Blame of thrones.
Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator under President Trump, says most deaths in the US could have been prevented. / The Washington Post
The CDC director warns of "impending doom" as Covid cases tick upward in the United States. / The Week
Senate Minority Leader McConnell urges Republican men to shrug off their reluctance and get vaccinated. Meanwhile, the NRA retroactively approves its bankruptcy plan. / The Hill, The Washington Free Beacon
Johnson & Johnson will provide up to 400 million doses to African Union countries. / The Associated Press
Patients in intensive care in France are close to numbers reached last autumn. / The Guardian
A new study says the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are 90% effective in preventing infection. Even the first dose is 80% effective. / STAT
Nine questions about the humanitarian crisis on the border, answered. / Vox
Jonathan Blitzer: "Biden and the Blame Game at the Border." / The New Yorker
A Black girl's event for a book about being a better white person triggers a whole bunch of white people. / The Root
Alice Spawls: Men are far more likely to be killed than women; trans men and women more likely to face harm. "But many women live in fear of the person they share a bed with." / The London Review of Books
By the year 2100, world population growth could be practically zero. Tyler Cowen makes the argument for more babies. / Bloomberg
Notes and pictures from a father-daughter bikepacking trip in the southern New Mexican desert. / The Radavist
Faced with Chinese industrial policy, governments are trying to manage their own supply chains of minerals and rare-earth metals. / The Economist
Since the Paris Agreement, the world's 60 largest banks have financed fossil fuel projects to the tune of $3.8 trillion. / Rainforest Action Network
US rent has increased 175% faster than household income over the past 20 years. / Phys.org
Jimmy Fallon's Gramercy Park triplex is up for sale, complete with saloon. / Uncrate
It's the final week in the 2021 Tournament of Books, presented by Field Notes®, and today decides which books enter the championship! / The Tournament of Books
And now a brief chat with a new Sustaining Member, Jonathan F.!
Jonathan, you said you follow the Tournament of Books. How long has it been? I have been reading the ToB since the year Goon Squad won, so this is year 11. I've never managed to be be a "completist," which has always upset me, but there have always been too many books to tackle between the short list and the Tournament. One recent year, I had read something like 18 of the long list titles, and I was really hopeful that 8-10 might make the shortlist—that might have made it possible to read 6-8, but only four made it! I think I read another six before the tournament, but completing the list was impossible! The year that I started reading, 2011, was the year that I got deep into literary Twitter, as I prepared for a career shift into the publishing industry. I am ashamed to say that I don't visit TMN enough during non-ToB times, and only followed one summer ToB, but I do look forward to the March ToB every year. Maybe one of these years I'll manage to be a completist.
MANY THANKS TO JONATHAN AND ALL OF OUR SUPPORTERS, COMPLETISTS OR OTHERWISE. To keep TMN going, join them by becoming a Sustaining Member or making a one-time donation today.
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Since 1999, your Headlines are sourced and written by Andrew Womack and Rosecrans Baldwin, and arrive in your inbox, Monday through Saturday. View this edition and the latest Headlines at TMN.