Reading List
The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.
America has turned dancing into a culture war
The first ever cheerleader — according to USA Cheer, the governing body of American sport cheering — was a man from Minnesota. The sport was born in 1898, when a male student at the University of Minnesota spontaneously got up and led the crowd in a cheer for the football team. Men have always been […]
The obscure Trump official behind Lisa Cook’s firing
President Donald Trump made his biggest step yet toward trying to seize control of the Federal Reserve on Monday, by ordering the firing of one of its seven governors: Lisa Cook. The firing was legally dubious — Fed governors serve 14-year terms; Cook’s term expires in 2038, and she’s said she’ll contest her firing — […]
Pumpkin spice lattes — and the backlash, and the backlash to the backlash — explained
August 26 is not a day that is particularly known for feeling especially crisp or autumnal in most parts of North America. And yet it’s the day this year — the earliest release date ever — that Starbucks, contending with a slowdown in sales, will unleash its annual run of pumpkin spice lattes upon its […]
The most effective productivity hack is the one you least want to do
The human brain wasn’t built for all this — all of the information, screens, meetings, scheduling, thinking. The problem is the brain hasn’t changed much since the days of hunter-gatherers, but the demands we put on it have, says Kayla Stajkovic, a lecturer in organizational behavior at the University of California Davis. In the past, […]
The risky bet behind redistricting
Underlying the redistricting arms race that Texas Republicans kicked off this summer (and to which California Democrats are responding) are two wagers both parties are making about Latino voters. Texas Republicans are expecting that Latinos will either continue the rightward shift they’ve been undergoing for the last two presidential cycles — or at least remain […]