Reading List
The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.
The redistricting battle that could decide the 2026 elections, explained
In addition to lifting Democrats’ spirits, last week’s elections, in which the party beat expectations and regained much of the support among young and nonwhite voters that it had lost in 2024, changed the calculus for what may become one of the defining fights of the second Trump presidency: the so-called redistricting war. What is […]
Pandemics are a choice
For the first time in history, we have an opportunity to stop the next pandemic. From the earliest thinking of the Greek physician and philosopher Claudius Galen to the 19th-century British “father of epidemiology” John Snow to the years before the Covid-19 pandemic, recurring, widespread, and uncontrollable illness has been beyond the grasp of the […]
The tragedy of Laika, the first animal to orbit the earth
In March, I visited the Lowell Observatory — the astronomical research site where Pluto was first discovered — in Flagstaff, Arizona. I stood in line to squint through telescopes at Jupiter and the surface of the moon before the night turned cloudy and drove me inside the Astronomy Discovery Center museum. And like all museum […]
Why Lily Allen’s new breakup album has the internet hooked
The pop music landscape is currently a loud reminder that love does not always last. And that the heartbreak that follows a split, while painful, can render great art — or at least art that will get the internet talking if you give the people enough juicy details. And this year is shaping up to […]
Did the government shutdown delay your flight?
Welcome to The Logoff: The FAA has ordered flight cancellations at airports around the country, starting today — and while the impacts aren’t too dramatic yet, the cuts will get more stringent soon. What happened? Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says that because of the government shutdown’s strain on air traffic controllers, who have been going […]