In a visit to DC, Zelenskyy requests more US support through aid and weapons. / Politico

See also: Possible explanations for how Zelenskyy even traveled to the US. / BBC News

US life expectancy falls for a second straight year—to its shortest since 1996—due to Covid deaths and drug overdoses. / CBS News

Why Twitter's turmoil hurts science: Over-politicization and extremist views are driving away researchers, who use the platform as a community sounding board. / Nature

How a brain parasite may cause the urge to start a company and why the super rich are inevitable. / Insider, The Pudding

Profit-killing streaming services and unrelenting tour schedules: The musicians you love are facing a mental health crisis. / Pitchfork

"Restaurant critics don't talk about gentrification much, even though we're inevitable participants of it." / San Francisco Chronicle

Arizona's outgoing governor settles his lawsuit with the Biden administration, and agrees to dismantle his makeshift border wall of shipping containers. / Associated Press

NASA's Mars InSight lander has powered down for good—here are some of the highlights from its mission, which lasted more than four years. / The Verge

Some fun AI image projects: A time traveler's selfies; attending Burning Man in 1963. / Ars Technica, Boing Boing

"Her angst had to stop and at first the only surefire way to control it was to never, ever leave her alone." Nicole Pasulka's year in dogs. / Hazlitt

The history of the snow globe: What started as a failed medical device at the turn of the century became a hit after Citizen Kane. / Atlas Obscura

Actor Patty Johnson got the role of the cranky elf in A Christmas Story because she lambasted the casting director. / Annie's Newsletter

"By the way, and I remind you of this every year, you can make your own peppermint bark." The 2022 Hater's Guide to the Williams-Sonoma Catalog. / Defector

This is fun: Match the photos to New York City subway stations. / The City

See also: Check your "US Level," or how many you've lived in, visited, or passed through. / GitHub