An estimated $500 billion worth of lithium lies below the Salton Sea, a large lake in Imperial County, California, east of San Diego, and many people are eager to tap into this “white gold mine.” But the sea is located in a region of the Golden State where there are already numerous environmental concerns, and some residents worry that plundering for lithium could exacerbate the problem.

‘Saudi Arabia of lithium’
There has been a renewed push to extract the Salton Sea’s lithium, as the mineral is crucially important for rechargeable electric batteries. Such a modern gold rush could “bring jobs, tax dollars and economic revitalization to one of the most impoverished places in the nation,” said Soumya Karlamangla at The New York Times. In 2022, the area was called the “Saudi Arabia of lithium” by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), a reference to that country’s abundant natural resources.

Pressure to extract this lithium is also coming from the artificial intelligence industry, as AI is “driving a surge in energy demand as tech companies scramble to build more data centers,” said Kori Suzuki at KPBS San Diego. There’s “just a massive demand for power,” said Rod Colwell, the CEO of Controlled Thermal Resources, to KPBS. 

‘Not everyone is eagerly welcoming’
Residents of Imperial County, on the other hand, are concerned that the ongoing lithium push could create even more environmental hazards, and “not everyone is eagerly welcoming” the industry, said Karlamangla at the Times. Lithium extraction requires a lot of fresh water, and locals “worry the process will deplete the region’s scarce water resources.”

Controlled Thermal Resources’ project to extract lithium “must be corrected to meet the standards that protect our community and our environment,” said Luis Olmedo, the executive director of Comite Civico del Valle, to CalMatters. The lithium mining is “just another way the community will be sacrificed for private gain,” said Anahi Araiza, a policy researcher at Imperial Valley Equity & Justice, to Capital & Main. Residents “want a slow and methodical process to ensure that things are done well.”

The modern Republican Party has, under President Donald Trump, become a hub for many of the theories formerly relegated to the fringes of national discourse. Over the past decade, the conservative movement has elevated adherents to claims of demonic possession, extraterrestrial infiltration and, most recently, instantaneous transportation.

Just months after being nominated to lead FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery in late 2025, Gregg Phillips has become the subject of an investigation into his “rise to prominence” as a “far-right activist” who “spread conspiracy theories,” said CNN. Phillips’ claim that he teleported to a Waffle House restaurant has “generated numerous headlines” over the past few weeks, said The New York Times. And he’s hardly an outlier. 

Matt Gaetz: alien hybrid breeding program
Once a front-runner to lead the Trump administration’s Justice Department, former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz claimed on The Benny Show podcast last month that the U.S. government is engaged in a human-extraterrestrial breeding program, with eyes on making inroads to the broader galactic community. “An actual uniformed member of the United States Army briefed me,” he said to right-wing commentator Benny Johnson. Gaetz also “admitted he didn’t verify the whistleblower’s claims,” said HuffPost.

Marjorie Taylor Greene: Jewish space lasers
Perhaps the most infamous Trump-era Republican flight of fancy is that of former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who in 2018 claimed in a since-deleted Facebook note that a series of catastrophic California wildfires were potentially started by a beam from “space solar generators” under the nebulous control of the Rothschild banking firm — itself a longstanding shibboleth for antisemitic conspiracy theories. In a 2025 interview on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Greene said she “didn’t even know the Rothschilds were Jewish.” 

JD Vance: UFOs as demons
Asked during a recent interview with Benny Johnson about federal tracking of UFOs and other potentially extraterrestrial phenomena, Vice President JD Vance offered his take on whether advanced civilizations were visiting Earth: “I don’t think they are aliens; I think they are demons,” he said of “celestial beings who fly around, who do weird things to people.” He “appears to believe that aliens visit Earth,” said Slate, and that those aliens are “actually demons.”

An Iranian resident looks out the window of what’s left of his home following U.S.-Israeli strikes that destroyed the Rafi-Nia Synagogue and nearby residential buildings in Tehran today, according to local media reports.
AFP / Getty Images

Spring is a time for renewal, and that includes refreshing your reading pile. This April, readers have plenty of new books to look forward to, including an exploration of memory, a look at social-media-heavy families, and a mysterious depiction of gentrification in Brooklyn.

‘Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online’
As courts grapple with the effects of addictive apps on young people, journalist Fortesa Latifi’s debut “scrutinizes the highly profitable world of family vloggers and momfluencers,” said Publishers Weekly. The book features interviews with influencers and their children, along with “nannies, psychologists and social media marketing managers.” It’s a “perceptive, often stomach-churning exposé.” (out now, $30, Simon & Schuster)

‘Transcription’ 
Ben Lerner’s latest is a “deeply pleasurable, absorbing” book, as well as a “metafictional meditation on memory and influence” and the way “technology has changed our relationship to both,” said Literary Hub. It features a “series of moving portraits: the anxious interviewer, the aging genius, the reflective son.” (out now, $25, Macmillan)

‘Livonia Chow Mein’
This debut novel by Abigail Savitch-Lew is a “vivid, savory blend of family saga, cultural history and detective story, rich with urban life and lore,” said Kirkus Reviews. The story follows activist Lina Rodriguez Armstrong and journalist Sadie Chin as they piece together the history of a section of Brownsville, Brooklyn, decades after a fire ravaged the neighborhood. The book is “uneasy and often heartbreaking.” (April 21, $29, Simon & Schuster)