Lin-Manuel Miranda’s mom never missed a play he was in as a kid — it was “first and foremost on our schedules,” she told Today co-host Sheinelle Jones a few years back. The conversation was part of “Through Mom’s Eyes,” a segment on the show in which the mothers of noteworthy people share what it was like raising their remarkable offspring (you can watch some clips here). Now, Jones has compiled those conversations into a new book titled Through Mom’s Eyes: Simple Wisdom From Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans, and we think it’d make apt reading for today’s holiday. Wishing all the moms and mother figures out therea happy Mother’s Day!
— the Nice News team
Featured Story
Hope Is at the Core of Every Mother Counts’ Mission to Make Childbirth Safe for All
Luis Sanchez Saturno, 2025
Every day around the globe, more than 700 women die from pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum complications. A high concentration of these deaths happen in poor regions and areas affected by conflict, but it’s also a crisis in the U.S., which, despite spending the most money per capita on health care, has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income countries.
Though these facts are troubling, Every Mother Counts considers hope among its core values as it works toward creating a world where the maternal health journey is safe, respectful, and equitable for all. And it’s not blind hope: Most maternal deaths are preventable.
“It’s so easy to frame this as a crisis and to sort of lean into the urgency of it all, and it certainly is urgent. There is no reason why mothers should still be dying in 2026,” Nina Rabinovitch Blecker, Every Mother Counts’ vice president of communications and marketing, tells Nice News, adding: “However, there is reason for hope.”
In honor of Mother’s Day, Every Mother Counts is Nice News’ latest Cause of the Season — click here to donate and below to learn more about the organization’s essential work.
You have your skin care routine on lock — but have you thought about the water you’re using to wash your face? In just two weeks, this dermatologist-recommended faucet filter by Filterbaby helps reveal softer, clearer, more radiant skin by removing up to 99.9% of impurities that can irritate and cause premature aging.
The advanced filtration from the Skincare Filter 2.0 ensures every rinse is cleaner, gentler, and better for your skin. It’s compatible with most round aerator faucets and easy to install, taking only five minutes. Plus, the exclusive bundle from Quince comes with two filters for a 90-day supply.
Time for a Vacay? These Are the Best Beaches in the World
Mlenny—E+/Getty Images
If looking over the horizon with sand between your toes sounds pretty sweet as summer approaches, we have just the thing to help you plan your next vacation: the 2026 edition of the World’s 50 Best Beaches list.
More than 1,000 travel professionals nominated their favorite beaches, which were then whittled down by the World’s 50 Best Beaches team based on eight criteria, including unique landscapes, easy-to-enter waters, and the “soundtrack of nature.” This year’s roundup reflected a particular appreciation for spots off the beaten path that offer beachgoers a little peace and quiet, perhaps to dive into a beach read or two.
The Philippines’ Entalula Beach, pictured above, took the No. 1 spot. The team described the beach (accessible only by boat) as an “overlooked slice of heaven” and “one of those places you have to see to believe,” noting its limestone cliffs, soft white sand, and clear waters.
Sandy shores in Greece, Australia, and Madagascar took the second, third, and fourth spots, respectively. See the full list.
Health
The Menopause Workout Is In — Here Are 5 Areas to Prioritize
FatCamera/iStock
As the medical world catches up to the current cultural moment, women are enjoying greater access to menopause-specific health care than ever before. In turn, fitness programs tailored to menopausal women are becoming more prevalent as well.
When women’s hormones change — whether they’re shifting unpredictably during the pre- and perimenopausal years or dropping off dramatically following the transition — a host of other things are affected, Jenny Liebl tells Nice News. “[Hormones] impact our appetite, they impact the way our body responds to food, they impact the way that we sleep, they impact our mood.”
Liebl is a personal trainer and a senior product developer for the International Sports Sciences Association, an org that educates and certifies fitness professionals. She’s in the process of developing a course that covers all stages of menopause, for trainers seeking to better serve their clientele.
“I think there’s a lot of women out there who want to be more active longer,” says Liebl. “Before, [menopause] was something we never really talked about. Something nobody really understood fully. We understand it now. We really understand what’s going on and how it impacts somebody’s ability to perform later in life.” Learn five areas of fitness to focus on during menopause.
Culture
Lost Copy of Oldest-Known English Poem Sheds Light on the Evolution of Written English
Rome, National Central Library, MS. Vitt. Em. 1452, f. 122v.
What a poetic ending to National Poetry Month: On April 28, researchers published a study sharing that they recovered a lost copy of the oldest-known English poem in a Rome library. Titled “Caedmon’s Hymn,” the nine-line verse praising God for creating the world was composed by a cattle herder over 1,200 years ago and is believed to have been transcribed by a monk in Italy between A.D. 800 and 830.
“To make sure I wasn’t dreaming, I double-checked the catalogs and there was no mention of it,” historian Elisabetta Magnanti, who found the manuscript alongside fellow researcher Mark Faulkner, told The Guardian. “It was a huge surprise, a very good one.”
Unlike older Latin copies, the recently discovered poem was written in Old English in the ninth century, reflecting the growing status of the language in the early medieval period. The poem is also punctuated with periods after every word to clearly separate them. “It is part of the early development of ways of dividing words and shows text starting to come toward the presentation of English that we know today,” said Faulkner. Read a modern English translation of the poem.
Sunday Selections
Deep Dives
Broadway’s best belters discuss Broadway’s best belters, with a playlist to boot
Dogs have always been top of mind for Isabel Klee — when she was 5, she decided she wanted to be one. And as a 25-year-old New York City transplant desperate for canine companionship but low on funds, she decided to foster. She’s since helped rehome dozens of pups, many of them difficult cases, and has gained over 1 million social media followers by chronicling her experiences online. In her new memoir, Klee shares how these many rescue pups helped her navigate romantic entanglements, difficult decisions, and self-discovery while she built a community of dog lovers and close friends.
If you’re looking for a family-friendly way to spend your Mother’s Day, might we suggest a viewing of The Sheep Detectives?The quirky film is based on a German cozy murder mystery titled Three Bags Full and has been getting rave reviews. Solitary farmer George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) reads detective stories to his flock every night, so when the sheep find him poisoned, they resolve to pinpoint the culprit. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Regina King, and Patrick Stewart lend their voices to the ovine cast, and Emma Thompson delights in a small role as a (human) lawyer. It’s playing in theaters now — click above to watch the trailer.
This Week in History
The First Successful Smallpox Vaccine Is Demonstrated
May 14, 1796
Bettmann/Getty Images
The only human disease to have been successfully eradicated (though Guinea worm disease may soon be next), smallpox devastated communities for thousands of years, killing over a third of infected people. It was known that survivors were seemingly protected against repeat infection, and smallpox inoculation was used to try to prevent future cases, but the practice came with risks. So when English physician Edward Jenner heard a Bristol milkmaid claim that she was protected from smallpox because she’d contracted a less dangerous disease, cowpox, he took note.
On May 14, 1796, Jenner collected matter from a sore on the hands of another milkmaid who had cowpox and transferred it to an8-year-old named James Phipps. The boy was ill for over a week but made a complete recovery. Two months later, Jenner exposed James to smallpox — and he remained in perfect health: Jenner had successfully demonstrated the first smallpox vaccine. The news spread across continents, and the practice soon became widespread. It would take another 184 years, but in 1980, the disease was officially eradicated.
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