Elementary my weird Watson

Currently

Iran and its proxies are meeting to discuss potential retaliation against Israel. / Reuters

Spencer Ackerman: If Harris wants to be different on Israel, she quickly needs to choose "active deescalation." / Forever Wars

"Why are you being so weird?" Inside the Democrats' new "big weirdo" political strategy. / Vanity Fair

Related: "They're weird. Normal people don't want to be around them." / Talking Points Memo

As of last month, zero Republican members of the House of Representatives or the Senate had TikTok accounts. / NPR

A researcher uses a citation-boosting service advertised on Facebook to make his grandmother's cat the world's most cited animal. / Reese Richardson

Some very old paintings and drawings of people storing their books in "cases, cupboards and carousels." / Lost Art Press

See also: Early photographs of people posed with books. / Public Domain Review

Fran Hoepfner: The stars of the Paris Olympics are people really good at just one thing. / Vulture

A brief history of free condoms at the Olympics. Also, a new product seemingly wants to be your (kinda) imaginary friend. / Mental Floss, X

A millennial's eating diary from a food technology event. "We are more into texture, it turns out, than any other generation." / STAT


🥇  We strive to connect you with a world of interesting things. Take 30 seconds and become one of TMN's Sustaining Member today!

🎁  Free links to paywalled sites are marked with a [+].

✔️  Got a correction or a link we should consider? Email us directly or reply to this newsletter.

Your headlines are sourced and composed by Rosecrans Baldwin (☜) and Andrew Womack, Monday through Saturday. View this edition and the latest headlines at TMN.