Weekend Digest: Something New for SmartHER News 💕

SmartHER News

03 Oct 2026 — 5 min read

We’ve been working on something behind the scenes that we’re really excited to finally share with you. The new SmartHER News Insider community is a place to keep the conversation going with Jenna, our team and other Insiders throughout the week — to ask questions, hear different perspectives, get behind-the-scenes updates and talk through the stories shaping our world. Plus, Insiders also get an exclusive podcast feed with bonus content + ad-free listening.

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Thank you for being here — and for being part of what we’re building at SmartHER News. We’re so grateful to have you with us. 🫶🏽 Now grab a coffee and let's dive in to your favorite weekend read ...

A Century of Family History Heads to Space:

“If that's how much change in the last hundred years, how much more could change if we do things right in the next hundred?”

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, reflecting on the future as he described plans to bring a family heirloom, a 100-year-old pocket watch, with him to space. Kutryk is part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13, which launched this week and arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) to relieve Crew-12. While on the ISS, the crew will aid with research on how spaceflight affects astronauts’ health as NASA sets its sights on deep-space missions.

Something Interesting: The ISS has a modular design that allows crews to replace parts and add new ones, helping it grow over the years to the size of a football field. This orbiting home has welcomed nearly 300 people from 26 countries, with crews living aboard continuously since November 2000.

Astronaut Joshua Kutryk with his family (Credit: Joshua Kutryk/X)

🗞️ The Catch-Up:

SmartHER Podcast: Jenna joins political commentator and podcast host Mary Katharine Ham and war correspondent and writer Hollie McKay to unpack some of this week’s biggest stories: new questions surrounding the Cornell lawsuit, a surrogacy custody case raising broader questions about the industry, and what to watch in the midterms.

You can also listen on podcasting platforms everywhere.

Iraq Withdrawal: The final U.S. troops exited Iraq, ending a 12-year mission to fight the Islamic State group and completing a withdrawal the two countries agreed to in 2024. Despite the departure, a Pentagon spokesperson said the U.S. military “will continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support to our Iraqi partners.”

Failed Execution: The failed execution of Christa Pike on Wednesday reignited debate over how states carry out the death penalty. Twenty-seven states, the federal government and the U.S. military authorize capital punishment, though some states have paused executions. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee halted executions for the rest of the year and ordered an independent review after Pike survived two doses of a lethal injection drug.

🗣️ Your Conversation Starters:

🔍 “Diagnostic Odyssey”: How Katie Schubert, president and CEO of the Society for Women’s Health Research, describes women’s search for healthcare answers. She points to longstanding gaps in research and funding as barriers to better care. Her organization and its partners are calling on Congress to invest $20 billion over 10 years in women’s health research and care.

🦅 Feathered Hire: A Ford plant in Mexico “hired” a hawk to tackle its pigeon problem. The unlikely employee, named El Charro, patrols the grounds for two to three hours a day, scaring away pigeons and helping workers locate nests. Ford says his efforts have reduced signs of bird activity by roughly 80% in monitored areas.

🐶 Comando the Chihuahua: Mexico’s National Guard has its own unlikely recruit: Comando, a pint-size Chihuahua training for search and rescue. But before training to help rescue others, Comando needed a new home himself. The National Guard adopted him after his elderly owners could no longer care for him — in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, which gave his breed its name.

🎬 The New Film School: Filmmakers are using YouTube to build audiences and catch Hollywood’s attention — creating another path to their big break. One example: YouTube creator Curry Barker’s horror film Obsession, which became a surprise hit, grossing more than $500 million worldwide on a production budget of about $1 million.

🎧 Plugged In: Wired headphones are back, because apparently, we weren’t done reliving the ’90s and early 2000s. Bose is introducing its first new wired headphones since 2015, joining a comeback with numbers behind it: Research firm Circana reports that wired-headphone revenue grew 20% in the first six weeks of 2026.

*SmartHER News may earn a small commission from purchases made through our links. Thank you for supporting a free press!*

🎶 Sound of Music Salzburg: A new museum in Salzburg, Austria celebrates The Sound of Music and the real-life von Trapp family. Visitors can explore a replica of the film’s gazebo, a “My Favorite Things” memorabilia gallery and exhibits about the family’s true story. But Salzburg hasn’t always embraced the film. Read about its complicated relationship with the Hollywood classic.

🦈 Stuck Shark: A shark nicknamed Bukangi has spent about two weeks in a canal in Busan, South Korea, drawing roughly 600,000 visitors, according to the city. Rescuers have tried water jets and a large net to guide it back to sea, but both attempts failed. Why can’t it leave? Experts suspect Bukangi followed prey into the canal, where the man-made layout and currents may now be confusing its sense of direction.

🙌🏽 What We Found SmartHER This Week:

A little planning now, a little less holiday scrambling later. We use Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days (coming up next week on October 6–7) to stock up on everyday essentials and get a head start on gifts we know we'll need. Here are a few early finds we're keeping an eye on. One of our favorites? This jelly tote (on major sale).

✨ A Little Something Extra:

“To have a rare eighteenth-century marble figure of Pope Clement XII by Pietro Bracci come to light, and now be offered for sale, is a remarkable opportunity.”

Woolley & Wallis associate director Mark Yuan-Richards, describing a marble statue that a buyer found at an English salvage yard. The anonymous seller paid £300 (about $400) for it. The auction house expects it to fetch £5,000–£10,000 on October 8.

Experts identify the piece as a model for a larger bronze statue destroyed in 1798. It bears the signature of Pietro Bracci, who sculpted the central figure of Rome’s Trevi Fountain. Yuan-Richards says about 50 years outdoors in a garden likely explain its weathered condition.