Gimme friction
"Commentators should please stop using words such as 'digital' and 'progress' and 'efficiency' and 'vision' when describing this coup attempt." / Thinking about...
Related: The engineers playing a key role in Elon Musk's attempt to dismantle federal infrastructure are all recent college grads—one may still be in school. / WIRED
DOGE is what Biden warned about in his farewell address, and there's still so much we don't know about who they are and what they're doing. / Can We Still Govern?
If you're looking for hope, Democratic leaders' messages aren't the best place to look. / Welcome to Hell World
Finally, a Democratic senator announces he will obstruct Trump's State Dept. confirmations until Trump and Musk end their siege on USAID. / Outside the Beltway
An investigation into the criminal records of pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionists reveals a variety of convictions or pending charges for rape, domestic violence, and other serious crimes. / NPR
As measles vaccine rates in Texas fall, four new cases are reported in Lubbock, where there hasn't been a new case in more than 20 years. / The Texas Tribune
Inside the illegal trade for conophytum, an especially unusual succulent. / Financial Times [+]
All communication now is near-instantaneous, and too much input may be too much for our brains. A new book argues for inserting more friction into the process. / Los Angeles Review of Books
"We would sit there and drink and smoke and pretend we were intellectuals." A friend remembers a teenaged David Lynch. / The Yale Review
See also: Both The Elephant Man and On the Air, Lynch and Mark Frost's post-Twin Peaks sitcom, are available to watch. / Internet Archive
"This kind of favor trading creates an incestuous and unmeritocratic literary ecosystem that often rewards connections over talent." Simon & Schuster's flagship imprint will no longer require blurbs. / Publishers Weekly
How the explosion in gluten-free packaged foods, paired with inaccurate labeling and confusing packaging, can end up harming those with celiac disease. / STAT
"You have retained the juvenile ability to love tons of candy." Caity Weaver quits sugar. / The New York Times Magazine [+]
Imagine an alternate timeline by changing the outcomes of key historical events. / A Better World?
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Your headlines are sourced and composed by Rosecrans Baldwin and Andrew Womack (☜), Monday through Friday. View this edition and the latest headlines at TMN.