The Morning News

The Rooster

Announcing the 2019 Tournament of Books

Here it is: the shortlist, judges, commentators, and Zombie poll for the 2019 edition of the Tournament of Books, presented by Field Notes.

by The Tournament of Books Staff

Fashion companies brag about their garments being made in the USA, specifically Los Angeles, but many workers only get $5 an hour.

↩︎ L.A. Taco 5h

“What’s going on, Jezebel? It’s James Kennedy from Vanderpump Rules your favorite, the white Kanye West,” he says in this iconic video. He continues: “Wanted to say you should join the DSA, comrades!”

An attempt to pay conservative D-list celebrities very little money to say liberal things on camera.

↩︎ Jezebel

South Dakota's Rapid City is judged to have the most unpredictable weather in America.

↩︎ FiveThirtyEight 6h

↩︎ TMN Newsletters 6h

A new study of NBA players finds that a player's shooting accuracy declines if they stay up late tweeting.

↩︎ Pacific Standard 6h

We'll watch anything starring Richard E. Grant, including a demented holiday story.

The case for Agatha Christie: she might not have been much of a writer, but she "was very, very good at murder."

↩︎ The London Review of Books 6h

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The Editors' Longreads Picks

For the rest of the semester my professor pulled me aside and praised me for how great my writing was. My parents were so proud. It was like I had it all, I could party and be at the top of the class.

Three plagiarists explain why they stole other people’s words.

↩︎ The Cut

A kiosk at Taylor Swift concerts attempts to identify her stalkers through a secret facial recognition system.

↩︎ Quartz 6h

Fentanyl is "barely more trouble to dispatch" than any of the other goods that America imports from China every day.

↩︎ Bloomberg 6h

Twenty men arrested on an array of charges related to them brandishing loaded guns in a March 2018 rap video.

↩︎ Genius 6h

If the archimandrite hits the woolsack with the mace, there will be a hustings, and all the periodontists will race to the end the chamber to see who is the Lord Spiritual. If there are more than 158, the chaplain dons the black robe and eats the Prime Minister.

British politics explained.

↩︎ Tom Chievers / Twitter

The United States has suffered 94 school shooting incidents in 2018, a near 60% increase on the previous high set in 2006.

↩︎ The Guardian 7h

If the Senate passes the criminal justice reform bill—supported by Trump and Cory Booker—it's an actual bipartisan achievement.

↩︎ The New York Times 7h

A wonderful documentary short about David Worobec, a classically trained vocalist who sings every role for a theater he built using miniature figures and sets.

Among the findings of an analysis on domestic slayings in America: Nearly a third of the perpetrators were publicly known threats.

↩︎ The Washington Post 1d

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The Editors' Longreads Picks

The dirty secret of self-care few want to address: Without access to mental health support, many are left caring for themselves.

↩︎ Tonic 1d

After eight years of budget cuts, the IRS is conducting fewer audits for everyone except the Republican-targeted working poor.

↩︎ ProPublica 1d

In 2018, "warming air and ocean temperatures continued to drive broad long-term change across the polar region, pushing the Arctic into uncharted territory."

The Arctic is undergoing its “most unprecedented transition in human history,” and we’re still not doing anything about it.

↩︎ The New York Times