Thursday headlines: It’s a disc, man
Leading AI chatbots are spreading Russian disinformation created by an American fugitive operating from Moscow. / NewsGuard
A major expansion is underway inside one of Iran's nuclear facilities. / Semafor
A majority of Iranians now support Iran pursuing nuclear weapons. / Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
See also: How to use free satellite imagery to monitor the expansion of West Bank settlements. / Bellingcat
Students from more than 120 colleges pledge to refuse work from Google or Amazon until they quit selling cloud services to the Israeli government. / WIRED
Two thirds of Gen Z workers on Linkedin want a "green" job. / Business Insider
Climate activists paint Stonehenge orange to the dismay of politicians and pagan priests. / The Guardian
Trees more than 1,500 kilometers apart will drop their fruit at the same time. / Quanta Magazine
What is it like to eat at one of supposedly the world's 50 best restaurants? "It was an assault, and not fun." / The New York Times [+]
A fashion expert explains why "the most powerful men in America are the worst dressed." / Vox
Unrelated: Some tips on how to extract insights with seemingly limited resources. / Understanding the unseen
Scenes from a ballet by one of the former members of Daft Punk. Also, l from "the early ufology scene." / YouTube, Instagram
An argument for buying an old Discman: "There is no better format for discovery than streaming, but no better format for listening than CD." / Andrew Womack
Wednesday headlines: The tiger house rules
In many regions, communicable diseases are surging past their pre-pandemic levels, "often by significant margins." / yahoo! news
The surgeon general calls for a warning label on social media platforms. / The New York Times [+]
You have until June 26 to prevent Meta from using your photos and text to train their generative AI. Eleven steps for opting out. / Ladyparts
Developers are trying to partner with churches, temples, and synagogues to build new housing. / Vox
Along those lines, "Anti-Growth Fervor Grips US South After Pandemic Boom." / Bloomberg
A lot of people supposedly want to become "tiger parents"—or, they want to live near some. / The New Yorker
Unrelated: "Every Place On Earth Has Wrong Amount Of Water." / The Onion
A woman finds out the right-wing internet thinks she's the CIA-connected leader of the "censorship industrial complex." / The Atlantic
See also: A former CIA officer describes how expensive watches are used to recruit spies. / Watches of Espionage
"The best content on the internet is created by people who have turned research into their leisure activity." When your favorite form of entertainment is downloading PDFs. / personal canon
An attempt to understand Ursula K. Le Guin better through her early-internet blog. "It was website as imagination, a website was effort." / DIRT
Tuesday headlines: Neutral milk excel
Millions in the United States, from the Midwest to the Northeast, prepare for a weeklong heat wave. / axios
People explain what it's like to live through a 121 degree day. "I can't complain. Other people have it harder." / Goats and Soda
Researchers say they've found a way to turn wool into graphite, a key component in lithium batteries. / ABC News
Related: A supplier for Apple's batteries claims an "insane" breakthrough in storage. / Ars Technica
Can an AI system that is non-biological be embodied in a meaningful way—is "an open question." / Vox
A new AI company is paying famous authors a lot of money to help people read classic literature. / The New York Times [+]
What is a so-called "creative?" According to Jessa Crispin, it's an artist without the art. / The Culture We Deserve
Remembering MTV's The Real World, which gave birth to reality television. / The New Yorker
A long report from the Microsoft Excel World Championship in Las Vegas. "I can be normal if I need to be." / The Verge
A month spent in Julia Child's home in southern France. A day in the life of a Southern California fast-food manager. / Condé Nast Traveler, The Wall Street Journal [+]
From 1993, remembering the man who spent 42 years playing cards at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool. / Metafilter
Monday headlines: Cogito ergo bum
Chinese and Philippine ships collide, making for a test of Beijing's new coastguard law. / The South China Morning Post
A remote outpost in the South China Sea is said to be the front line of potential conflict. / The Atlantic
