How to understand Xi Jingping: as the builder of "a high-tech apparatus of incentives and coercion" designed to maintain party control. / The Economist

After a turbulent week for UK markets, some see British Prime Minister Liz Truss causing a political earthquake. / The Guardian

Unrelated/related: What's up with Truss's signature necklace and its potential ties to BDSM culture? / Gawker

Preliminary analysis suggests the monkeypox vaccine is reducing the risk of infection among vaccinated people. / STAT

An environmental activist has been murdered every two days over the past decade. Most of the killings take place in Latin America. / BBC News

Is the warehouse business recession-proof? In some places, environmentalists are leading a backlash. / The Economist

California is spending around $1 billion to resurrect a burned town that is very likely to burn again soon. / The Los Angeles Times

See also: An artist instructs Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum to treasure its spiderwebs for three months. / The Guardian

An aircraft named "Alice" took its first flight Tuesday, looking to become the first all-electric commercial plane. / TMN

The NFT market, generally having a very bad year, turns to the (very cringey) "phygital" market for redemption. / Artnet

Related: A penthouse above Central Park is listed at a quarter of a billion dollars. / Uncrate

"Like every sport, hiking and camping have their totems." Some thoughts on why people care if they look hot (or cool) in the woods. / Outside

From 2014, what it's like to walk around Manhattan alone for 10 hours as a woman. / Kottke

Unrelated to anything else here: According to Rob Lowe, Bill Paxton ate lunch on the Titanic, at the bottom of the ocean, with Jim Cameron on 9/11. / Twitter