A 38 percent pollution.

A poll of more than 2,000 Americans finds that 38 percent intend to gather with 10 or more people during the holiday season. / Vox

California institutes a limited stay-at-home order that will last through December. / The Associated Press

Rachel Maddow was off for most of the past two weeks because her longtime partner was extremely sick with Covid. / Twitter

Ed Yong reports that the best-prepared of America’s hospitals is now nearly overwhelmed. / The Atlantic

A Texan explains how, during the pandemic, he became known as "the guy who waves." / Texas Monthly

Alleged murderer Kyle Rittenhouse says he bought his assault rifle with his coronavirus relief money. A list of things he should have purchased. / The Root

Analysis of an altercation at a recent MAGA march shows "how right-wing influencers seek to manipulate the surrounding context." / Bellingcat

How to do monuments the right way? Look to Washington DC's new monument to Native American veterans. / The Washington Post

Roxane Gay: Student loan forgiveness won’t solve all the problems we are facing, but it would ease a significant burden. / The New York Times

Related: Brittany M. Powell's portraits of people who owe lots of money, mostly due to student loans. / The New Yorker

Sarah Miller writes about the temptation to get a “bridge dog” to replace her beloved pet. / The New Yorker

Immigrant families say watching Alex Trebek helped them learn English. / NBC News

Your weekly white paper: “Why African Leader Tours Benefit US Foreign Policy.” / Center for Strategic & International Studies

African governance worsens for first time in a decade. / Reuters

According to a new study, Madagascar is slowly breaking apart into smaller islands—at about seven millimeters annually. / Quartz

The best inventions of 2020. Also, the 77 works of fiction from 2020 that are being considered for the 2021 Tournament of Books, presented by Field Notes. / TIME, The Morning News

Watch: Glenn Gould explains, with plenty of performances for illustration, why Mozart was not a very good composer. / The Morning News


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