They crawdads egregious.

Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2019 is "they." Top contenders included "crawdad," "egregious," and "tergiversation." 1/19

For your final commutes or coffee breaks of 2019: every top article from Longreads' weekly "Top 5" emails. 2/19

See also: The TMN editors' longreads picks. 3/19

China imprisoned at least 48 journalists in 2019, more than any other country. 4/19

A Methodist church in California stages its Nativity scene in cages to criticize Trump's border separation policies. 5/19

Modernization and efficiency in big-scale farming means that even in booming Texas, rural communities are drying up. 6/19

A constitutional crisis in Florida was sparked when two women entered a stripclub without a man. 7/19

“It’s very much a change.” Consumer advocates are concerned that the FDA is approving new drugs at a record pace and volume. 8/19

This year's Economics Nobel Laureates are donating their prize money to fund more economics research. 9/19

The European Commission says it has a timeline for making the continent carbon neutral. 10/19

A revered mythic ice phenomenon in Japan is vanishing after nearly six centuries, thanks to the climate crisis. 11/19

Germany owns no nuclear weapons, but shares them with Italy, Turkey, and others—a practice now prompting alarm. 12/19

Over 400 law enforcement agencies in the US have paid for a mindreading tool with no reliable scientific backing. 13/19

A favorite daily thing: NASA's "Astronomy Picture of the Day." 14/19

Randomly generated Turing machines produce drawings on a canvas, as a form of generative art. 15/19

The great performance artist Pope.L, who crawled Broadway and ate the Journal, gets a retrospective at MoMA. 16/19

Quiet moments and themes from life in East Asia, in recent paintings by Peter Chan. 17/19

The world’s best chess player may soon become the world’s best fantasy football player. 18/19

A brief history of how a pizza restaurant in Kentucky became the epicenter of East Coast rock climbing. 19/19

Have a great day, crawdads. And if you haven't yet, please consider joining them by becoming a Sustaining Member or making a one-time donation. 🦐

Got a link we should include? Tip us.

Your TMN Headlines are written by the editors of The Morning News and arrive in your inbox every morning, Tuesday through Saturday.