A mutated form of mpox has been circulating for months in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country still doesn't have a single vaccine. / Bloomberg [+]
Former US national security adviser HR McMaster says Vladimir Putin deliberately exploited Donald Trump's “ego and insecurities.” / The Guardian
Putin appears to be following the Soviet Bloc's Cold War playbook diligently, which means “more is yet to come.” / War on the Rocks
Iran's morality police are beating and arresting men caught wearing shorts in public. / reason
Spencer Ackerman plans to destroy his Emmy if Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda's nomination is rescinded. / Forever Wars
An expert on white nationalists explains why she's hopeful about the presidential election: “I have faith in the normies.” / Linkes I Would Gchat You if We Were Friends
Headline of the week: “How a small group of nuns in rural Kansas vex big companies with their investment activism.” / The Associated Press
BIll Clinton's Labor Secretary says Social Security is in trouble because the trustees, himself included, didn't anticipate income inequality. / Robert Reich
The percentage of 19-year-olds in the US with a driver's license dropped from 87.3% in 1983 to 68.7% in 2022. / The Wall Street Journal [+]
Two-thirds of books released by the top-ten trade publishers sell fewer than a thousand copies. / The New Yorker
Why does Ireland produce so many great writers? “The scale of the country is perfect. You can get to know it in your lifetime.” / The Guardian
From February, a peek inside Austin Kleon's commonplace diary. / Austin Kleon
See also—it's a bit NSFW—a brief history behind a beautiful Art Deco alphabet of nude and semi-nude figures. / Flashbak
“She's not doing crazy, she's not doing too much.” Designer Jennifer Daniel explains the new “little brown mushroom” emoji