During the pandemic, the US military launched a secret campaign to sow doubt in the Philippines about the safety and efficacy of Chinese PPE. / Reuters
See also: Nine health and science takeaways from Anthony Fauci's new memoir. / STAT
An assessment of China as a scientific superpower. / The Economist
Green energy is making fast progress around the world. / Semafor
In 2022, more fish were farmed worldwide than harvested from the wild, seemingly a first. / Grist
Meanwhile, Sephora reportedly sells a jar of "Brazilian Bum Bum Cream" every six seconds. / After School
In response to the rise of AI imagery, a team at The Guardian is making all of its election-coverage artwork by hand. / It's Nice That
As you read these words, do you have a voice saying them in your head? That's "subvocalization." / IFL Science
Sebastian Junger has a new book about near-death experiences. "I saw my father, and I saw the pit." / Vox
"A feud between sisters? Isn't that... female?" Patricia Lockwood is back with an essay about A.S. Byatt. / The London Review of Books
Saturday headlines: So you think you can France
G7 leaders finish their summit in Italy by telling China to quit helping Russia invade Ukraine. / Voice of America
See also: The summit's final communiqué referenced the country 28 times, "almost always as a malign force." / The New York Times [+]
Eight examples of congressional bipartisanship that you probably didn't hear about this week. / Wake Up to Politics
Recent history is repeating itself in Sudan, but this time there's no serious discussion about peacekeepers. "The reality is much more craven." / Persuasion
Related: Summarizing the week in events on the African continent. / This Week in Africa
Teenage American boys are chewing "facial-fitness gum" purported to improve their jawlines. / The Cut
Gwendolyn Bounds: At 46, I started to compete in grueling obstacle-course races. / The Wall Street Journal [+]
An engineer constructs a Memory Palace for his small parts drawers. / Scope of Work
Among headlines we noticed this week: "Tracey Emin, who made that bed, is made a Dame." / The Art Newspaper
A brief history of the EP. An oral history of the Livestrong bracelet. / The Daily Heller, Texas Monthly
Are Japanese whiskies—coveted, delicious, expensive—actually Japanese? "It's complicated." / Esquire
Some thoughts on American fantasies about French parenting. "It feels like a worthy goal to strive for." / Vox
Friday headlines: Call my agent!
The US Supreme Court unanimously rejects a bid by anti-abortion groups to restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone. / Reuters
Ian Millhiser: This is a victory for abortion rights, but it's also unlikely to be the last word in the fight over mifepristone. / Vox
Ukranian children describe what it's like to be stranded in Russia's orphanage system. (English translation here.) / Verstka, The Dial
See also, from November: Russian women receive instruction in how to be "proper" soldiers' wives. / The Dial
A "jailbreak" version of ChatGPT named Dan is a solace for Chinese women. / BBC News
The Japanese government launches a dating app to address the country's childbirth rates. / VICE
Analysis of the various fictional characters who appear in the background of Apple's keynote demonstrations. / Read Max
An explainer of the story behind the headline of the week, "No, a Remote Amazon Tribe Did Not Get Addicted to Porn." / 404 Media
See also: How data-fueled neurotargeting could kill democracy. / The MIT Press Reader
More than a third of Gen Z and millennial travelers say they prefer a traditional travel agent over online booking. / Business Insider
Travel experts say now is actually a great time to visit San Francisco. / The Points Guy
A skydiver explains what it was like when her parachute failed at 4,000 feet. (She survived.) / The Guardian
Thursday headlines: Shop until you stop
The White House plans to signal long-term commitment to Ukraine by signing a 10-year security agreement. / Newsweek
France's conservative wing implodes overnight. South Africa's ANC party tries to find unity. / Politico, Semafor
Regarding the climate crisis, hundreds of looming projects suggest we're on the verge of an oil boom in reverse—with carbon storage. / MIT Technology Review
See also: Interviews with women who stopped buying clothes. "It took about three to six months before I stopped wanting to shop." / The Cut
SpaceX and Elon Musk are being sued by former employees for sexual harassment. / The Los Angeles
