If we’re being honest, the month of January felt like an entire year of news in 31 days. So rather than bring you this morning’s dump of headlines about the GOP/FBI memo, here are three of our favorite thought-provoking articles about the bigger story:
1) “Trump's Turned Republicans Into Everything They Once Hated,” from Reason.
2) “Here’s What Happens if ‘Magnificent Bastard’ Mueller Gets Fired,” from WIRED.
3) “Trump’s Saturday Night Massacre Is Happening Right Before Our Eyes,” from Politico Magazine.
After the Times exposé, fake Twitter followers are vanishing, sinking many high-profile accounts' numbers.
A long, thoughtful, persuasive analysis of Iran’s foreign policy: what it wants, why it does what it does, and how to think about it.
The Treasury Department admits that Trump's evil-oligarch list—which no one in Russia feared after the White House took sanctions off the table—was a copy-paste job of a Forbes article.
A train station was built in southeastern China by 1,500 workers in less than nine hours.
The New York Times published a pretty hackneyed story about Los Angeles as a second-rate city; readers made many comments on social media, so the Times said sorry—kinda—and published those, too.
As software eats the world, it's prioritizing complexity over resilience, innovation over stability.
New fossil discoveries show life diversified quickly on ancient Earth—and suggest it was watery from the start.
Higher blood sugar, in particular a high-carb diet, is associated with faster cognitive decline.
“I have this theory that cycling is as close as a middle-class straight white guy can get to understanding Being Female. People have a reckless disregard for your safety, you have to treat everyone like they might hurt you, and if you do get hurt people will blame you for existing.” Where bicycles and Being Female overlap.
Domestic abuse survivors often flee without access to cash or credit. A new website helps them rebuild financially.
Immigrant integration in Western Europe is actually stunningly successful—no matter what some scared white people say.
San Francisco’s oldest continuously operating gay bar serves its last drink.
America’s biggest farmer is a self-described “carpetbagger from Beverly Hills” who made billions off California’s nut rush.
Video: Getting “stoked” can be healthy, but apparently there’s a pandemic going on.
“I found this vessel balanced with well placed handles. However, without a vent, the rotting cow blood I stored in it as part of #grizzlybear DNA study was poised for explosion. Indeed, the vessel split at the seams.” The #reviewforscience trend finds researchers leaving Amazon reviews of unusual science equipment.
The Cleveland Indians will remove "Chief Wahoo" from its uniforms, but the name remains for now.
Headline of the day: "Two New Ax-Throwing Bars are Coming to the Boston Area."
Poland votes to outlaw the phrase "Polish death camps," in part to deny complicity with Nazi atrocities.
Why ass is the most complicated word in English.
For indie musicians, offering pay-what-you-want downloads at Bandcamp can earn more than Spotify.
Video: David Byrne sings "Heroes" with 500 Canadians singing backup.