worth reading: october 12-31, 2024

happy Halloween! an assortment of treats:

tasty literary discourse (the first two on Sally Rooney's novels):

two articles about birds:

“If You Think You Can Hold a Grudge, Consider the Crow” by Thomas Fuller and Alana Paterson
- "crow grudge" sounds like a Magic: The Gathering card. or an evil wizard's spell.
“How Scientists Started to Decode Birdsong” by Rivka Galchen

the New York Times on sports:

“How Cheerleading Became So Acrobatic, Dangerous and Popular” by David Garvey Herbert
- this story is long but definitely recommended. consider this bonkers quote: "The control that Jeff Webb was assuming over cheerleading is difficult to overstate. It was as if Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, also operated youth camps, owned Nike, hosted the N.B.A. Finals, called those games on TV and ran U.S.A. Basketball."
“Wait, NFL players eat how many Uncrustables?” by Jayson Jenks
- what do these men have against crusts??

a catchall category for tech-related stuff:

“Common Grounding” by Allison Talking
“Confessions of a Spotify Vandal” by Andy Cush
- kinda obsessed with this guy.
“You are Jeff Bezos” by Kris Lorischild
- a choose-your-own-adventure game about...well.
“A complete guide to luddite horror films” by Brian Merchant
“Meet ZachXBT, the Masked Vigilante Tracking Down Billions in Crypto Scams and Thefts” by Andy Greenberg
- anything Andy Greenberg writes about cybercrime is worth reading, but especially this one!

two separate articles from different authors at different outlets (!) on thinking about AI like the Amish:

and some random fun stuff:

“Hello Kitty Forever: Celebrating 50 Years of an Icon” by Jake Silbert
- worth checking out for the photos. hello kitty forever!!
“Earth from space: Bizarre 'pet cloud' reappears above its favorite spot in New Zealand” by Harry Baker
- a cool-looking cloud and its favorite spot :)
“Who’s this Medieval Dead Guy at the Bottom of a Castle Well?” by Becky Ferreira
- really good headline, but also a fun rundown of some science news.
“I Don’t Know Why Women Keep Laughing at Me When I’m Out Driving my Tesla Cybertruck” by Tinsae Aregay
- lmao it's funny even if it's fake. (actually if you click on the author's name it looks like writing about the Cybertruck is his entire beat for this outlet? I respect it.)