Related: Interviews with several dozen people about Musk's "boundary-blurring relationships" with women at work. / The Wall Street Journal [+]
Asking rents in the United States fall for a 10th straight month. / Vox
In central Stockholm, the average wait for a rent-controlled apartment is 20 years. / The Economist
See also: A long account of how Ye destroyed an architectural masterpiece in Malibu. "This is going to be my Batcave." / The New Yorker
Kenji López-Alt uses computer modeling to find the perfect way to cut an onion. / The New York Times [+]
Supposedly, there's never been a better time to discover storytelling board games? / Metafilter
A literary argument against "story sensibility," i.e., when you expect life to artfully resolve, "and of course it never does." / Castalia
Camp ToB continues with a big chat about the ending in Percival Everett''s James! / The Tournament of Books
Wednesday headlines: America’s next flop model
A new poll finds Donald Trump with a slight edge, but the fundamentals favoring President Biden. / 538
American diplomats and White House aides say the far-right gains in Europe could've been much worse. / Politico
Unrelated: Why is Hungary so small? An illustrated guide. / Uncharted Territories
How the mayors of San Francisco and Los Angeles approach homelessness and drug use differently. / The Los Angeles Times
Banks like Chase, Citibank and Bank of America are redesigning their physical branches to resemble Starbucks. / Bloomberg
Scientists working to map the topology of the cosmos say we might be living inside a big donut. / The Guardian
"If the AI people are correct, then I don't think the public has any idea what's about to hit them." / The Money Illusion
From 2017, Cormac McCarthy attempts to explain the unconscious. / Nautilus
Some pictures of large artworks at this month's Art Basel. / The Art Newspaper
"Welcome to the summer of the mysteriously flopping arena tours." Theories abound on why bands are canceling their summer concerts. / Stereogum
Watch: A single sequence of Bach played front to back and then back to front. / Open Culture
A writer says talking to strangers is sometimes exactly what a person needs for their mental wellbeing. "We began as strangers, and we returned to that." / Why is this interesting?
Tuesday headlines: You can “I cannot”
The UN Security Council votes to support an American resolution backing a ceasefire in Gaza. Hamas's praise for it is said to be "a hopeful sign." / BBC News, France24
Energy drinks in Ukraine, branded with patriotic machismo, are said to be "an essential antidote" to the stresses of war. / The New York Times [+]
Titanium dioxide, an ingredient in many sunscreens, has found its way into pizza and salsa. / The Wall Street Journal [+]
A multimedia explainer demonstrates how microplastics get into your lungs. / The Washington Post [+],
See also: What if Taylor Swift is a virus? / 032c
Why did T-shirts start to have pockets? Was it a way to keep cigarettes from being crushed? / Gear Patrol
How to explain the prevalence of the phrase "I cannot?" Is it the feigned overconfidence of aphorism? / The Paris Review
Related: On the prevalence of "Chipotle boys," i.e., young men in large cities who order Chipotle "5-7 days a week." / Bustle
On the rise of so-called hyperpleasures: "To see beauty in limitation is not an easy thing." / Mere Orthodoxy
Dubious trend reporting says Gen Z thinks you're doing the heart sign wrong. / The Wall Street Journal [+]
Watch: A 14-year-old skateboarder becomes the first woman to successfully land a 900. / YouTube
"Lyrically and structurally, the album is what The Barbie Movie should've been." Some people feel the new Charli XCX album is the best album of the year thus far. / Antiart
Monday headlines: Tropical contact high
"What is going to happen when a recovered herd gets infected again? Maybe someone knows the answer to this already, but I don’t." Scientists have questions about bird flu. / STAT
Inside the controversy over the much-hyped Istanbul restaurant whose Syrian influencer chef has been accused of having links to Assad. / Foreign Policy
"Rafael Nadal may have lost in Round 1, but there was another 22-time major winner in Paris." 50 parting thoughts from the 2024 French Open. / Sports Illustrated
Flamingos have been largely missing from Florida since the early 20th century. Now at least 100 are back, possibly carried there last year by Hurricane Idalia. / Smithsonian Magazine
A new project that captures and tests airborne DNA to monitor disease spread could have far-reaching uses, from public health to conservation to agriculture. / BBC
