Weekly Reading (8/23/24)

How the Ukraine-Russia war is playing out differently on 3 separate fronts (NPR)

Iran uses fake news sites to interfere in U.S. election, Microsoft says (WaPo)

I was delighted by Massachusetts and Vermont. The DNC roll call featured a musical salute to each state. Here's what your state chose (NPR)

This is so great: Long-Acting Drugs May Revolutionize H.I.V. Prevention and Treatment (NYT)

Custody ruling in same-sex case hailed as LGBTQ+ milestone in China (The Guardian)

The Atlantic Is Cooling at a Mysteriously Fast Rate After Record Warmth (Gizmodo)

Lokiceratops, a Horned Dinosaur, May Be a New Species (NYT)

Jesus and the Jews: Part One (Life Is a Sacred Text)

A Secret Code May Have Been Hiding in Classical Music for 200 Years (The Atlantic)

This is nerdy but fascinating for um a very specific definition of fascinating: The evolution of Sonny Gray’s many sliders: ‘More velo, less movement’ (The Athletic)

How Lydia Ernestine Becker Was Once Central to—Then Excluded from—the Study of Botany (LitHub)

Doubling Down (Baseball Prospectus)

Weekly Reading (8/16/24)

More than 40,000 killed in Israel’s war in Gaza, Health Ministry says (WaPo)

WHO declares 2024 mpox surge a 'public health emergency of international concern' (NPR)

Revealed: US neo-Nazi terror group aims to revive activities ahead of election (The Guardian)

Kamala Harris Is Not ‘Totally Against the Jewish People’ (The Atlantic)

An ISIS Terror Group Draws Half Its Recruits From Tiny Tajikistan (NYT)

MIT researchers release a repository of AI risks (TechCrunch)

The U.S. Government Defended the Overseas Business Interests of Baby Formula Makers. Kids Paid the Price. (ProPublica)

The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius Wasn’t Pompeii’s Only Killer (NYT)

The World Series winner, the venture capitalist and their baseball dream for Team Poland (The Athletic)

Are Flying Cars Finally Here? (The New Yorker)

In Service: Writers on Making Ends Meet in the Service Industry (LitHub)

Knitter records glove patterns to save Sanquhar designs (BBC)

Bonus Links (8/14/24)

The Great Democratic Success Story That Wasn’t (The Atlantic)

This nonprofit has newsrooms in all 50 state capitals. Is it the future of state journalism? (CJR)

TikTok Turns to Nuns, Veterans and Ranchers in Marketing Blitz (NYT)

Despite Recent Headlines, Urban Farming Is Not a Climate Villain (Civil Eats)

The Family Who Vanished into the Bush (Slate)

Secret Spy Weapons of the Cold War (RFE)

Octavia Butler, Audre Lorde, and the Power of Pleasure (Reactor)

Declutter, Haul, Restock, Repeat: The content creators making a living by cleaning — one purse tower, acrylic plastic box, and egg organizer at a time. (The Cut)

She Slept With a Violin on Her Pillow. Her Dreams Came True in Italy. (NYT)

‘A crazy can-do mentality’: what made New York’s Met one of the world’s mega museums? (The Guardian)

Why ‘Shogun’ (and the Rest of TV) Is Slightly Out of Focus (The Ringer)

The Ancient Female Alchemist Whose Name Is in Your Kitchen (Atlas Obscura)

Weekly Reading (8/9/24)

Bangladesh’s Leader Fled Just Ahead of an Angry Crowd, Urged by Family to Go (NYT)

This is so great: In a hostile era, Tim Walz stood up for students’ Gay-Straight Alliance (WaPo)

This was written before the VP pick but what it has to say about the rhetoric people are using about Shapiro vs. other options is still really important: Who's Afraid of Josh Shapiro? (The Atlantic gift link)

Similarly, this was written before the election but is still worth a read: Could Venezuela’s softly-spoken opposition newcomer end 25 years of Chavismo? (The Guardian)

Many Ukrainian Prisoners of War Show Signs of Trauma and Sexual Violence (NYT)

A Jewish couple were rejected as foster parents because of their religion. This is the future Project 2025 envisions (The Guardian)

Don't Believe What They're Telling You About Misinformation (The New Yorker)

Maryland Is on Track to Process a Nearly 50-Year-Old Backlog of Rape Kits (ProPublica)

The breathtaking lifesaving impact of vaccines, in one chart (Vox)

find your place on deck (Life Is a Sacred Text)

Fuelling the Tour de France: Secrets of the team kitchens (BBC)

A new group is buying up minor league baseball teams at a feverish pace. What’s the end game? (The Athletic)

Bonus Links (8/7/24)

The Guantánamo Spy Who Wasn’t (NYT)

Few states cover fertility treatment for LGBTQ+ couples, but that could be changing (The 19th*)

‘You have imprisoned our democracy’: inside Republicans’ domination of Tennessee (The Guardian)

For Lithuania, Unease Over a Growing Russian-Speaking Diaspora (NYT)

Tromp 45: Braves backup gets unexpected lesson in the politics of a number change (The Athletic)

It’s time for a hard reset on notifications (The Verge)

This was fascinating!! Age of Empires (or, How Microsoft Got in on Games) (The Digital Antiquarian)

On Skeleton Beach (The Dark Mountain Project)

This by Ronald Acuña Jr. is a must-read for baseball fans: I Mean No Harm, I Swear (The Players' Tribune)

Álvaro Enrigue Won’t Romanticize Mexican History (The Millions)

Researchers Use Old Newspaper Reports to Identify 137-Year-Old Shipwreck in Lake Michigan (Smithsonian)

Syrinx and the Sirens: From Ancient Greece to Etruria (Antigone)