The Pentagon reports a second suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over Latin America. / The Guardian. 

Residents in North Carolina are asked not to take potshots at the balloon. / Twitter

On the China-Russia border, locals explain why Putin isn't a pariah to them. / The Economist

Esteban Almiron (from December): Argentina has been trapped over two centuries in unpayable external debt owed to foreign imperial powers. / Geopolitical Economy

Unrelated: Baroque paper wigs host fleets of ships. / Colossal

Analyses find the primary benefits from the Democrats' green energy investment will flow to Republican red-state strongholds. / Noema

In California, twice as many voters think it's more important to control gun ownership than it is to protect gun rights. / The Los Angeles Times

Two teams of physicists have made photons act as if time were simultaneously flowing in two directions. / Quanta Magazine

When you drink coffee, caffeine's effect is "more a loan of the awake feeling, rather than a creation of any new energy." / The Conversation

From 1792: "A Treatise Concerning the Properties and Effects of Coffee." / Public Domain Review

The best review we've seen of the Prince Harry book has a good opening paragraph about penguins. / The London Review of Books

Looking ahead at some of the big questions facing generative AI app companies. / a16z

What it's like to work as an account manager at OnlyFans: "It's so gross, but it's also kind of easy." / Words From Eliza

A favorite weird website of the week: A man asks a camera to surveil him for a year and interpret his actions. / A Man Sitting on a Couch Looking at Something

See also: The Wikipedia poem "Growing" by Olly Bromham, via WebCurios. / Olly Bromham, WebCurios