To persuade reluctant investors, the founder of Rainforest Cafe built the first one in his own house. / The Hustle
Sleep No More changed immersive theater. Now that content culture is dominant, audiences would rather be the main character than experience what's happening around them. / Slate
See also: A collection of "alt text selfies—self-portrait descriptions that are shared online." Alt Text Selfies
The Windows XP shutdown sound played on various musical instruments. / YouTube
Measuring the near-ultrasonic tones that emit from PA systems in various locales, including subways, elevators, and parking garages. / Absorptions
See also: "No one who realizes what they’re doing would consent." When drivers are tracked by their cars and insurers, the level of data intrusion is disturbing. / The New York Times [+]
A data analysis of the current state of mullets in the Australian Football League. / ABC News
Saturday headlines: Never melt better
The attack on Snowflake, which provides cloud services to multiple large corporations, appears to be snowballing into one of the largest data breaches ever. / TechCrunch, WIRED
Ikea is hiring employees—at a rate of just under $17 an hour—to work in its Roblox store. / The Independent
Unrelated: TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods are outfitting retail employees with police-like body cams. / CNN
How to avoid "languishing," the internal alarm that begins ringing before burnout and depression hit. / GQ
"The idea of mountain country as the ultimate proving ground of human fortitude was now etched onto the modern mind." Why humans want to climb mountains. / Noema
See also: Two women accuse celebrity mountaineer Nirmal "Nims" Purja, the subject of a 2021 Netflix climbing documentary, of sexual harassment and assault. / Outside
"It's too hot for cameras." A heat dome is making Death Valley, the hottest place on Earth, even hotter. / Vox
See also: How an Antarctic research station produces freshwater and disposes of wastewater. / brr.fyi
"The reality is, most people do not want to eat like Alice Waters." How the fridge changed flavor. / The New Yorker
The original painted floorboards seen on the cover of Syd Barrett's The Madcap Laughs album are up for auction. / Omega Auctions
Six months out from this year's election, neither Google nor Microsoft's AI chatbots will answer the question, "Who won the 2020 US presidential election?" / WIRED
"Steve still hasn't got around to reading Infinite Jest but, with no Internet to distract him, he undoubtedly will." Life after the internet is gone. / The Villager
Friday headlines: Journalismisn’t
In October, more than 17,000 elephant seals died in an H5N1 outbreak. According to a genetic analysis, the virus jumped at least three times before that. / The New York Times [+]
Yesterday, Florida's Supreme Court gave its governor the power to remove locally elected prosecutors—and therefore overturn the will of its voters. / Law Dork
The Columbia Law Review's board of directors shut down its website this week when editors refused to remove a story about the Nakba. / The Intercept
See also: Before the Washington Post CEO allegedly maneuvered to block stories about him in his own paper, he did the same to an NPR journalist. / NPR
"Among the Chinese migrating to Japan are well-known intellectuals, journalists and business managers. This is noteworthy as it mirrors patterns from almost 120 years ago." / Nikkei Asia
See also: Three people were arrested at Hong Kong Stadium for remaining seated and turning their backs during the Chinese national anthem. / Hong Kong Free Press
Meanwhile in the US, the Phish fan who took a bong hit at the Sphere has been banned from all Madison Square Garden Entertainment venues "indefinitely." / Rolling Stone
The story of Helen Stephens, whose 1936 Olympic gold win sparked an anti-queer panic after a newspaper questioned her gender. / Defector
"This redistribution of power is further complicated if the adult child attains unusual creative clout." The delicate art of turning your parents into content. / The New Yorker
This week the Oklahoma City Council approved a plan to build a 1,907-foot tower that will become the nation's tallest building. / The Journal Record
When patrons camp in coffee shops for hours on end, the store loses money. One possible solution: yet another subscription. / Slate
Unrelated: How do we know when to pee? / Smithsonian Magazine
