Talk of the town

From outright lies to demands for loyalty, Trump's actions following his latest indictment follow an authoritarian playbook. / NPR

Ocean temperatures are rising, in part because of a 2020 measure to reduce ships' sulfur emissions, resulting in lower cloud coverage overall. / The Telegraph

"Google knows my home address. So, why on Earth does it default to showing me as many hotels as possible in the city where I live?" Google Maps is a mess. / Fast Company

Despite what you may have heard, cities aren't dying. But they do need to change to accommodate how the pandemic altered the ways we live and work now. / Vox

See also: Test how many cities you can name. / CityQuiz

If Elon Musk actually pays any Twitter users' legal bills, it would mark a distinct change from his habit of not paying for things. / The Verge

See also: An interview with the former owner of @music, who ran the account for 16 years until X/Twitter repo'd it last week. / Slate

"And then it gets done, but it doesn't get done the right way." Why nobody got paid for one of the most sampled sounds in hip-hop. / The Hustle

How to play old Flash games. / WIRED

A class-action lawsuit now appears likely to go forward against Texas Pete hot sauce because it's not really from Texas. / Houston Chronicle

Good posture isn't necessarily the answer to back pain, which may have more to do with the movement—or lack of it—between postures. / The Guardian

And in case you'd been wondering, you probably don't swallow spiders in your sleep. / BBC News

An appreciation of filling sandwiches with "fully realized salads with their own personality." / Table of Content

Watch: ASMR meets a club sandwich. / TikTok

"After the leaf was applied, the gold was polished with stone and outlined with ink." A step-by-step guide to making an illuminated manuscript. / Hyperallergic


This newsletter runs on reader support. Here's why. If you've got the means today, please consider becoming a Sustaining Member, or making a one-time donation.

✔️  Got a correction or a link we should consider? Email us or just reply to this newsletter.

Your headlines are sourced and composed by Rosecrans Baldwin and Andrew Womack, Monday through Saturday. View this edition and the latest headlines at TMN.