Monday headlines: You still have made a choice
“Technically, all pandemic flus start as bird flus.” Everything you never wanted to know about H5N1. / Astral Codex Ten
Following the user exodus from X, Russia’s “Matryoshka” disinformation network heads to Bluesky, posting videos to undermine US support of Ukraine. / The Insider
A violent criminal hacking ring has been targeting an unexpected wealth of non-public data: U-Haul user accounts. / 404 Media
“The popular vote result was almost entirely a collapse in support for Harris and Democrats, not an increase in support for Trump and MAGA.” America didn’t swing right, according to a new electoral analysis. / Weekend Reading
From 2021: If war correspondents reported on the MAGA riots in the same way they reported on coup attempts in other countries. / McSweeney’s
Perhaps whether we are free or fated, morality and politics, science and medicine, art and literature will all go their merry or melancholy ways, unaffected. New books on free will. / The Hedgehog Review
A new documentary and book chronicle how New Wave music played a vital role for Vietnamese Americans growing up in Orange County in the 1980s. / Hyperallergic
Thanks to Illinois’s newest and largest solar farm, all of Chicago’s city buildings now run on 100% clean power. / Grist
When a geologist fought with cartographers over how to accurately shade relief maps in order to account for natural sunlight. / Swiss National Museum
How to ditch Duolingo and actually learn Japanese: First, you’re going to need a grammar guide. / Unseen Japan
See also: Why Japanese cities are truly awesome. / Noahpinion
Ana Gavrilovska’s favorite jazz albums of 2024. / Sick Sad Motherslug
An advent-style calendar of everything entering the public domain in 2025. / The Public Domain Review
Where every line is exposition: a very Hallmark supercut Christmas. / YouTube