A large fire near the French city of Bordeaux forces 10,000 residents to flee. / BBC News

It's unclear if the fossil fuel industry will use Joe Manchin's provisions on the senator's terms. / Grist

Ahead of last weekend's big vote, Senate Democrats adopted a "don't test, don't tell" protocol, discouraging each other from Covid testing. / Wake Up to Politics

President Biden is being memed into "Dark Brandon," a malevolent master of political vibes. (There's a Reddit channel, of course.) / Politico, Reddit 

Amazon will start reading palms in California for payment in Whole Foods stores. / Gizmodo

Sales at IHOP and Applebee's are growing among households earning over $75,000 per year. / CNN

For poor kids, living where people have more friendships that cut across class lines majorly boosts how much they earn as adults. / The New York Times

In St. Louis, like a lot of midwestern cities, if you grew up in the area, you're likely still there when you're 26. / St. Louis Public Radio

Related: A data-mining recipe for any journalists wanting to write about young Americans' migration patterns. / Source

Google says it will stop giving snappy answers to stupid questions—e.g., when did Snoopy assassinate Abraham Lincoln. / The Guardian

From 2020, why are K-pop bands so big? Because fans like bigger groups, in part because they love reality survival shows. / The Pudding

Unrelated/related: The last Domino's Pizza branch in Italy closes. / AdAge

Pat Finn says the world does not need "more monuments to the power of capital," even extraordinary buildings like Dubai's Burj Khalifa. / Architizer

A round-up of architecture on album sleeves (that doesn't include a certain Wilco record). / The Guardian

Art but make it sports—with a Twitter account pairing historical works with photos of athletes. / Colossal

See also: A designer explains how to make a book cover. / Faber

Catholicism may be the millennial New Right's hot new club, but it's got nothing on Islam. "Call me when you're ready for Hajj." / Gawker