I’m pumpkin out, I want the world to know...
Canadians give Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a win in Monday's parliamentary elections, but his gamble to win a majority of seats fails. / The Associated Press
The US will lift its travel ban for vaccinated travelers come November. / Quartz
More people died in Alabama during 2020 than were born, a first in state history. (More than half of the state is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19.) / The Hill
A fifth of Nigeria's workforce lost their jobs because of Covid. / IT News Africa
Why everybody's hiring but nobody's getting hired: faulty corporate hiring practices that predate the pandemic. / Recode
Nisha Chittal admits to enjoying Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes, even if that makes her "mall" or "a basic bitch." / Nisha's Internet Tote Bag
See also: "From a Sale, Lace Undergarments, Never Worn." / The New York Times
Lauren Oyler goes shopping and discovers "table season," when vintage shops see a surge of tables big enough to seat holiday meals. / The Believer
San Francisco is spending millions to custom-produce 3,300 public trash cans because what's commercially available isn't pretty enough. / Mission Local
Whence the Chinese takeout container? It was patented in 1890 to carry oysters, a popular snack at the time. / Dieline
Some nice timelapse footage of Yosemite's Half Dome being hiked at night. / The Morning News
TMN's Rosecrans Baldwin offers praise for getting lost without a smartphone, also the beauty of keeping lists. / Meditations in an Emergency
Waterfront residents of Lake Geneva, Wisc., receive their summer post from "mail jumpers." Each jumper makes 45 to 60 jumps a day. / Atlas Obscura
Thierry Mandon's performance art involves living on the outside—literally the outside—of buildings. / Colossal
Much of life in contemporary Hawai'i, engineered for tourists' consumption, makes native residents feel like outsiders. / AFAR
Watch: Interviews with Black Americans about what it's like to live in Japan instead of the United States. "I've honestly never felt more free." / The Morning News
Novelist Haruki Murakami has a massive T-shirt collection, including some shirts he doesn't wear outside the house. "There are some limits when you're over 70." / The New Yorker
TMN relies on supporters who place a high value on thoughtful, curious meandering through the web. Please join today. / TMN Memberships
And now a brief chat with a new Sustaining Member, Steve R.!
Hi, Steve! How and when did you find us? I would guess I started checking TMN at least five years ago. Not sure how I came across it, but with the somewhat generic name—an excellent choice, since it masks how good it is, wise in these times I think, and gives it the aura of a special secret—I was surprised at the quality. And I’ve been on the trail of hidden truths, political and other, for my entire adult life, 50+ years now, so it’s right up my alley.
That's terrific. What about it works for you? You have that elusive attribute of good taste, hard to describe without sounding elitist, but pretty immediately recognizable for others who also have it. Ahem. I share pieces I like with a bunch of friends, and often hear back from them in approval. Incidentally, one other site that collects and makes available an eclectic variety of pieces is 3 Quarks Daily, which is also excellent. You must know about it.
Absolutely! 3QD is an old favorite. Do you participate in the Tournament of Books as well? Oddly enough, I haven’t gotten into the book tournament aspect, but if I were you I wouldn't take that too seriously. I read a lot, but I'm cantankerous enough not to put much faith in other people’s recommendations, relying instead on my own inclination and wits. I almost never read a book because just somebody else says its good, but I read some reviews, some probably referred by your site, and I will read something based on a good thinker’s critique of it. Anyway, now that we kind of know one another, maybe I’ll dig into the tournament to see what it’s about.
Many thanks to Steve and to you for reading. If you have a moment, please become a Sustaining Member or make a one-time donation to support this newsletter. Thank you! 🗞️
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