We'll be off for Labor Day on Monday, and will see you again on Tuesday!

Dictators have long used various methods to manipulate public opinion, and AI may become their most promising tool yet. / Foreign Affairs

See also: The number of electoral autocracies is growing, resulting in more of them receiving even greater amounts of Western aid. / OECD Library

A campaign from the anti-LGBTQ Libs of TikTok Twitter account is fueling harassment and threats against children's hospitals. / The Washington Post

"The border crisis is bad now, but climate change will make it exponentially worse." Heat waves are killing migrants at a record pace along the US-Mexico border. / Atmos

Australia's unprecedentedly intense wildfires in 2019-20, equivalent to a "moderate volcanic eruption," probably increased the size of the hole in the ozone layer. / Nature

Tree-planting efforts sound good in theory, but can go awry if the trees die from poor gardening practices—or, worse, destroy already existing biodiversity. / Motherboard

Connecting the dots between the beauty industry, patriarchy, consumerism, and climate change. / Heated

The global population has skewed male since the mid-1960s, but will reach parity by 2050. / Pew Research Center

On a mission to rid the country's bureaucracy of floppy disks, Japan's digital minister encounters resistance from officials who point to the disks' reliability. / The Guardian

See also: Twenty-three years after it first landed in New York City subway stations, the MetroCard machine meets its demise this year. / Curbed

"How do you preserve a cell-phone game like Flappy Bird, which enjoyed massive popularity but then vanished from app stores because the developer felt that it was too addictive?" / The New Yorker

Inside an ambitious longevity center where members pay $100,000 to access experimental biohacking treatments. / Toronto Life

"A medication prescribed for Parkinson's and other diseases can transform a patient's personality, unleashing heroic bouts of creativity or a torrent of shocking, even criminal behavior." / The American Scholar

After a gripping third-round loss at the US Open yesterday, Serena Williams's tennis career likely draws to a close. / For the Win

Movie critics and audiences rarely agree, but in 2022 the difference in opinion has never been wider. / Bloomberg