Beauty is lonely skin deep

New Zealand’s top diplomat says the Pacific should be protected from becoming a military zone. / The Guardian

Northern Europe is being thrust into the center of US war planning. / The Wall Street Journal [$]

Congressional Democrats are dying in office in far greater numbers than Republicans—and handing victories to Trump. / The New Republic

“As more and more are abandoned by the economy and the state, the decline that befell Liverpool threatens to become our collective destiny.” In the United Kingdom, Liverpool is not a relic, but a prophecy. / Boston Review

In Switzerland, hotels are being outfitted with tiny houses for bees and butterflies. / myswitzerland

See also: The house with the ill-advised “Doom” bathroom—never weaken the floor under a bathtub, by the way—is currently for sale. / Aftermath

American architecture’s long love of porches suggests a welcoming spirit. / CityLab

Americans telling other Americans to flee Trump’s America for Europe are “uncouth at best and insulting at worst.” / the late review

A fashion writer explains three criteria that make for valuable clothes. / The Financial Times [$]

For your weekly wanderlust, three encounters in Taipei. / Winnie Lim

See also: The co-founder of Lonely Planet Publications lists where he won’t travel to anymore. / Tony Wheeler’s Travels

A former Arcade Fire diehard on what it means to lose a fanbase but remain atop a popular music hierarchy that gets you booked on SNL. / Hearing Things

A pop-punk guitarist writes of his love for Wassily Kandinsky and how “being too beholden to a genre becomes an unproductive nostalgia.” / Critical Thinking

Jesse Pearson shares a snippet of his father’s criminal record. / Apology Reviews

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