Thursday headlines: Bubbles and strife
Israel is found to be using fake social media accounts to encourage US lawmakers to fund its military. / The New York Times [+]
An explainer unpacks the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. / Reuters
Scientists aren't sure why the second half of last year was so much hotter than they predicted. / Grist
Employees at different AI companies demand the right to warn people about advanced artificial intelligence. / Vox
Following yesterday's story about middle-aged men abusing testosterone, a new male birth control gel shows promise in early trials. / GQ, The Washington Post [+]
Beverage companies are taking bubbles out of their drinks because Generation Z is said to dislike carbonation. / Vinepair
Lithuania is said to be the happiest place in the world right now for young people. / The Guardian
Unrelated? "Girl mossing" refers to the notion of lying on a forest floor, caressing moss. / The Conversation
Paris sees a 40% decline in air pollution thanks to closing streets to motor vehicles and other changes. / NBC News
Meanwhile, New York's governor surprisingly halts a plan to charge motorists driving into Manhattan. / Bloomberg
Details about airlines' secretive, invitation-only status programs. / The Wall Street Journal [+]
Details about the winner of New Zealand's tree of the year. / The Guardian
Examples of pointillist paintings painstakingly recreated with bubble wrap. / Kottke
Camp ToB, our summery Tournament of Books pop-up, started yesterday—dive in! / The Tournament of Books
Wednesday headlines: Roid cage
An investigation into officials and politicians who carried out a campaign to permanently transfer Ukrainian children to Russia. / The New York Times [+]
President Biden says Ukrainian defeat would mean "you'll see Poland go." Also, that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is prolonging the war in Gaza for personal political survival. / Time, axios
The Middle East is reportedly "awash" in captagon, a drug that mixes amphetamines with caffeine. / Foreign Affairs
See also: Why are performance-enhancing drugs suddenly popular among everyday people at everyday gyms? "Social media put steroids on steroids." / GQ
Doctors rave over a new drug that stops lung cancer from advancing better than any other treatment thus far. / The Guardian
Women in Bangladesh are confronting dangerous health effects from consuming salty water. / Grist
As the climate crisis continues, heat waves are estimated to cause millions of babies to be born preterm. / The 19th
See also: The differences between a heat wave and a heat dome. / The Los Angeles Times
In the United Kingdom, 2023 was the worst year on record for shoplifting. / The Guardian
Sunday is said to be the new "best day" to purchase airline tickets for less money. / Travel + Leisure
Noah Smith: Tourism is a weak tool for understanding other countries. / Noahpinion
A new memoir explains it was like modeling naked for Lucian Freud when he's your father. / The Art Newspaper
A long William Finnegan profile of a 75-year-old surfer, who previously was considered the world's best. "You gotta keep your eyes open, Bill." / The New Yorker
Tuesday headlines: For they know not what they glue
Vote counting begins in India after the world's biggest, most expensive election. / CNN, The Economist
How did Mexico end up with two women on the ballot for the highest office, only 71 years after suffrage? "Activism, electoral reform, and timing." / Interruptrr
An Italian village with 46 residents has 30 local election candidates. / The Guardian
Sales of Chinese-built electric vehicles in Europe jumped by 23% in the first four months of 2024. / Semafor
In case you missed it, a report and photographs from this year's Begijing Auto Show, which suggest "Western automakers makers are cooked." / Inside EVs
Hannah Ritchie: "Burning" book festivals is not a climate solution. / Sustainability by numbers
Ethiopia may see its coffee exports fall drastically due to new EU regulations aimed at combating deforestation. / Le Monde
TMN's Rosecrans Baldwin shares his daily routine, coffees and all, but wonders if following routines has been a long-running mistake. / Meditations in an Emergency
See also: New calculations suggest that time may not be a fundamental element of our physical reality. / New Scientist
Pictures of children in a carefully manicured neighborhood in Southern California. / Eri Morita Photography
Another article to explain why "van life" isn't all pretty Instagram photos. / The Wall Street Journal [+]
