airplanes; a reminder that we should put plastic on furniture; and welcoming our new robot overlords. We wonder if they’ll test us on how we do our jobs?

Also, do you think you can do more pushups than Ruth Bader Ginsburg? Yeah? You’re definitely wrong.

Mash-Ups in the News:

How Noma Elevates Its Own

The best restaurant in the world became even better when owner Rene Redzepi announced he was bringing on new partners. One of them is his longtime dishwasher Ali Sonko, a Gambian immigrant to Denmark. Redzepi reminded folks that his father was also an immigrant named Ali who made a life in Denmark. Immigrants: We get the job done.

via Berlingske

Remember Rachel Dolezal? She’s West African Now

Remember the woman at the NAACP in Spokane, Wash. who claimed she was Black but definitely wasn’t? She recently changed her name to two West African surnames. In the current political climate, this reminds us of the more innocent time when Rachel Dolezal was the most offensive person in the news, and it really tickles us.

via Awesomely Luvvie

The New Working Class

There’s a lot of talk about “the working class” these days. In politics the phrase generally means white factory workers. This powerful piece explores what constitutes the current, actual working class — home health workers, butchers, and more.

via NY Times

27% Of Asian Americans In NYC Live In Poverty

Same same but very, very different. If ever you needed more evidence that the model minority myth is completely bunk, here’s this: More than a quarter of Asians in NYC live in poverty. How can we let this go on? In other news, South Koreans live longer than anyone else in the world, thanks to hypochondria and kimchi.

via ABC

How To Support Trans Kids

One of our main mantras at Mash-Up HQ is “You don’t know what you don’t know.” It helps us to be less judgmental — of ourselves and of others — and to understand that everyone enters the conversation at a different level of understanding. How do we help trans kids? Well, we all probably have a lot of listening to do.

via Kveller

From Portugal To Newark

Between 1962 and 1980 more than 200,000 Portuguese immigrants arrived in the U.S. And a huge chunk of them ended up in Jersey. Road trip for fresh bread and queijo, anyone?

via Roads and Kingdoms

The SnapChat Of Asia: Bigger Than SnapChat?

Snow is the SnapChat of Asia. Most importantly, you can use filters to make your skin look amazing, which is genius and more, ahem, practical than a puppy face. They are still a relatively small company, but are on their way to eating SnapChat’s global lunch.

via MIT Technology Review

Reflections On The End Of Standing Rock

A Native photographer describes the solidarity, spirituality and heartbreak of the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

via Buzzfeed

Want To Be Happy? Remember That Nothing Matters, We’re All Going To DIe

While this may seem counterintuitive, it makes perfect sense to us. If you don’t get worked up about all the BS, you will generally be more happy. That being said, are we super psyched about dying? Nope.

via Pacific Standard

A Murder In Trump’s America

Two Indian immigrants were shot last week in Kansas. One was murdered. The murder was hate-fueled. The murderer is a bigot who acted alone, and yet did he? This essay shows how fanning the flames of hate speech in this country — as the president has done — is what empowers the murderers. The president is also bringing back thehate-filled tradition of announcing crimes based on someone’s immigration status/ethnicity. So that’s cool.

via The Atlantic

Inspo of the Week:

Harvard Law Review Elects First Black Female President

ImeIme Umana, first-generation-Nigerian-American Mash-Up, is the first female Black prez of the Harvard Law Review. This job, which Obama also had as the first Black prez of the Review, is considered one of the most prestigious roles in the legal world and leads to all the jobs. The reason she thinks it took 130 years for this to happen? “We’ve been systematically excluded from the legal landscape, the legal conversation, and we’re just now making some important inroads.” GET IT GIRL.

via The Hill