Amid shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, Cuba's electrical grid has collapsed four times since Friday, leaving 10 million people without power. / Reuters
The presidential election is down to more than swing states; in fact, the outcome appears to rest on these 21 microcommunities. / The New York Times [+]
Elon Musk's $1 million daily sweepstakes for Pennsylvanians promising to vote Republican is “either an incentive for someone to vote or it's a reward. And either way, it violates federal law.” / NPR
See also: The misery of living in a swing state during election season. / The New York Times [+]
“This key is awarded if the candidate can persuade the public that they are conscious.” The real 13 keys for winning the White House. / McSweeney's
As if this year's US election wasn't already chaotic enough, the FBI has arrested a man planning an election day attack on behalf of the Islamic State. / The Guardian
Laugh about Trump's ridiculous dance party all you want, but the kitschy nostalgia is exactly in line with the world his supporters long for. / Intelligencer
In a dispatch from a prisoner, the horror of Texas's containment cages. (Content warning.) / Slate
This year's flu shot doesn't protect against a once-common influenza strain that now appears to have been eradicated through Covid distancing and masking. / NPR
In an interesting comparison of median home values and median incomes, these are the most and least exclusive communities for homebuyers in America. / The Hustle
An “unusually narrow” skyscraper—at only one apartment wide, or 22.5 meters—could be going up in downtown Dubai. / Dezeen
See also: “The Neom giga-project in Saudi Arabia is currently using one fifth of all the steel produced in the world.” / AGBI
Unrelated: “it is time to commit to building the largest physically possible space telescope.” / Palladium
Kurt Vonnegut once designed a board game, General Headquarters, that is finally available, some 70 years after it was originally conceived. / Open Culture
Amazon says it will be getting rid of those plastic inflatable air pillows by the end of the year, but the plastic blue-and-white mailers may be sticking around for a while. / Grist