When is it okay to pick someone else's fruit tree? / The Los Angeles Times
Artificial intelligence is said to be useful at sorting landfills—but maybe not cooking, after a woman follows its suggestion to put glue on pizza. / Forbes, Business Insider
Headline of the week: "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: The Terror of Tamagotchi." / Unwinnable
Monday headlines: Dark mode
A "game changer" immunotherapy drug "melts away" tumors, and may one day replace surgery and conventional chemo for bowel cancer. / The Guardian
Mexico has elected its first female president, former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum. / NPR
Related: An economic boom means many Mexican citizens are optimistic about their country's direction, even as it's veered slightly into autocracy. / The New York Times [+]
Tearing apart Daniel Ek's statement about "the cost of creating content being close to zero"—and getting at what he really means. / Dada Drummer Almanach
More from the Google leak: Privacy woes, including the collection of children's voices on YouTube Kids and geolocated license plate numbers on Street View. / 404 Media
Accounts of the misery in New Delhi on Wednesday, the hottest-ever day in the city's recorded history—it was 126 degrees Fahrenheit. / The New York Times [+]
See also: "I am convinced that we have everything we require to go carbon neutral by 2050: the science, the technology, the policy proposals, and the money." / Foreign Policy
According to a new study, later bedtimes are linked to higher rates of mental health disorder, although "the big unknown is why." / Neuroscience News
See also: After starting two hours later than originally scheduled, Novak Djokovic's third-round French Open match ended at 3:07 a.m. on Sunday morning. / BBC
To overcome anxiety from insomnia, a writer embraces night journeys and discovers a new, unlit world where everything smells different. / The Guardian
"Certainly, my mother was pleased I ended up there." Recalling one of Manhattan's last remaining all-women's boarding houses. / The Paris Review
The Cold War-era private fallout shelter boom fizzled after community shelters gained traction and the FTC banned the industry's unscrupulous sales tactics. / The Hustle
Last week, "an online essay with a shocking revelation about the wholesale disappearance of Chinese internet content spanning the 2000s was deleted." / China Media Project
Saturday headlines: Do know evil
In a groundbreaking medical trial, thousands of NHS patients will receive personalized cancer vaccines designed to prevent tumors from returning after surgery. / The Guardian
"The reaction that I encountered most often was disbelief that he was bright enough to manage such a scheme." The Hollywood hopeful behind a massive Ponzi scheme. / The New Yorker
"He was a bratty, bratty kid. He's still very bratty." Chess grandmaster Hans Niemann, a year after the cheating scandal. / Intelligencer
After a two-year search, the origin of "The Backrooms" photos has been solved: The images are from a hobby store in Oshkosh, Wis., in 2003, and it's still open. / 404 Media
"Ask yourself: To what degree do I fall prey to the same tendencies to protect myself and let the rest of the world burn?" On Trump's conviction and schadenfreude. / How Things Work
Physicians are prescribing adolescents GLP-1s, including Ozempic, which isn't approved for use in children for type 2 diabetes or weight loss. / University of Michigan
See also: Telehealth company Ro introduces a GLP-1 tracker for patients trying to acquire Wegovy and Ozempic amid shortages of the drugs. / CNBC
Alan Turing solved the mystery of animal patterns, and science is still building on his original research. / Knowable Magazine
Among the findings in the Google Search leak: Despite the company's denials, clicks affect search rankings, and—possibly—more so in Chrome. / The Verge
See also: "'New' AI Google is held responsible for its output in a way that 'old' Google never would have been." Does Google know how Google works? / Read Max
A new project asks you to share the long-lost treasures from your Gmail. / Links I Would Gchat You If We Were Friends
"Rafael Nadal has a higher success rate at winning matches at Roland Garros than I do tying my own shoes." / Defector
Friday headlines: Post-taste
Yes, Trump can still run for president now that he's convicted, and even from jail—and there's precedent, since Eugene V. Debs did it in 1920. / Politico
