The drunken year.

It was around this week last year that CNN began to use the term "pandemic" to describe the outbreak. / CNN

Comments from Fox's Sean Hannity from around that time. / Twitter

To travel backward a bit further, here's Ed Yong in 2018: "The Next Plague Is Coming. Is America Ready?" / The Atlantic

A pandemic expert weighs in on the road ahead for Covid-19 vaccine distribution—and the possibility of a pan-coronavirus vaccine. / STAT

In English, dictionaries have a few dozen new entries and revisions thanks to the pandemic; in Germany, lexicographers have compiled more than 1,200. / NPR

Boozing is way up. Meanwhile, experts note that alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer, behind tobacco and obesity. / The New York Times

"The Drunken Canal," downtown New York's favorite joke newspaper, makes the Gray Lady for enjoying the pandemic. / The New York Times

Unrelated/related: Deep fakes produced by AI can fool AI performing facial recognition. Also, in case you missed it, fake under-eye bags are hot on TikTok. / VentureBeat, Teen Vogue

The pandemic has worsened Africa's debt crisis. China and other countries are stepping in. / The Washington Post

In 2017, US diplomats warned that scientists from Wuhan's coronavirus center had reported "a serious shortage" of trained experts to safely operate a high-containment laboratory. / Politico

China's artists are going rural, rediscovering "the hidden continent of rural China." / CoBo

Related: "100 Films to Watch to Help You Understand China." / RADII

Jay Caspian Kang: To stop violence against Asian Americans, we first need to learn how to talk about it. / The New York Times

Jury selection is set to begin in the trial of the former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd. / StarTribune

Three viewpoints we found valuable on the Dr. Seuss debacle: kinda-conservative, kinda-middle, kinda-liberal. / The New York Times, Politico, The Washington Post

Scientists find that bacteria is essentially immortal, after giving food to a dormant sample that's 100 million years old. / Scientific American

Helen Rosner explains how to cook Artichokes à la Grecque and other nice things in your microwave. "It also makes a mean risotto." / The New Yorker

It's March and that means... it's time for the Tournament of Books, presented by Field Notes! First day is live!  / The Tournament of Books


And now a brief chat with a recent Sustaining Member, Vic.

Hi, Vic! What does TMN do for you? TMN is my go-to morning briefing. Timely and valuable as The New York Times, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, etc., but also a hoot! Keep up your beat.

Thanks to Vic and all of our supporters, who enable us to keep the beat going! If you haven't already, please consider becoming a Sustaining Member or making a one-time donation today. 💓

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

Your Headlines are sourced and written by TMN's Andrew Womack and Rosecrans Baldwin and arrive in your inbox, Monday through Saturday. View this edition and the latest Headlines all day long at TMN.