We few, we Granny few.
Nine anti-government factions in Ethiopia say they've formed an alliance "amid growing fears they will attempt to overthrow the government." / The Guardian
In Venezuela, a rum company offers gangsters a life outside of crime. In turn, they've helped the company thrive. / The New York Times
Some 1.67 million Indians died in 2019 from the effects of pollution, accounting for one in six of the country's deaths. / The Economist
The United States has only eight toilets per 100,000 people, which makes us tied with Botswana. / Bloomberg CityLab
Pfizer says its experimental antiviral pill for Covid-19 cuts hospitalization and death rates by nearly 90% in high-risk adults. / The Associated Press
What's behind the shortages of rapid Covid tests? "Overzealous regulation and anemic government support." / ProPublica
Eight people die at a Travis Scott show in Houston after the crowd surged toward the stage. / The Houston Chronicle
Profiles of four homeless people in Oakland—all of them from the city, all of them former homeowners. / The San Francisco Chronicle
A small city in Indiana offers free "grandparents on demand" to lure remote workers to town. / ABC News
Dierdre Wolownick, mother of famous rock climber Alex Honnold, started climbing at 60 to be closer to her son. At 70, she just scaled El Capitan. / CBC
Related: What it's like to grow up as a Texas surfer. / Texas Highways
Rax King learned about sex from the Samantha character in Sex and the City. "People already thought I was a slut, but she taught me that I could be proud of it." / Lithub
True crime, as a genre, dates back to a series of plays staged more than four centuries ago. / The London Review of Books
A poem for your autumn weekend: "Reasons to Survive November" by Tony Hoagland. / Writer's Almanac
Some serendipitous moments in Eric Kogan's street photography around New York City. / Eric Kogan
An odd little intellectual mystery told in comic form: "The Autograph Collector" by Ulli Lust. / Popula
Unrelated: The worst gadgets ever reviewed by The Verge. / The Verge
And now a brief chat with a new Sustaining Member, Adam Culbert!
Adam, hello! This is Rosecrans. When did you start reading TMN? Sometime in the year 2000. Was it just an internal newsletter at Circle.com then?
Kinda. We started it as an email newsletter at the company where Andrew and I first met in 1999 (The Interactive Bureau), which got acquired by Circle.com. Soon after we published it publicly through Blogger's first iteration. I think I heard about it because you had linked explodingdog.com and it got back to me. [Adam is the artist known as Sam Brown—ed.] It’s hard to remember that far back.
Totally. Two decades-plus! Did I first find out about TMN at my job interview and I heard of you from the site you made? The name is on the tip of my tongue—the meticulously designed one with the green squares.
Wow, yeah, my first website, "The Letters of One Still Living." So, Adam, you're pretty old school web. What made you want to support today? Something struck me by the request you made recently in the newsletter. And I’m so happy you are still making TMN. So few good things from 20 years ago are still going good.
Shout-out to Adam and to all of our supporters. If this is all your kind of thing, please consider becoming a Sustaining Member or making a one-time donation today. And shout-out to you too! 💥🐕💥
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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.