Though as a former president, Trump has Secret Service protection, and if he goes to jail so does his security detail. / The New York Times [+]
In a new case of a US farmworker falling ill with bird flu, the patient experienced respiratory symptoms—suggesting the possibility of further spread. / STAT
Spotify will brick its "Car Thing" device at the end of this year, three-and-a-half years after it launched, with no option for refunds or trade-ins. / Pitchfork
Profiles of teens forced to wait until they could have phones—including multiple instances of PowerPoint decks created to persuade reluctant parents. / The Cut
Since 1901, people have misinterpreted a scientific diagram that appears to show certain tastes are confined to specific areas of the human tongue. / The New York Times [+]
See also: How dogs see color isn't nearly as interesting as how they smell it. / YouTube
A brief history of early androids and talking machines. / The Public Domain Review
The concept of "calorie counting" didn't appear until 1918. / Smithsonian Magazine
Unrelated: A pretty interesting history (not exactly "thrilling," though) of longitude and how humans navigate. / The Garden of Forking Paths
Cut marks found on an ancient Egyptian skull suggest humans tried to surgically treat cancer more than 4,000 years ago. / Live Science
"She achieved a million copies...without a publisher, without any international expansion, without brick and mortar support." How TikTok has upended book publishing. / The New York Times [+]
Thursday headlines: Pick me up before you go go
Aid entering Gaza drops by 67% after Israel begins its assault on Rafah. / CNN
The story of the Israeli doctor who saved the life, several years ago, of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar. / The New York Times [+]
From April, the same doctor says Sinwar told him the deaths of 100,000 Gazans were no problem during a war conducted "in the name of God" (via NextDraft). / Haaretz
American politics have always bordered on the bizarre, but the last decade felt especially strange to many. Four reasons why. / Today in Politics
See also: "Behold the Terrors of the Texas Republican platform." / How Things Work
Researchers wish Hollywood movies talked about the climate crisis once in a while. / The Associated Press
From March, in case you missed it: there's a Bechdel test for climate, and Alison Bechdel approves. / indiewire, X
An explanation of the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation/Ticketmaster. / 404 Media
A hacker group threatens to release private data from "at least 500,000 private clients" of Christie's auction house. / Hyperallergic
One reason the Graceland sale has gotten weird (or weirder)? A ring of identity thieves. / The New York Times [+]
One reason Nashville's overtourism has gotten rotten? Locals only see visitors as cash machines. / Nashville Scene
A great piece by TMN favorite Lauren Bans about her desire, as a tall woman, to be picked up—literally. / The Cut
How to feels to receive an AI email from a friend: "It felt like opening the front door at my birthday party to welcome in a group of iPads on wheels." / Neven Mrgan
Wednesday headlines: What a piece of merch is man
South Africans go to the polls in what's viewed as a hugely consequential election. / The Guardian
An overview of what you need to know about South Africa's elections. / The Week in Africa
Angelica Jade Bastién: Reacher is a fantasy about white power. / Vulture
Extreme temperatures in India may be contributing to lower turnout in the world's "largest election process." / NBC News
Digital technologies—"our gadgets, the internet and the systems supporting them"—are responsible for anywhere from 1.4 to 5.9 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. / Heated
Microsoft's push into AI jeapordizes its climate goals. Also, OpenAI has a new safety team—run by Sam Altman. / CNET, The Verge
Your white paper of the week: "Artificial Intellience Threats to Climate Change." / Friends of the Earth
Scientists use a model proposed by Alan Turing to understand animals' markings. / knowable magazine
"Was the joke on you? Did it matter?" A fashion writer says we've reached the end of fashionable merch. / GQ
Unrelated: "Harry Styles and Alessandro Michele are dressing like finance bros now." / Dazed
South Koreans compete to have the lowest resting heart rate. / The Guardian
"Listen!" A round-up of things people will say to you after stealing (or purchasing) your smartphone, to persuade you to unlock it. / Read Max