The interpreter of maladies.
Joe Biden’s big speech at an all-virtual DNC is “rousting, emotional, surprisingly effective,” proving he’s still an American romantic. / The New Yorker
Close watchers of Elizabeth Warren’s speech noticed several Easter Eggs in the background. / The Morning News
The Postal Service, run by a staunch Trump supporter, hires a PR firm to fight the Republicans' attempts to discredit it. / CNN
Still, recent emails show USPS headquarters telling managers not to reconnect any mail sorting machines that were taken offline. / VICE
Phone scammers are taking advantage of contact tracing, calling people and then asking for payment information. / NPR
Researchers say singing or playing softly makes musicians less likely to spread Covid-19. / The Guardian
New coronavirus cases are declining across the US, but that may quickly change if people aren't cautious. / CNN
Nationwide, 20% of four-year colleges are offering classes partially or fully in person. How long it lasts depends on student behavior. / NPR
During the pandemic, misinformation about vaccines and other health topics has been viewed an estimated 3.8 billion times on Facebook. / The Washington Post
Related: “Meet the anonymous lawyer who’s correcting the paper of record one untactful tweet at a time.” / The Ringer
A mechanistic explanation of the SARS-CoV-2 genome’s syntax and semantics. / Csvoss
Gaming out the "phantom risks" of COVID-19. "Society will move from seriously underrating pandemic risk to badly overrating it." / Bloomberg Businessweek
The economic value of wearing a mask is $56.14 / The Economist
The debt of the United States now exceeds the size of its gross domestic product—long considered a doomsday scenario. / The New York Times
The Criterion Collection’s pantheon of films crops out African-American directors. A similar problem exists at the Grammys. / The New York Times, Instagram
“It must be devoid of any Confederate imagery, and must contain the phrase In God We Trust.” New designs for Mississippi's flag. / The Mississippi Clarion Ledger
Black Americans may be in the midst of a mental health crisis. Recent studies find alarming statistics around rates of self-harm. / US News & World Report
Doctors have near-unilateral power in labeling child abuse—even when they’re at odds with the opinions of other experts. / The Marshall Project
New tinted glass toilets in Tokyo become opaque when occupied, but residents, especially women, fear exposure or worse. / The New York Times
Bored by the absence of tourists, ravens are fleeing the Tower of London. / The Guardian
A university in Germany offers "idleness grants" to people willing to abstain from activity. / UPI
Photographs of European summers in the 1970s and '80s in a new book from Sergio Purtell. And some collages from Luc Sante's first gallery show. / AnOther, James Fuentes Online
See also: Katy Kelleher’s “Periwinkle, the Color of Poison, Modernism, and Dusk.” / The Paris Review
A Cincinnati Reds announcer is pulled mid-game for making a homophobic slur. He stays on long enough to call a homerun while apologizing. / Pajaba
And now a brief chat with a new Sustaining Member, James E.!
James, how did you find us? Hmmm... I think it all started with the Tournament of Books a few years back in 2015. Not being a sports person yet being mildly competitive—fiercely so around my favorite authors and musicians—I found myself enthralled by the March Madness, especially since I'd been swooning over Station Eleven—still am. Now I am always gearing up for the ToB, pre-gaming my reading pile to match the brackets, making my picks, and forever telling friends and family about the nerdy pageantry and joy of it all.
We love it! Since then I've slipped into the nicely curated and diverse links and stories that TMN offers, adding it to my feed reader in the past year. Thanks so much!
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