Smell rating.
California, New York City, and the Department of Veterans Affairs announce that employees must get vaccinated or face weekly testing. / Politico
Meanwhile, a restaurant in Huntington Beach says patrons must show proof of being unvaccinated. / The Orange County Register
France approves a law requiring special virus passes for all domestic travel. / NPR
The White House will continue to block non-US citizens arriving from the UK, EU, China, India, and Brazil. / CNN
Dr. Fauci wants to make prototype vaccines to protect against viruses from 20 families that could spark the next pandemic. / The New York Times
Prior to the pandemic, "no one cared about coronaviruses," which is why we don't have effective antivirals. / Scientific American
The investigation into the Jan. 6 riot begins today with testimony from four police officers. / Axios
Anne Helen Petersen: Over the last decade, the American West has slowly ceded August to smoke—and now July, too? / Culture Study
Here's footage of a remote camera getting overrun by flames. / Twitter
"Smell dating" involves matching with a prospective partner after you've gotten a whiff of their perspiration on a cotton pad. / The Walrus
Unrelated: Starbucks is an imperfect public toilet because "providing a public toilet is not the point of Starbucks." / Vox
A grieving man creates a surprisingly fluent chatbot version of his dead fiancee. / The San Francisco Chronicle
A creepy robot sinks two perfect shots during halftime at an Olympics basketball game. / YouTube
Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz wins the Philippines' first gold medal ever. / NPR
A Dutch cyclist thought she'd won gold, but an unlikely Austrian was far ahead of her. / SFGate
Douglas Coupland's debut novel Generation X is 30 years old. (Coupland now self-identifies as an app.) Also, The Daily Show is 25 years old, which few people know was created by two women, Madeleine Smithberg and Lizz Winstead. / The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times
A great profile of Leon Bridges and his struggles—to find his Black audience, reconnect with religion, and tame his insecurities. / Texas Monthly
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Since 1999, your Headlines are sourced and written by Andrew Womack and Rosecrans Baldwin, and arrive in your inbox, Monday through Saturday. View this edition and the latest Headlines at TMN.