Epidemiological Mystery X.
The United States' Covid-19 death toll passes half a million people. Mourners share stories of their loved ones on an Instagram post from the White House. / BBC News, Instagram
Unrelated: Four years of stories from employees at DC's Trump Hotel, where directions for pouring the former president's Diet Coke was "a process no fewer than seven steps." / Washingtonian
Siddhartha Mukherjee pursues the epidemiological mystery of why the pandemic seems to be hitting some countries harder than others. / The New Yorker
Emily Stewart: Pandemic relief should hinge on when the economy gets better, not an arbitrary date Congress picks for help to end. / Vox
Research suggests that schools may see a burst of the common cold when they reopen. / STAT
Long-term social isolation is said to be as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. / The Guardian
Lockdown has made knowledge workers' burnout "much, much worse." / Harvard Business Review
See also: As the workplace changes, so do ideas about love. / In These Times
Pleas for women to stop undermining themselves are everywhere. At the same time, women are not stupid. / NewStatesman
An account of what happened to the Wing: a triumph of branding that was a bad place to work. / The Cut
"Money manifestation" has become big business. However, unlike financial advisers, there are no laws around "financial coaching." / Cosmopolitan
Two weeks after being suspended by his label for racist language, Morgan Wallen is still Billboard's Number One: an explainer. / The New York Times
A good profile of Chloe Zhao, who finds it baffling that people think Nomadland is apolitical. / Vulture
Related: A good (bad) review if you think Nomadland didn't go far enough. / The New Yorker
Prisoners, barred from playing board games during Covid, play chess in their minds. "It's certainly trending." / The Daily Beast
A visualization of the demand for e-book bestsellers at US public libraries. / Robin Sloan
What it looks like to land on Mars. Also, what it sounds like to work there. / BBC News, Soundcloud
Art experts confirm that Edvard Munch wrote "can only have been painted by a madman" on "The Scream." / The National Museum of Norway
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