Headlines from October 2, 2012

The election is over, and it’s time—finally—to start thinking about the future again. #opinions
At some point in every U.S. presidential election someone will deem it “the most important election in history.”
America’s super-rich feel aggrieved in part because they believe themselves to be fundamentally different from a leisured, hereditary gentry. #longreads
Magic trick-inspired study suggests political beliefs are more malleable than previously thought.
Governments didn’t collapse. Thousands of people weren’t killed. What would happen in a real-life Revolution scenario.
After a winter in the dark, Russia considers reinstating daylight savings.
David Mitchell: “You’ve morphed from being the Creator to the guy who happened to write the original novel.”
Alice Walker discusses the impact of The Color Purple 30 years after its publication. #books
Paris Review editor Lorin Stein on his soccer dreams, being a terrible teacher, and how to get a free meal in New York.
Photographic evidence the Brooklyn Nets cheerleader uniforms were inspired by Clueless.
Appearing 53 times out of every million words, the demise of “whom” appears imminent. #language
Devil. Whale. Chlorophyll, Violante, Treacle. Hong Kong’s obsession with weird English names.
Synth manufacturer offers 3D printable replacement parts. via
Goebbels gifting a violin reminds one musician of when Mussolini reportedly did the same thing.
Now that conservative media is king, Republicans’ media-bias argument no longer sells.
Democrats use “Tea Party” label to sink even moderate Republicans’ chances.
Tally of world leaders who have endorsed a candidate—or hedged endorsement—in the American race.
Today, a good portion of Americans plan their lives—or at least their Twitter feeds—around the latest political numbers.
Letter finds Lincoln rejecting a pair of elephants from king of modern-day Thailand.
Home-delivery pizza costs more than [a] security guard’s monthly salary. Notes on the high life in violent, chaotic Karachi.
Japan’s love hotels prove to be a bad financial investment.
Photographs of themed rooms from Japanese love hotels, including the Hello Kitty S&M room.
Boy Scouts to release names of suspected pedophiles that they’ve kept private until now.
Tuesday physics: Training a giant firehose on the sun would make the sun hotter.
All the things that can happen are varying degrees of bad. Skydiver to attempt to break the sound barrier from an altitude of 23 miles. via
French grape-picking robot prunes, de-suckers, collects data on soil health, and works around the clock.
Explanation of how to protect your eyes while staring at a computer screen all day.
Latest crop of MacArthur “geniuses” includes Tournament of Books champ Junot Díaz.
Financial details on Grizzly Bear’s success find indie-rock stars unable to afford health insurance.
Search in Los Angeles for the settings of classic album covers.
To grow the full ’stache is five to six weeks. Chat with Ron Swanson/Nick Offerman.